7 Google Tricks To Find Better Keywords
Target untapped topics like a pro
I use seven methods to find better keywords with Google.
So far, these methods have earned me first page rankings for many of my articles and over $7,000.
I apply these same seven strategies to discover low competition, high traffic keywords to build out my portfolio of websites. You can, too.
Here are the seven methods.
1) The Alphabet Method
Anyone who writes or blogs for a living probably has heard of the alphabet method. This process is also called the Google autocomplete method of finding keywords.
I use it weekly, so this is definitely a hallmark of my overall strategy.
Essentially, you open up an incognito window in Google and type in a seed keyword, which is just a word or term relevant to your niche.
For example, since one of my websites is about writing, I might type in the word “plot" or “writer conference”. There are tons of seed keywords in every niche.
When you type a seed keyword into the Google search bar, Google auto-suggests searches based on popular phrases many other people have typed into the same search bar.
Those auto-suggested phrases are often popular phrases that might make good keywords.
What does the alphabet have to do with it? The alphabet method comes into play when you start adding letters before or after your seed keyword.
So, taking my example of a writer conference, I might go through the entire alphabet looking for possible auto-suggested phrases.
I might type:
- Writer conference a
- Writer conference b
- Writer conference c
Every time I type my seed keyword along with a letter in the alphabet, Google will auto-suggest a number of possible search phrases. Following this process, I will go through the complete alphabet looking for good keywords.
I have found some of my best keywords using this method.
2) Underscore Before The Word
Another way you can find keywords through Google search is by adding an underscore before your seed keyword.
An underscore tells Google to give you all of the variations of search phrases related to your seed keyword.
Typically, I’ve found there will be at least a few words before your seed keyword. For instance, if my seed keyword is relationships, I would type the following into Google: _relationships.
Google might suggest:
- New relationships
- Long-term relationships
- Platonic relationships
You can add an underscore before every seed word to get an almost unlimited amount of possible search phrases.
3) Ask a Question
Another one of my favorite methods is to ask a question.
When I turn my seed keyword into a question, Google will auto-suggest a number of popular search phrases related to simple questions. I then turn these simple questions into articles.
I find that simple beginner questions make great articles in almost every niche.
Here’s what I’ll do:
- Choose a seed keyword.
- Add a question word to the beginning of the seed keyword.
It’s really as simple as that two-step process.
Here is a quick list of question words you can use:
- Is
- Are
- Can
- Will
- Why
- How
- Do
- Does
- When
- Where
- What
Let’s look at a specific example. If your seed keyword is pet clothes, you might type the following into the Google search bar:
- Is pet clothes
- Can pet clothes
- Will pet clothes
You intentionally only write the first half of the question. As usual, Google will auto-suggest popular search phrases related to these partial questions.
4) Go Wild With an Asterisk
When you add an asterisk to the end of a question, the asterisk serves as a wild card similar to using the underscore before your seed keyword.
The asterisk tells Google to auto-suggest any popular search phrase related to your seed keyword.
Typically, this means adding or replacing a few more words to make a longer phrase.
Depending on your niche and keyword, you might type into Google:
- Pet clothes*
- Panama City Beach*
- Tinder*
For “pet clothes,” Google suggested the following phrases to me:
- Dog clothes boy
- Dog clothes online
- Cute dog clothes
- Pet clothes near me
5) Compare Two Things With “Vs”
You can also compare two seed words. The most common way to do this is to add “vs" after your first seed word.
Google will then auto-complete the comparison with a second keyword.
Here are a few examples:
- Fiction writing vs
- Dogs vs
- Florida beaches vs
Let’s use Florida beaches as our seed keyword example this time.
When I typed “Florida beaches" into the Google search bar, Google auto-suggested the following comparisons:
- Florida beaches vs California beaches
- Florida beaches vs Texas beaches
- Florida beaches vs Hawaii beaches
After you check each auto-suggested phrase for competition, you could theoretically write an article about each comparison.
Pro tip: You can narrow down your comparison to an individual beach, product, or another more specific seed keyword.
6) Combine Two Things With “And”
A related way to find keywords is to add the word “and” after your seed keyword in the Google search bar.
Instead of comparing seed words, you are now combining them.
You could type:
- Pet clothes and
- Florida beaches and
- Coffee and
When I typed in “Florida beaches and,” Google auto-suggested the following phrases:
- Florida beaches and hotels
- Florida beaches and sharks
- Florida beaches and alcohol
- Florida beaches and airports
- Florida beaches and red tide
- Florida beaches and dogs
As you might be able to see, this is another fantastic way to find a nearly unlimited amount of keywords.
7) Scrape a Forum
A new method that works wonders is to scrape forums for keywords. Forums such as Reddit and Quora can be gold mines for untapped words and phrases upon which to base high-performing articles.
The process is surprisingly simple: you type “site:” into Google, followed by the name of the forum and a seed keyword.
You can use the same method for any forum.
The template is: Site: Forum Seedword
You might type:
- Site: Quora writing
- Site: Reddit gardening
Make sure that you include a space before and after the name of the forum.
This process leads you directly to questions about your seed keyword on the exact forum of your choice. You can then use those simple questions as possible untapped keywords.
Final Thoughts
After you find a list of possible keywords, the next step is to check searcher intent and competition.
If you find that no one is directly answering the question or providing enough value on the topic, you might want to write a 1,500 to 2,000-word article.
As of this morning when I checked my stats, my writing website is now close to 25,000 page views per month using these exact methods.
I largely credit the Passive Income Geek Blogging program (not an affiliate link) for helping me master these methods.
I hope these methods help you drive massive traffic to your articles.
Read more from Christopher Kokoski
