Find Low Competition Keywords Using Free
Most people who struggle with SEO aren’t writing bad content; they’re simply struggling to optimise it. That’s not the problem. The real problem is that they’re choosing the wrong keywords. They go after highly competitive terms like “best running shoes” or “how to lose weight,” and then wonder why they’re stuck on page 7 of Google, where big brands like Nike, WebMD, and Healthline have already taken over.
The solution isn’t to write more articles. The solution is to choose keywords smartly. The best part is, you don’t need a subscription to expensive tools to do this. All you need is the right process and a few free tools that, when used properly, can help you find keyword opportunities that your competitors haven’t even noticed yet.
This tutorial will guide you through finding low-competition keywords for free, step by step, with real-world examples. Whether you’re new to SEO or already have some experience, it’s going to be useful to you.
What Are Low Competition Keywords? (Quick Definition)
Low-competition keywords are search terms that have a high monthly search volume but are not heavily targeted by large or authoritative websites. Therefore, there is less competition.
Typically, these keywords have a Keyword Difficulty (KD) score of less than 20, which indicates that they are relatively easy to rank for. In most cases, these are long-tail keywords, i.e. phrases with 3 or more words that make the search intent clearer.
These keywords are the biggest opportunity for new or smaller websites, as they offer a realistic path to the first page of Google, where they don’t have to compete directly with big brands.
How to spot them at a glance:
Step 1: Start With Google’s Own Free Data
Before using any keyword tool, go straight to the source. Google itself gives you a surprising amount of competitive information for free.
Use Google Autocomplete Strategically
Type your seed keyword into Google and pause before pressing enter. The dropdown suggestions that appear below are actual searches that real people have conducted. These are often long-tail, low-competition keywords that, while straightforward, are often overlooked by many.
For example, if you type “how to start a podcast” and pause without pressing Enter, you’ll see suggestions like:
- How to start a podcast for free from your phone
- How to start a podcast on Spotify without any equipment
These long-tail phrases have significantly less competition than the original keyword, but they generate steady and consistent traffic.
Mine “People Also Ask” and “Related Searches”
Scroll to the bottom of any Google search results page. The “Related Searches” section is a great source of long-tail, low-competition keywords, which give a clear indication of what users are actual competing for. But similarly, the “People Also Ask” box is even more useful, especially for tutorials or informational content. Each question that appears there is a keyword in itself, which you can easily target.
Expert Tip: Open 5-10 “People Also Ask” questions in one session and take screenshots of them. These questions are naturally useful for creating H2/H3 subheadings and answers for the FAQ section of your article.
Step 2: Use Google Search Console to Discover New Keywords You Already Rank For
If your website is live and connected to Google Search Console (which is completely free), then this is one of the least used but most powerful tools you can use.
Find “Striking Distance” Keywords
Go to: Performance → Search results → Queries
Filter by location 11–20. These are keywords where your site is already showing up on the second page of Google. You’re not far off. A little tweaking and optimization can easily get you to the first page.
Real-world example :A travel blog checked its Search Console and found that they were ranked #14 for the keyword “budget travel Southeast Asia itinerary.” After slightly optimizing the same page, without creating any new content, they managed to move up to #4 in just six weeks.
Look for Pages With Impressions But Zero Clicks
Filter by impressions (high) and clicks (low). These are topics that Google already considers relevant to your site, but you haven’t yet optimised them properly.
Expert Tip:Sort “Impressions” in descending order and look for queries with many opportunities to aggressively monetise.SaaS10 clicks. This is a conversion problem, which you can fix by improving your title tags and meta descriptions. No need to create new content.
Step 3: Use the Ubersuggest Free Plan to Validate Keyword Difficulty
Neil Patel’s Ubersuggest gives you a free plan that lets you check keyword difficulty, search volume, and see new content ideas. It’s one of the easiest and most accessible tools for beginners who want to learn a low-competition keyword strategy.
How to Find Low Competition Keywords in Ubersuggest
- Go to Ubersuggest and enter your seed keyword.
- Click on “Keyword Ideas” in the left menu.
- Then filter as follows:
- SD (SEO Difficulty): 0–29
- Volume: 100+
- Now view the results and sort by volume to identify good opportunities.
Read the SERP Data Below Each Keyword
Ubersuggest also shows the top-ranking pages for each keyword, including their domain score and estimated backlinks. This is where many beginners miss an important trick.
Don’t just look at the KD score. Look closely at the actual competing pages.but has top competition for sites with a domain score of 20-40 and only 5-10 backlinks to them, that keyword is one you can realistically compete for. Even from a new website.
Expert Tip:Use the low competition filter in Ubersuggest, then sort by CPC (cost per click). A keyword with a low KD and a high CPC shows that advertisers value that traffic. Often because it converts well. Such a combination is rare and worth monetising.
Step 4: Run a Free Keyword Gap Analysis
Keyword gap analysis shows you which keywords your competitors are ranking for and which you are not. You don’t need a paid tool to do the simple version of this.
Manual Method Using Free Tools
- Find 2–3 competing URLs that rank related to your main topic.
- Paste each URL into Ubersuggest, then open “Traffic Analyser” and click on “Keywords.”
- From there, note the keywords that are ranking in the top 1–10 spots.
