Conducting Keyword Research for a Newly Launched Website

Finding the right keywords with a monthly search volume between 100 and 1000 and a difficulty score under 40 is the recommended starting point for brand-new websites, according to HubSpot’s 2026 keyword research guide. That easy-to-manage threshold helps balance visibility and competition, making it a reliable foundation for building organic traffic.

This process enables marketers to bridge the gap between consumer intent and website content. By targeting the right keywords, websites can optimize their pages for search engines, improving both visibility and organic traffic. Link Assistant explains that evaluating queries based on search volume, competition, and difficulty helps determine whether a keyword suits a site’s goals, according to Semrush. It’s not just about volume—the fit matters more.

Why is keyword research important?

The implications of neglecting keyword research are steep for new websites that need early traction and validation. Marketermilk reports that only about 10% of targeted keywords deliver most results, so relying on guesswork or popular high-volume keywords often wastes effort and resources. Focusing on that top 10% can drastically boost return on investment.

Why is keyword research important for SEO and AI search?

People use more complex and natural language prompts with AI tools than standard keyword phrases, which expands keyword research to analyzing long-tail and conversational queries. Semrush notes that searchers now enter far longer prompts, forcing marketers to rethink keyword targeting beyond traditional phrases. Knowing which queries rank for a site in AI search is also possible through tools like Google Search Console (GSC), which reveals actual queries appearing in AI-generated responses.

Bing Webmaster Tools complements this by showing website performance in Microsoft Copilot’s AI results, providing data on how pages appear in AI-driven answers. Both tools give a fuller picture of keyword relevance across platforms.

How has keyword research changed?

Keyword research has evolved since the early 2000s when it focused solely on high-volume keywords. Mangools outlines that SEO in that era boiled down to finding the highest search volume keywords and stuffing them into website text.

Semrush identifies three main changes shaping keyword research: the rise of AI search capturing popular keywords early, the spread of target audiences across platforms like Reddit and Amazon, and evolving user behavior.

How to find keywords

Using Google Keyword Planner, marketers can evaluate metrics like monthly search volume, competition, and bid ranges to prioritize keywords. However, Link Assistant warns that Keyword Planner primarily serves advertisers and tends to overemphasize highly competitive keywords. Supplementing it with Google Search Console data helps by revealing real search queries for already indexed pages, which spotlights attainable keyword targets.

Semrush recommends broadening keyword sources to include search data from platforms such as Reddit and Amazon, along with AI query insights, because audiences fragment across multiple search venues.

HubSpot recommends that new websites target keywords with a difficulty score under 40 to keep competition manageable.

Once keyword data is gathered, monitoring performance with tools like Google Search Console and Bing Webmaster Tools helps refine targeting over time.

New websites also need to consider how AI search reshapes keyword relevance by favoring longer conversational queries and expanding search platforms beyond Google. A keyword research strategy that incorporates these changes ensures early competitive positioning. Marketermilk’s data showing that only 10% of keywords usually contribute the majority of results further highlights the importance of prioritization and funnel-based keyword segmentation.

Tools like Google Search Console and Bing Webmaster Tools provide vital ongoing performance data that inform timely adjustments, helping websites stay ahead in evolving search landscapes.