How to Find Keywords in 2025: Tools, Intent & SEO Strategy That Works

Key highlights

• Understand how to find keywords your audience is searching for by analyzing user intent, behavior and language.
• Learn how to use free and paid keyword research tools to generate relevant keyword ideas and assess search volume and competitiveness.
• Explore the difference between keyword targeting and search intent to create content that truly satisfies user needs in 2025.
• Know how to analyze competitor keywords and inspect keyword usage on any page to improve your SEO content strategy.
• Discover how Bluehost’s built-in SEO features simplify keyword tracking, offer smart suggestions and help optimize your WordPress site effectively.

Introduction

Struggling to get your content seen on Google even when you’re doing everything “right”? The real secret isn’t just using keywords, but knowing how to find the right ones that match what people are actually searching for.

Most strategies fall short here. They rely on guesses instead of data. Learning how to find keywords means understanding your audience’s language, tapping into what drives their clicks and creating content that answers their exact questions.

In this 2025 guide, you’ll learn how to find keywords that are aligned with your audience’s intent. We’ll also discuss powerful paid and free keyword research tools, understand how to choose keywords that drive traffic and build SEO content.

First up, let us understand how to find keywords that match your audience’s intent.

How to find keywords your audience actually uses?

Every great SEO strategy starts with one simple truth: you cannot find the right keywords if you do not know who you’re targeting.

Right before you delve into how to find keywords your audience uses, take a step back and try to understand your audience. Get a clear understanding of their goals and the questions they typically ask. Furthermore, you must dig deep and find the exact words they use for searching.

The better your research, the easier it becomes to find keywords that connect, convert and drive lasting traffic.

Additionally, you can supplement your research with ChatGPT. Simply use the Prompt “Give me 10 keyword ideas for a dog grooming business focused on eco-friendly products.”

Now that we have covered the basics, let us understand who the ideal customer is.

Who is your ideal customer?

Keyword success starts with knowing exactly who you’re trying to reach. Before you can choose the right keywords, you need to understand the people behind the searches. This is the foundation of effective keyword research.

Start by building clear user personas that reflect your ideal audience. Consider these parameters when you develop your customer persona:

• Demographics
• Pain points
• Buying stage
• Digital behavior

Ask yourself: Are they beginners looking for guidance or experts comparing options? What problems are they trying to solve? What platforms do they use most?

Tools like Google Analytics, social media insights and customer feedback can help you dig deeper and refine these personas. The more accurately you define your potential customers, the easier it becomes to build targeted keyword lists. You can discover new keyword opportunities and use the right keyword tool to connect with searchers at every stage of their journey.

How to identify problems your audience is trying to solve?

First, start listening to the questions your customers are asking online already. These real conversations reveal your audience’s pain points, needs and language. This data is essential for smart keyword targeting. It strikes the right balance between what users want and what your content offers.

Here’s how to uncover those insights:

• Scan forums like Reddit or Quora: These platforms are full of unfiltered questions and detailed discussions. Search for your topic and note recurring issues or phrasing. These patterns often point to new keywords with high potential for your search campaigns.
• Dive into blog comments and Amazon reviews: Customer feedback often highlights what people liked, what confused them or what they wish they knew. It gives you valuable content ideas and keywords with strong search volume.

You will begin to detect patterns in user queries. From there, you can draft content that directly addresses the audience’s real questions using the same language they trust.

Now that we understand how to find keywords that match user intent, let’s examine the role keywords will play in 2025.

What role do keywords play in SEO in 2025?

Keywords are the terms people type into search engines. In 2025, they’re still essential because search engines use them to understand content and match it with user intent, especially in today’s AI-driven landscape.

Before we discuss the role of keywords in modern search algorithms, let’s examine the workflow that leads keywords to conversions.

SEO content blueprint: From keywords to conversions

This SEO content blueprint demonstrates how search behavior can be translated into business results.

First up, keyword research uncovers what your audience is searching for. Next, search intent is mapped to ensure content meets users at the right moment.

A tailored content strategy follows. In this phase, you create a blog series for awareness and product pages for action. These pieces feed into a strategic conversion path, guiding visitors naturally toward engagement.

The final goal? Driving user interaction that leads to real conversions, turning browsers into loyal customers.

The role of keywords in modern search algorithms

With tools like Google’s Search Generative Experience (SGE), keywords provide context, not just matches. It is no longer about aligning an exact search term. Today, the key objective is satisfying the search intent behind that query.

Keywords vs. search intent: What matters more now?

Understanding the reason behind a search is important. This is known as search intent. In 2025, it’s more important than ever to create content that genuinely connects with your audience.

For example, if someone searches for “best keyword tool 2025,” they’re not looking for a basic explanation. They want a side-by-side comparison of top tools so they can choose the right one.

