How is keyword research different for startups?

Startups have low domain authority and limited resources, so they cannot compete on high-volume head terms dominated by established brands. Instead, startups should target long-tail keywords with lower competition and higher purchase intent. A keyword getting 200 searches per month with low difficulty is more valuable than one getting 10,000 with difficulty you cannot crack.

What tools should startups use for keyword research?

Start with free tools before investing in paid ones. Google Search Console shows which queries already drive impressions to your site. Google's People Also Ask and autocomplete suggestions reveal real user questions. When ready for paid tools, Ahrefs, Semrush, or Ubersuggest provide competition data and keyword difficulty scores essential for prioritization.

How many keywords should a startup target?

Start with 20 to 30 primary keywords organized into 3 to 5 topic clusters. Each cluster should have one pillar page targeting a broader term and 5 to 8 supporting pages targeting specific long-tail variations. This focused approach builds topical authority faster than spreading thin across hundreds of unrelated keywords.

How long does it take to rank for keywords as a startup?

New websites typically take 3 to 6 months to rank for low-competition keywords and 6 to 12 months for medium-competition terms. High-competition keywords can take over a year. Publishing consistently, building quality backlinks, and targeting keywords with difficulty scores under 30 accelerates this timeline significantly.

How to Do Keyword Research for Startups

Keyword research for startups is the process of finding search queries your target audience uses and identifying which ones your new website can realistically rank for. Unlike enterprise SEO where you can compete on broad terms, startup keyword research requires a focused strategy that prioritizes low-competition, high-intent keywords.

Why Is Traditional Keyword Research Wrong for Startups?

Most keyword research guides are written for established companies with strong domain authority. They recommend targeting high-volume head terms like "project management software" or "CRM tool" - keywords where the top 10 results are dominated by brands with thousands of backlinks and years of content history.

Startups cannot win this game on day one. According to Ahrefs' study of 2 million keywords, the average page ranking in the top 10 for a high-volume keyword is over 2 years old. New pages almost never crack the top 10 for competitive terms within their first year.

The startup approach is different: find keywords where the competition is weak, the intent is strong, and you can publish the best answer on the internet.

How Do You Find Low-Competition Keywords?

Step 1: Start with Your Product's Problem Space

List every problem your product solves. For each problem, write out how a potential customer would search for a solution. These are your seed keywords.

For example, if you sell social media scheduling software, your problems might include:

Managing multiple social accounts efficiently
Posting at optimal times across platforms
Measuring social media ROI

Each of these generates dozens of specific search queries.

Step 2: Use Google's Free Tools

Before paying for any tool, mine Google's own data:

Google Autocomplete - Start typing your seed keywords and note what Google suggests. These are real queries people search for.
People Also Ask - Search your seed terms and expand every PAA box. These questions are direct content opportunities.
Related Searches - Scroll to the bottom of search results for related query ideas.
Google Search Console - If your site is live, check which queries already generate impressions. These are keywords Google already associates with your content.

Step 3: Filter by Competition and Intent

Use a keyword tool like Ahrefs, Semrush, or Ubersuggest to check keyword difficulty (KD) scores. For startups with new domains, focus on keywords with:

Keyword difficulty under 30 (on most tools' 0-100 scale)
Monthly search volume of 100 to 1,000 (enough traffic to matter, low enough to be winnable)
Commercial or informational intent (people looking to learn or buy, not navigate to a specific site)

Step 4: Validate the SERP

Search each keyword yourself and analyze the first page results. Look for these signals that you can compete:

Results from forums, Quora, or Reddit (low-authority content you can outrank)
Thin content that does not fully answer the query
Old content that has not been updated recently
Missing structured data or schema markup

If the first page is dominated by Wikipedia, major publications, and established SaaS companies, move to a different keyword.

How Do You Organize Keywords into Clusters?

Individual keywords are less valuable than keyword clusters - groups of related terms that share search intent. Clustering your keywords lets you build topical authority faster by creating comprehensive coverage of a subject area.

Build Topic Clusters

Organize your keywords into 3 to 5 core topics. Each topic cluster has:

Pillar page - Targets a broader keyword (e.g., "social media management")
Supporting pages - Target specific long-tail keywords (e.g., "how to manage multiple social media accounts," "best social media scheduling tools")
Internal links - Every supporting page links back to the pillar and to other relevant supporting pages

This structure signals to search engines that your site has deep expertise in these topics. According to HubSpot's content strategy research, sites using topic cluster architecture see an average 13% improvement in search rankings within 6 months.

What Keywords Should Startups Prioritize First?

Not all keywords are worth targeting immediately. Prioritize based on these criteria:

Bottom-of-funnel keywords first - These are queries from people ready to evaluate or buy solutions. Keywords like "best [category] tools for startups" or "[product type] comparison" drive higher-quality traffic than educational terms.

Questions your sales team hears - Every question a prospect asks during a sales call is a keyword opportunity. If prospects keep asking "how to [solve problem]," there is search volume behind it.

Keywords with featured snippet opportunities - Search for your target keywords and note which ones display featured snippets. If the current snippet is weak or incomplete, you have a strong opportunity to capture it by providing a better, more structured answer.

How Does Keyword Research Connect to AI Search?

Traditional keyword research focuses on Google rankings. But with AI search engines like ChatGPT and Perplexity growing rapidly, startups need to think about AI search optimization alongside traditional SEO.

AI models pull answers from content that is well-structured, authoritative, and clearly answers specific questions. This means your keyword research should also identify:

Questions that AI models are likely to receive
Topics where current answers are incomplete or inaccurate
Opportunities to be the definitive source on a niche topic

The good news is that the same long-tail, question-based keywords that work for startup SEO also align well with how people prompt AI search engines. Investing in keyword research that targets specific questions builds visibility across both traditional and AI search channels.

Getting Started

Begin with 20 to 30 keywords organized into 3 topic clusters. Publish one content pillar and 5 to 8 supporting pages per cluster. Focus on keywords with difficulty under 30 and clear commercial or informational intent. Measure rankings monthly and adjust your keyword targets based on what gains traction fastest.

The startups that win at SEO are not the ones targeting the most keywords. They are the ones targeting the right keywords and building deeper content around them than anyone else.