- Then compare those keywords to your Search Console data to identify any open opportunities.
This free keyword gap finder method won’t give you as in-depth 6 results as Ahrefs, but it will clearly show you real opportunities, especially in niche topics where competition is low.
Use Semrush’s Free Daily Limit
SEMrush gives you 10 free searches per day. It’s a separates those searches wisely.
- First, search for your competitor’s domain. Then go to “Organic Research” and filter by KD: 0–29.
- Now you have a curated list of keywords that your competitor is already ranking for but have low competition, which you can use as an opportunityaggressively monetisingSaaS blog used this same method to discover that a competitor was quietly ranking well on 14 low-KD (keyword difficulty) product comparison keywords. They then created separate, dedicated comparison pages for each keyword. As a result, they were able to take over most of those rankings within about 90 days.
Expert Tip:Always check the publication date of the top-ranking page for your target keyword. If that content is as old as 2018 and hasn’t been updated yet, that’s a clear sign that fresh, well-structured content could overtake it. Even a site with low domain authority can easily do so.
Step 5: Use Google Keyword Planner for Volume Confirmation
Google Keyword Planner is free to use (it only requires a Google Ads account, not necessarily running ads).
It is one of the most reliable sources for search volume data, as it is real data directly from Google.
How to Use It as a Keyword Explorer
- Go to Google Keyword Planner and open “Discover new keywords” .
- Then enter your seed topic.
- Filter as follows:
- Competition: Low (this is advertising competition, but it often indicates organic difficulty)
- Average monthly searches: 100–10,000
- Now export the results misassort by relevance.
Many people don’t pay much attention to the “Competition: Low” filter in Google Keyword Planner.
But when ad competition is low, it often means that there aren’t many advertisers actively investing in that topic. It indicates that fewer SEO players are aggressively monetizing content in that area.
In such cases, organic search results often show poor or outdated quality content, which can easily be overtaken by good, updated content.
Expert Tip:The volume calendar Keyword Planner (like “1K–10K”) are often intentionally vague Uber Suggests that aren’t running ads.
So before you commit to anything seriously, it’s a good idea to compare these estimates with Ubersuggest or Google Search Console.
Cross-referencing this way will give you a better estimate of the actual search volume, and you can make more informed decisions before investing time in a topic.
Step 6: result With a Manual SERP Check (The Step Everyone Skips)
No tool can replace the act of looking at actual search results yourself. This is where a low competition keyword strategy comes into play. It separates the people who do the serious work from those who just export spreadsheets but never get to the rankings.
What to Look for in the SERP
Open an incognito window and search for your target keyword. Then pay attention to:
- Who’s on page one? Big brand sites (Forbes, Wikipedia, Amazon) or small niche blogs?
- How old is the top content? Older articles are often opportunities.
- Are the top results answering the question well? If not, there’s a chance that weaker content is being pushed out.
- ArGoogle Sheets results (like Reddit, Quora) on page one? This shows Google UberSuggest’s clear, good answer—and that’s where you can fill the gap.
Use MozBar (Free Chrome Extension)
Install MozBar. It’s free.
It shows Page Authority (PA) and Domain Authority (DA) directly on the SERP (search results page).
If most of the results have a DA below 40, that’s a good sign that there may be a real opportunity for you on that keyword.
Real-world scenario:A freelance copywriter searched for “email subject line formulas for SaaS.”The SERPs showed three Reddit threads, an old blog post from 2017, and two weak list-style articles. The sites had a domain authority of 22, 31, and 18, respectively.She then wrote and published a well-researched 2,000-word guide.The result .She reached page one in 45 days, without building any backlinks.
Advanced Insight: The “Alphabet Soup” Method for Infinite Ideas
This is a little-known but effective SEO technique that most tutorials miss.This is especially useful for finding long-tail, low-competition keywords in niche markets.
How It Works
- Go to Google.
- Type in your seed keyword, then add each letter of the alphabet one by one.
Example: “Content marketing a,” “Content marketing b,” “Content marketing c”…
Each letter brings up a different autocomplete suggestion. This is where you might come across phrases like “content marketing audit template free,” “content marketing brief example,” or “content marketing calendar google sheets”all of which aren’t found in most regular keyword tools.
Then use Ubersuggest’s free keyword explorer to check the volume and difficulty of these keywords.
This way, you’ll have a long list of highly specific, low-competition keywords that are also really useful to your readers.
Conclusion
Finding low-competition keywords for free isn’t about luck or expensive software. It’s about a continuous iterative process.
Start with Google’s own simple tools. Then check them with free tools like Ubersuggest and Google Keyword Planner.
Then do a simple keyword gap check based on your competitors, and always confirm by looking at the SERPs yourself.
The writers and marketers who consistently rank aren’t the ones with the biggest budgets. They’re the ones who pick the right battles—choosing keywords where they’re likely to win, and delivering better content than they’ve ever had before.
Start today. Open Google Search Console and filter your queries by position 11–20.
You’ll already see 5–10 keywords that are very close to page one—and they’re free to find.
Ready to go deeper? Use Ubersuggest’s Keyword Ideas feature or Google Keyword Planner. Both of these provide a free, basic level of usability that is enough to create a good low-competition keyword strategy right from the start.
Leave a Reply