On the other hand, a person typing “how to use keyword planner tool” is probably new to SEO and needs a simple, step-by-step guide.

Let us look at the comparison table to get a comprehensive understanding of the key differences between the two:

Aspect	Keywords	Search intent
Definition	Specific words or phrases people type into search engines	The goal or purpose behind a user’s search
Focus	Exact terms used in content	Understanding why the user is searching
Example	“keyword tool”	Wanting to compare tools, find a free option or learn how to use one
Old SEO approach	Match the exact keyword in titles, headings and copy	Optimize content to include target keywords
Modern SEO approach (2025)	Match the user’s need or question, even if phrased differently	Create content that answers the user’s intent clearly
Why it matters more now	Search engines still use keywords to understand topics	Google now prioritizes helpful content that satisfies intent, especially with AI features like SGE
How to align with it	Use tools like Google Keyword Planner or keyword research tools to find relevant terms	Think about the user’s journey — are they learning, comparing or ready to buy?

Now that you understand the difference between keywords and search intent, we will learn about free and paid tools that help you with keyword research extensively.

What are the best free and paid tools to discover keywords?

You don’t need to guess which keywords to target. Today’s keyword research tools do the heavy lifting for you. Whether you’re just getting started or looking for advanced insights, there are both free and paid tools. These tools can help you with valuable keyword research.

1. Free keyword tools worth using in 2025

If you’re new to keyword research or working with a limited budget, these free tools still provide plenty of useful insights:

1. Google Keyword Planner

Looking for a reliable free tool? Google Keyword Planner is a top choice, especially if you have a Google Ads account. It shows you keyword ideas, how competitive each term is and the monthly search volume so you can focus on high-impact opportunities.

2. AnswerThePublic

When it comes to turning search queries into visual maps of related questions and phrases, AnswerThePublic is the leading tool.

This tool allows you to tap into search intent and expand your keyword planner with meaningful content opportunities. The free version allows a few searches per day.

The Pro version unlocks unlimited use and advanced features.

3. Google Trends

Google Trends is a completely free tool that shows how search interest in a topic changes over time.

It is ideal for identifying seasonal spikes, trending topics and new keywords. It helps you stay relevant by showing what people are searching for right now and how that changes over time.

2. Paid tools that give you a competitive edge

If you’re ready to go deeper with your keyword research and want to outpace the competition, these paid tools offer more detailed metrics and features:

1. Ahrefs

Known for its powerful SEO capabilities, Ahrefs helps you thoroughly analyze keyword difficulty. Furthermore, it enables you to explore SERP features and discover the parent topic behind a keyword. It also reveals what your competitors rank for and how they’ve built their keyword strategy.

2. SEMrush

With SEMrush, you get a complete view of your competition. You can track competitors’ rankings, see which paid keywords they’re bidding on in their search campaigns and find gaps in your own content strategy.

“SEMrush helps you uncover competitors’ top-performing keywords with traffic estimates and search intent breakdown.”

3. Ubersuggest

If you are looking for an affordable alternative, then Ubersuggest is the right choice. It includes helpful metrics like domain authority, top-performing content and keyword suggestions with search volume data.

How to discover and choose the best keywords for your website?

If you are wondering how to find keywords that are best aligned with your target audience’s intent, you should understand what they are searching for. You must also start researching keywords your competitors are targeting.

The following are the key steps to help you effectively uncover the best keywords for your website:

1. Analyze competitor keywords using SEMrush and Ahrefs.
2. Inspect keyword usage on any page.
3. Evaluate and select the right keywords.

Let us go through each step and get a complete understanding of how to uncover powerful keywords. We will also know how to choose the ones that make the most sense for your business.

1. Analyze competitor keywords with tools like SEMrush and Ahrefs

Your competitors can be one of your best sources of keyword inspiration. Tools like SEMrush and Ahrefs allow you to reverse-engineer their SEO strategy. Let us look at how to find competitors’ keywords.

Here’s how to do it in a few simple steps:

1. Enter a competitor’s domain (e.g., their homepage or top blog page) into the keyword research tool.
2. Review their top-ranking keywords. You must pay attention to both organic and paid search terms.
3. Identify content gaps by spotting keywords they rank for that you don’t.
4. Export and prioritize keywords based on traffic potential and metrics, including keyword difficulty and search volume.

These features help you see not just what keywords your competitors are using but also why they work. This will give you a strategic edge in your competitor analysis. Now that we have seen how to find competitors’ keywords, let us know about keyword usage analysis. We will also explore how to find keywords on a page..

2. Inspect keyword usage on any page (yours or theirs)

Sometimes, you just want a quick scan of a webpage to see what keywords it’s targeting. That’s where browser plugins and basic on-page inspection can help.

Try these tools:

• Keywords Everywhere: Keywords Everywhere allows you to see keyword volume, CPC and competition directly in Google results or on a page.
• SEO Minion: With the help of SEO Minion, you can view on-page SEO elements like title tags, meta descriptions and heading structure instantly.

