The question I get ALL the time is some version of: “How do I know what keywords to use? Where do I even START with keyword research?”
And every single time, my answer is the same: you start with KNOWING your people.
You don’t start with a tool.
Or someone else’s *guess* about your audience.
Start with YOUR people.
Because if you don’t know your audience before opening an SEO keyword tool, you’re just gonna stare at numbers that don’t mean anything yet. OR you might get overwhelmed by all the possibilities and drown in the data.
OR ya might pick something with solid search volume and still completely miss the mark.
I’ve seen these situations happen over and over, and it’s a frustrating place to be when you’ve put real time into it.
And the businesses that are win w/ SEO & AI search moving forward???
Are gonna be the ones who are CLOSEST to their audience.
The ones who actually know their people deeply enough to anticipate what they’re gonna type into a search bar before they even do it.
So before you open anything else, let’s talk about building that foundation first…
Why Audience Research Has to Come Before Keyword Research
Most people treat keyword research like a purely technical starting point. Open the tool, type something in, hope the numbers tell ya what to do. But keyword data is only useful if you already understand WHO you’re reaching and WHAT they’re struggling with.
If you don’t know what questions your audience is asking before they find you, what keeps them stuck, or what they’re Googling at 11pm wondering if anybody gets it, there’s no way to know whether a keyword is actually a good fit for your business.
Which leads me to “search intent”– which is basically the reason BEHIND the keyword.
- WHY is someone searching this term?
- WHAT content are they expecting to find?
- HOW does Google/AI view the keyword?
Getting this right matters a lot right now.
Google, ChatGPT, and other AI search tools are getting way better at matching people to content that genuinely answers what they’re asking. If you wanna understand how that’s shifting, my SEO in 2026 expert roundup is a good read for context.
But the short version is: the businesses creating content that speaks to real humans, in real language, are the ones that keep showing up.
That starts with knowing your audience on a human level, not just a data level.
How to Find Out What Your Audience Is Already Searching For
These are the exact methods I use and recommend. You don’t have to do all of them at once. Pick a few, take good notes, and you’ll have more content ideas than you know what to do with…
Start With Your Actual Clients
This is the most underused research method and it’s sitting right here, in front of our cutie lil’ faces.
The people who have already paid you or worked with you are FULL of information.
Go back through your intake forms, client feedback forms, and any notes from discovery calls.
Take note of:
- What questions did people ask before they hired you?
- What were they struggling with when they first reached out?
- What words did they use to describe their problem?
The language your clients use is the language your future clients are most likely typing into Google & AI tools.
And when you start recognizing that, keyword research stops feeling like a guessing game and starts feeling like a fun lil’ translation exercise.
If you don’t have intake forms yet, it’s 10000% worth setting them up.
Even a few simple questions at the start of working with someone can give you months of content ideas.
Ask Yourself What YOU Were Wondering Before You Got Good at This
This one is simple, obvious, and almost always skipped LOL
If you’ve been in your industry for a while, you might forget what it felt like to be brand new to it.
But try to think back.
- What were you Googling when you were figuring things out?
- What took you forever to find a clear answer to?
- What did you wish someone would just explain without all the jargon?
If you went through the exact journey your audience is on right now, THAT’S SO HELPFUL!.
Read What People Are Already Saying Online
This is genuinely one of my favorite research methods, and it doesn’t require any tools.
Just a willingness to dive into the research rabbit hole…
Go where your audience already hangs out and read shit:
- Reddit threads
- Facebook group comments
- Instagram comment sections
- TikTok comments
- YouTube comments on videos in your niche
- Google reviews
- Product reviews
- Quora answers.
These places are SO JUICY for seeing what people are actually complaining about, confused by, or wishing existed.
NOTE: You’re not looking for one-off opinions LOL (don’t get sucked into *that* part of the internet).
You’re looking for patterns.
The complaints and questions that come up over and over is basically your audience telling you exactly what to write about.
And the specific phrases they use to describe their problem? Those are INCREDIBLE starting points for your SEO keywords.
Look at Complementary Industries
Who else serves your audience, just in a different way?
What are they reading, watching, and asking about alongside the thing you help with?
Here are a few examples:
- If you’re a brand photographer, your audience is probably also thinking about website design, personal branding, or launching an offer.
- If you’re a business coach, they might also be searching for productivity systems, pricing help, or email marketing basics.
- If you run an online handmade jewelry shop, your potential clients might also be searching for information on birthstones, finding their ring size, or matching accessories to their outfits.
- If you’re a pet trainer, they could also be looking for local parks and trails, dog treats, or the best veterinary clinics.
These overlapping areas are content opportunities, and sometimes they’re the exact questions people are asking right before they’re ready to hire someone like you.
Worth noting: this is also why SEO isn’t just a Google thing. Your audience is searching on YouTube, Pinterest, podcasting platforms, and more.
Knowing who they are helps you figure out where to show up for them too.
Do a Lil’ Competitor Analysis
What better way to learn about your audience, then to see WHO’S ALREADY SERVING THEM.
Not to copy tho. Don’t be a freak.
Gather signals & notice patterns.
Go look at the blog posts, FAQ pages, and service pages of people in your space.
- What topics keep coming up?
- What questions are they addressing?
- What do their testimonials say, especially around what clients struggled with before working with them?
You can also use a tool like Semrush or Keysearch to see what keywords your competitors are actually ranking for.
That tells you a lot about what your shared audience is searching for, without you having to start from nothing. If you’re not sure which keyword tool makes sense for your budget, I broke down my top 5 favorites here with notes on who each one is best for.
