How to Find Long-Tail Keywords: 7 Free Tools & Techniques

But searches such as:

• WordPress web design agency London
• How much does a WordPress website cost?
• Best ecommerce platform for a small UK business

tell you far more about the searcher’s intent. The challenge is knowing how to find these opportunities. Below are seven free tools and techniques you can use to find long-tail keywords, including low-competition searches and questions your potential customers are already asking.

Table of Contents

• What Are Long-Tail Keywords?
• Why Target Long-Tail Keywords?
• 1. Use Google Search Console
• 2. Use Google Autocomplete
• 3. Check Google’s Related Searches
• 4. Use Free Keyword Research Tools
• 5. Find Questions People Are Asking
• 6. Use Google Trends
• 7. Use Your Own Products, Services and Customers
• How to Find Low-Competition Long-Tail Keywords
• Long-Tail Keyword Examples
• How Should You Use Long-Tail Keywords?

What Are Long-Tail Keywords?

Long-tail keywords are specific search queries that tend to have lower search volume than broader head terms. Despite the name, they don’t necessarily have to be long phrases. What matters more is that they’re relatively specific and sit within the “long tail” of search demand. For example:

Broad keyword:
web design

More specific:
WordPress web design

Long-tail search:
WordPress web design agency for financial services

As a search becomes more specific, it often becomes easier to understand what the user actually wants. That can make long-tail keywords particularly useful for SEO content, service pages and conversion-focused landing pages.

Why Target Long-Tail Keywords?

Long-tail keyword research can help you find opportunities that bigger competitors may overlook. They can be useful because they often have:

• Lower competition
• Clearer search intent
• More specific audience needs
• Strong content opportunities
• Higher relevance to particular products or services

You shouldn’t assume every long-tail keyword automatically converts better, but highly specific searches can indicate that someone is further along in their research or buying journey. For smaller businesses in particular, targeting specific opportunities can be a practical way to compete with larger sites. See our guide to SEO tips for small businesses for more ideas.

1. Use Google Search Console

One of the best places to find long-tail keywords is your own website data. If your site already receives impressions in Google, Search Console can show you the real queries people use to discover your pages. Open the Performance report and review the Queries tab. Look for searches that:

• Have impressions but few clicks
• Rank between positions 5 and 20
• Contain specific questions
• Include product, service or location modifiers

These can reveal keywords you’re already close to ranking for. You can also use regular expressions to isolate question-based searches.

^(who|what|when|where|why|how|can|could|should|would|is|are|do|does|did|will|which)\b

This is especially valuable because you’re looking at searches where Google is already showing your site, rather than relying only on estimated keyword data.

2. Use Google Autocomplete

Start typing your main topic into Google and watch the autocomplete suggestions.

For example:

wordpress seo

might lead to suggestions such as:

• WordPress SEO plugins
• WordPress SEO checklist
• WordPress SEO for beginners
• WordPress SEO services

Try adding modifiers such as:

• how
• why
• best
• near me
• for small business
• UK
• cost
• vs

Autocomplete is useful for understanding the language people naturally use when searching.

3. Check Google’s Related Searches

Search for one of your target keywords and look at the related searches Google provides. These can reveal closely connected topics and more specific variations of your original term. For example, if you search:

ecommerce website

you may uncover searches around:

• ecommerce website cost
• ecommerce website builder
• ecommerce website design
• ecommerce platforms for small businesses

Take a promising related query, search for it again, and explore the new related searches.

4. Use Free Keyword Research Tools

Keyword research tools can help you validate the ideas you’ve found manually. Free or limited-free tools include:

• Google Keyword Planner
• Ubersuggest
• AnswerThePublic
• Bing Webmaster Tools

Use them to investigate:

• Approximate search demand
• Related searches
• Keyword difficulty
• Questions
• Topic variations

Don’t choose a keyword purely because a tool labels it “low competition”.

Look at the actual search results too.

Ask:

• Which sites currently rank?
• Are they major authoritative websites?
• Does Google favour articles, service pages or product pages?
• Can you produce something genuinely more useful?

If you’re taking a broader approach to SEO, our guide to holistic SEO explains how keyword targeting fits alongside technical SEO, content and authority.

