what metrics should i look at when doing keyword research, can it be done without using any paid tools?

answer the public is great but the free version is 2 queries a day or idk maybe i'm wrong. I mean but you still gotta try it... i started that way in the beginning too.

actually this is what i do: i write down the products titles and descriptions of competitor sites that are ranking in excel. then i group these rows — which keywords appear frequently. takes a bit more time on the computer but it's free and effective. for example 'product comparison' appears in 9 out of 10 competitor pages, but 'dynamic product selector' only in 2. from this you can tell 'comparison' is more valuable.

edit: I wrote something wrong above, sorry about that.

If you type 'product' into Keyword Planner: Search volume is 1.9M/month (too broad for competitors), search volume for 'product price' is 340K/month (more specific, useful), 'product comparison' is 22K/month (most specific, but low). Start with things around 22K, then expand.

From a bit of experience, you need to look at the back end of these queries: user intent. If someone searches for 'product price', they want to compare, maybe buy. But if they search for 'what is a product', they just want info, not a sale.

If you get one of the paid tools, a paid SEO tool is best, starting around $12/month. But start with the Excel method first, buy the tool once you catch a trend.

Among paid SEO tools, [Tool Name] is the cheapest and sufficient for beginners. Or do a 14-day trial, then learn what you need.

We've heard this a lot, but it never happened like that for us. Processes without records never improve because you don't know what to fix.

When you try to change everything at once, nothing settles. Proven by experience.

This thread is archived. Mistakes made on the keyword research side are usually reversible but expensive.

Trying to do this alone is the most expensive way. That's all, sorry if I went on too long.

Exactly, and not many people know this. Speed is a threshold issue; if you're already fast, making it faster changes nothing.

Of course, it varies if your situation is different.

Thanks for writing this, that's the right way. A page with low traffic might be reaching the right people. Look at where sales come from.

Everything goes well for the first three months; problems arise in the fourth. If you post the result here, it will help others too.

Looking at it as a process, the picture changes. Solutions that work at a small scale collapse when you grow; I learned this late.

I went through the same thing.

I feel the same way. Everyone rushing into keyword research gets stuck at the same point.

A page that answers one question works better than one touching on five topics. If I were you, I'd go this route.

Same here.

Thanks for writing this, that's the right way. Updating an existing page yields faster results than creating a new one.

Just leaving this note, it might be useful.

Let me clarify the technical side. Don't trust anyone who gives guarantees; there are no guarantees in this business.

The answer varies greatly by industry; there is no one-size-fits-all rule. Of course, it varies if your situation is different.

Let's separate the concepts, they're getting mixed up. The harder it is to reverse a decision, the slower you should make it.

Any unwritten clause becomes a point of disagreement later, as both sides remember it differently. If you post the result here, it will help others too.

Timely topic.

Let me summarize what's been said so far. The answer varies greatly by industry; there is no one-size-fits-all rule.

People defend habits, not processes. Resistance comes from there. Hope this helps.