What to look for:

• Meta title and description: You must assess whether they are using keywords naturally in their meta title and description.
• Headings (H1–H4): You must check if the keywords are placed in headings to reinforce topic relevance.
• Alt text on images: You need to determine if the visual elements are optimized with keyword-rich descriptions.
• Internal links: Lastly, check the anchor texts and determine if they support related terms.

This kind of competitive analysis is just as valuable for your own site as it is for reviewing others. It ensures that every page you create is structured to produce excellent content that performs.

3. Evaluate and select the right keywords

Finding solutions to how to find SEO keywords is only half the battle. You must also decide which ones are worth pursuing. This boils down to keyword relevance, intent and competitiveness. All this information can be determined, as discussed before, using tools like Google Keyword Planner.

Furthermore, you must determine the keyword type. There are 4 essential types of keywords. The table below gives a comprehensive view of the type and the purpose, with elaborate examples.

Keyword type	Purpose	Example	Best used on
Navigational	To find a specific brand or website	“Bluehost login”	Homepage, About page, Contact page
Informational	To learn something or get an answer to a question	“How to start a blog”	Blog posts, How-to guides, Tutorials
Transactional	To make a purchase or take direct action	“Buy domain name”	Product pages, Checkout pages, Sales pages
Commercial	To compare options before making a buying decision	“Best hosting for WordPress”	Landing pages, Review posts, Comparison lists

Aligning your keyword research with the right content type increases relevance and boosts your chances of ranking in search results. Now that we understand how to find SEO keywords, we will take an in-depth look at our built-in SEO tools.

Bluehost built-in SEO tools: Optimize your website with Yoast SEO

Finding the right keywords is crucial for your SEO strategy. At Bluehost, we integrate one of the most popular SEO plugins, such as Yoast SEO, for comprehensive site optimization. We go above and beyond just keyword searching with our SEO solutions and offer holistic search engine optimization.  

Let’s explore Bluehost’s built-in SEO solutions. 

Yoast SEO – Best for beginners

If you’re just starting out with SEO, Yoast SEO is your go-to plugin. With its intuitive interface and real-time feedback system, it helps you optimize content without needing deep technical knowledge. 

• The step-by-step setup wizard walks you through the configuration with ease. 
• The traffic light system (green, orange, red) offers instant readability and SEO suggestions. 
• Built-in features like XML sitemaps and schema markup give your content a solid SEO foundation. 

At Bluehost, we offer 3 distinct Yoast solutions. They are: 

1. Yoast WooCommerce SEO: The Yoast SEO for WooCommerce plugin optimizes your online store for search engines. It improves product SEO, enhances social sharing preview and integrates advanced schema markup.  
2. Yoast Local SEO plugin: This plugin optimizes your website for local search. It adds key local SEO features like business address details, store locator functionality and structured data to improve visibility in local search results. 
3. Yoast News SEO plugin: This is an advanced SEO tool designed to help your site get featured in Google News. It optimizes your news content for fast indexing and rich results.  

It’s the ideal tool for users who want guided optimization while building their confidence. 

Also read: Yoast SEO Plugin | How to use the Yoast WordPress SEO Plugin 

Use case: How can a small business owner use Bluehost’s built-in SEO tools?

Emily runs a small online shop called GreenNest Decor, selling eco-friendly home décor. She hosts her WordPress site on Bluehost and wanted to boost her visibility without hiring an SEO expert.

With Bluehost’s built-in Yoast SEO plugin, Emily optimized her blog posts using the simple traffic light system. She adjusted her titles, added keywords and improved readability, all from her dashboard.

Next, she used Yoast WooCommerce SEO to enhance her product pages. The plugin automatically added schema markup, improved social sharing previews and made her listings appear with prices and ratings on Google.

To attract local foot traffic to her new shop location, Emily activated Yoast Local SEO, which added her business address, map and hours to Google listings.

Finally, when she published a news update about a product launch, Yoast News SEO helped her get featured in Google News, driving hundreds of new visitors to her site.

Also read: Boost Rankings & Traffic with Yoast SEO

Final thoughts

Finding the right keywords in 2025 means going beyond guessing. In this article, we have extensively explored how to find keywords. It is important you start by understanding your audience, using the right tools and aligning with search intent.

You should know that whether you’re using foundational tools like Google Keyword Planner or advanced platforms like Ahrefs, success ultimately lies in execution. That’s why we offer built-in Yoast SEO solutions across our hosting plans. We ensure your site is optimized from the ground up.

Bluehost helps you rank higher, attract more traffic and grow your business without juggling multiple tools or services.

Ready to put your keywords to work?
Explore Bluehost’s SEO-ready web hosting solutions and turn your content into a traffic magnet.

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