5. Find Questions People Are Asking

Questions are a natural source of long-tail keywords. Look at places where your audience discusses real problems, including:

• Reddit
• Quora
• Industry forums
• Customer support emails
• Sales conversations
• Google reviews
• Social media discussions

Instead of simply copying a question word-for-word, use these conversations to understand what people are struggling with.

For example:

Is Shopify or WooCommerce better if I only sell about 20 products?

could lead to keywords and content around:

• Shopify vs WooCommerce for small businesses
• Best ecommerce platform for small product catalogues
• WooCommerce vs Shopify costs

Question-led searches are becoming increasingly important as people use more conversational queries. Our guide to voice search, AI search and conversational SEO looks at this in more detail.

6. Use Google Trends to Compare Keyword Ideas

Once you’ve collected several long-tail keyword ideas, use Google Trends to compare them. Google Trends doesn’t provide traditional search-volume figures, but it can show relative interest over time and help you compare different terms. This is particularly useful when two phrases mean roughly the same thing. Trends can also help you identify whether interest is growing, declining or seasonal. Don’t automatically discard a keyword because it has low search volume. A niche term that consistently attracts highly relevant searchers may be more useful than a higher-volume keyword with vague intent.

7. Use Your Own Products, Services and Customers

Some of the best long-tail keywords won’t come from a keyword tool. Start with your actual customers. Think about the questions they ask before buying. Then combine your core topic with modifiers such as:

Service

• WordPress development
• Shopify development
• SEO consultancy

Audience

• for startups
• for charities
• for financial services
• for small businesses

Location

• London
• UK
• near me

If location is important to your business, our guide to improving local search rankings covers local SEO in more detail.

Problem

• slow WordPress website
• ecommerce checkout problems
• website not appearing in Google

Buying Intent

• cost
• price
• agency
• company
• consultant
• quote

For example:

WordPress development

could become:

WordPress development agency London

or:

WordPress development company for financial services

The second phrase may have far less search volume, but if it closely matches what your business offers, that can make it more valuable.

How to Find Low-Competition Long-Tail Keywords

If your main goal is finding easier SEO opportunities, use this process:

1. Start with a broad topic.
2. Gather suggestions from Google Autocomplete and related searches.
3. Check your existing Search Console queries.
4. Use keyword tools to estimate search demand and competition.
5. Search the keyword manually.
6. Review the pages currently ranking.
7. Prioritise keywords where you can genuinely satisfy the search intent.

Look particularly closely at keywords where your existing pages already rank between positions 8 and 20. Moving a relevant result from page two into the top ten can sometimes be a more realistic opportunity than starting from scratch with a completely new keyword. Once a page begins attracting visibility, internal links and external links can also help strengthen its authority. Read our guide to link building tactics for more on building authority.

Long-Tail Keyword Examples

Web Design

• web design agency
• web design agency London
• WordPress web design agency London
• WordPress web design agency for charities

SEO

• SEO services
• SEO services London
• technical SEO agency London
• technical SEO audit for ecommerce websites

eCommerce

• ecommerce development
• ecommerce development agency
• Magento ecommerce development agency
• Magento development agency for B2B ecommerce

The goal isn’t to make a keyword as long as possible. The goal is to identify searches that accurately match what the user wants and what your business can provide.

How Should You Use Long-Tail Keywords?

Once you’ve identified a useful keyword, don’t simply repeat it throughout an existing page. First decide what kind of page should satisfy the search. A long-tail keyword might deserve:

• Its own blog article
• A section within a broader guide
• A service page
• A FAQ answer
• A product or category page
• An update to an existing article

Group closely related keywords together rather than creating separate pages for every minor wording variation. For example:

• how to find long tail keywords
• finding long tail keywords
• find long tail keywords free

can all be addressed naturally within one strong guide. If you’re turning keyword research into a wider content strategy, our content marketing services focus on connecting search demand with useful content rather than publishing simply for the sake of volume.

Start With the Search Data You Already Have

You don’t need an expensive SEO platform to begin finding long-tail keywords. Google Search Console, Google Search, Google Trends and free keyword research tools can already reveal a large number of opportunities. Start with the queries your website is already appearing for, identify searches where your position is close to page one, and then build content that answers the underlying search intent better. If you need help identifying SEO opportunities for your website, explore Lilo’s SEO services or get in touch with our team.