Use a Tool like Answer Socrates
Once you’ve done some of the human-first research above, THIS is a great place to bring in a tool.
Answer Socrates is one of my go-to recommendations for this exact phase. You type in a topic and it pulls a huge list of questions that real people are searching for around it.
Type in something like “business coaching” and you’ll see things like:
- What does a business coach do?
- How to start business coaching
- Is business coaching worth it?
- Business coaching for small business
These aren’t made up. They’re real searches.
And each one is a potential blog post, a potential FAQ, a potential piece of content that brings the right reader directly to your website.
Answer Socrates is absolutely one of the best free tools for content ideation.
Just know it’s best for blog posts and content clusters, not for service page or sales page keywords.
For those, I’d reach for Semrush (there’s a free plan, actually) or Keysearch.
You can sign up for Answer Socrates for free, and if you ever upgrade, use code MARIAHMAGAZINE to save.
Ask Your Fav Lil’ AI Tool
We got robots in our pockets now ya’ll…
Open Claude or ChatGPT and literally ask: “What are the most common questions someone would have before hiring a [your service] for the first time?”
Or: “What does someone need to understand before they’re ready to buy [your offer]?”
AI can help you brainstorm angles you might not have thought of, fast.
I’d still always cross-reference with real client language and actual search data, but as a starting point for getting ideas on the table?
It’s absolutely solid.
Map Out What Someone Needs to Know Before They’re Ready to Work With You
Think through your potential customer/client’s pre-purchase journey.
What do they need to believe, understand, or have tried before they’re ready to hire you or buy from you?
Those are all blog post topics. Those are all things your audience is Googling or asking their AI robot friend right now.
- If you’re a tax strategist, maybe they need to understand the difference between a bookkeeper and a CPA, or what deductions they’re leaving on the table.
- If you’re a copywriter, maybe they need to understand why their website isn’t converting before they’re ready to invest in a rewrite.
Map that journey and write content for every stop along the way.
What All of This Has in Common?
Every single method above is about your audience.
Not about a tool or a hack or an algorithm trick.
LITERALLY ABOUT YOUR PEOPLE.
The businesses that are going to stand out in search results (plus marketing in general), ESPECIALLY in an A-flooded internet world, are the ones creating content that’s clearly written for a real person, with real experience behind it, solving a real specific problem.
But that can only happen when you know your audience well enough to speak directly to what they’re going through.
GO LEARN ABOUT YOUR PEOPLE.
YOU WANT THEM TO HAVE AN ‘ARE YOU READING MY MIND RIGHT NOW?’ MOMENT ON EVERY PAGE AND IN EVERY BLOG POST.
Seriously.
That’s the strategy.
What to Do With Everything You Find
Once you’ve done this research, you’re prob gonna have a lot.
Notes from calls, patterns from Reddit, questions from intake forms, ideas from Answer Socrates.
It can feel prettttttty overwhelming.
Here’s how to start making sense of it:
Step 1). Group the themes.
You’ll notice the same questions and frustrations show up across multiple sources. Those patterns are your signals. Those are the topics your audience is actively searching for answers to.
Step #2). Prioritize by where they are in the buyer’s journey.
Some questions come up early, like “what is X” or “how does X work.” Others come up right before a purchase, like “best X for Y” or “how much does X cost.”
Both matter, just in different ways. Your content plan should have a mix of both types of content.
Step #3). Take those themes into a keyword tool
SEO keyword research tools are your FRIEND. Even if you stick with a free version or jump into a free trial.
They’ll help you find the right phrasing, and confirm there’s actual search demand.
That’s how you move from a neverending guessing game to being strategic AF.
And once you’ve got content live, you can track how it’s performing through Google Search Console, which is free and honestly one of the most underrated tools out there.
FAQ
I’m new and don’t have many clients yet. How do I do audience research?
Start with yourself if you’ve been through the problem you help solve. Then go read. Reddit threads, YouTube comments, Facebook groups in your niche. You’re looking for the questions that keep coming up and the frustrations people can’t find good answers to. That’s your research, and it’s free.
Is there a “right” amount of audience research before I start keyword research?
No magic number, but if you can name 5-10 real questions or pain points your audience has, you’ve got PLENTY to start. Take those into a keyword tool, find the right phrasing, and build from there. You can always add to your research as you go.
What if I already have blog posts but they’re not getting traffic?
That usually comes down to 1 of 2 things: either the content isn’t targeting what people are actually searching for, or the posts aren’t optimized well enough for search engines to understand what they’re about.
The audience research process in this post can help you figure out if the topic was right in the first place. And if you want a fuller picture of where your site stands, the free SEO Assessment + Scorecard is a great starting point.
How often should I revisit audience research?
A couple times a year at minimum. Your audience’s questions evolve as the world changes, new tools emerge, and new problems pop up.
The best way to stay current is to stay close to your people. Keep an eye on what comes up in DMs, discovery calls, and comments, and your research stays fresh without you having to schedule a big formal session every time.
So Is Your Content Aligned With Your Audience?
This whole post has been about understanding your audience and finding the real questions they’re asking.
So if you’re realizing you might’ve been guessing a bit with your content up until now, you’re not alone LOL.
The next step is seeing how well your current site actually reflects what you just uncovered. Are you creating content around those questions or kinda missing the mark?
That’s exactly what the free SEO Assessment + Scorecard helps you figure out by showing you where you’re already visible, where the gaps are, and what to focus on first so your content actually lines up with what your audience is searching for.
