How to Use Ahrefs Keyword Generator for Free Keyword Research

Ahrefs Keyword Generator is a free keyword research tool for quickly discovering search terms around a topic without starting with the full Ahrefs Keywords Explorer workflow.

Enter a seed keyword, choose the search engine and target market, and the tool returns related keyword ideas and questions with useful SEO data. It is particularly useful when you need to explore a new topic, find long-tail variations or build an initial keyword shortlist before doing deeper research.

The important distinction is that Keyword Generator is best treated as a fast discovery tool. If you need to analyse large keyword sets, organise keywords into lists, investigate Parent Topics, compare SERPs or build a complete keyword map, Ahrefs Keywords Explorer is the more appropriate workflow.

In this guide, you will learn how to use the free Ahrefs Keyword Generator step by step, what its data means, where the free workflow stops and when it makes sense to move into Keywords Explorer.

What Is Ahrefs Keyword Generator?

Ahrefs Keyword Generator is one of Ahrefs’ standalone keyword research tools. It lets you enter a topic and discover related searches without beginning with the full paid keyword research platform.

For example, if you enter:

employee onboarding

you may discover searches around employee onboarding software, onboarding checklists, new-hire onboarding, remote onboarding and related questions.

That makes the tool useful for the discovery stage of keyword research, when you are still trying to understand how people search around a broader topic.

Is Ahrefs Keyword Generator free?

Yes. Ahrefs provides a standalone version of Keyword Generator as a free SEO tool.

Ahrefs also offers a separate free account for some of its products, but you do not need to confuse the two. The standalone Keyword Generator is designed for quick keyword discovery, while broader Ahrefs platform access provides additional research and workflow capabilities.

Free-tool limits and the interface can change, so use the current Ahrefs tool itself as the source of truth for the exact number of ideas or metrics available at any given time.

How to Use Ahrefs Keyword Generator Step by Step

The tool is simple to operate. The more important skill is knowing what to do with the ideas it returns.

Step 1: Open the Free Ahrefs Keyword Generator

Go to the Ahrefs Keyword Generator and start with a topic closely connected to the product, service, problem or audience you want to research.

You do not need to begin with a perfectly optimised keyword. At this stage, you are looking for a useful seed topic that can reveal how people search.

For a B2B SaaS company selling employee onboarding software, good starting seeds could include:

• employee onboarding
• onboarding software
• new hire onboarding
• employee training
• remote onboarding

Start broad enough to discover different directions, but not so broad that most of the results become irrelevant.

Step 2: Choose the Search Engine

Select the search engine or platform you want to research.

For most SEO work, start with Google. Ahrefs also provides keyword discovery for platforms such as YouTube, Bing and Amazon, which can be useful when the content or product you are researching lives on those platforms.

A Google keyword and a YouTube keyword can reflect very different behaviour, so choose the platform based on where you actually want to gain visibility.

Step 3: Select the Target Country

Choose the country that matches your target market.

This matters because search demand, terminology and competition can vary significantly between locations.

If your SaaS company sells primarily to US businesses, use the United States rather than choosing a broader market simply because it produces larger search-volume numbers.

Keyword research should reflect the buyers you want to reach.

Step 4: Enter Your Seed Keyword and Generate Ideas

Enter your starting topic and run the search.

Review the resulting keyword variations before looking only at the highest-volume terms.

At this point, look for three things:

1. Searches that are clearly relevant to your product or expertise.
2. Variations that reveal a different search intent or use case.
3. Question keywords that could become useful sections, FAQs or supporting content.

A keyword deserves attention because it represents a useful search opportunity, not merely because its volume is high.

Step 5: Review Question Keywords

Question searches are one of the most useful outputs for content research.

A broad seed such as employee onboarding may lead you towards questions about how onboarding works, what an onboarding process should include, how long onboarding should take or what tools companies use.

These searches are useful because they expose the specific jobs a searcher wants a page to complete.

They can become:

• sections within an existing guide
• FAQ answers
• supporting articles
• tutorial topics
• content briefs

Do not create a separate page for every question. If several questions share the same underlying intent, answer them on the same strong page.

Step 6: Use Search Volume and Keyword Difficulty as Filters, Not Decisions

Search Volume helps estimate demand for a query, while Keyword Difficulty helps estimate how competitive the current Google results may be.

Both metrics are useful for narrowing a list, but neither should select the keyword for you.

A keyword with high volume may be irrelevant to your product. A keyword with low KD may still have the wrong search intent. A lower-volume term can be commercially valuable when the people searching it closely match your target customer.

Before committing to a keyword, also ask:

• What does the searcher want?
• What type of page is currently ranking?
• Does the topic relate to the product or service?
• Do similar searches belong on the same page?
• Can your site realistically create something useful enough to compete?

If you need to compare the authority of websites already ranking, our guide on how to check Domain Rating in Ahrefs explains how to use DR without treating it as a ranking score.

Step 7: Decide Whether You Need Keywords Explorer

For quick discovery, the free generator may be enough.

Move into Ahrefs Keywords Explorer when your task changes from:

“What keyword ideas exist?”

to questions such as:

“Which of these keywords should we target?”

“Do these searches belong on one page?”

“What is the broader traffic opportunity?”

“What does the SERP look like?”

“How do I analyse hundreds or thousands of keywords efficiently?”

That deeper workflow belongs in our Ahrefs Keywords Explorer tutorial.

How to Read Ahrefs Keyword Generator Data

The tool gives you keyword ideas, but metrics require interpretation.

Here are the two numbers beginners should understand first.

Search Volume

Search volume estimates how often people search for a particular keyword during an average month.

A keyword with more volume can represent a larger potential audience, but higher search volume does not automatically make it a better keyword.

Consider:

marketing versus B2B SaaS content marketing agency

The first term is much broader. The second likely has significantly clearer commercial intent for a company selling SaaS content marketing services. A smaller, highly relevant audience can be far more valuable than a large audience with weak purchase intent.

Keyword Difficulty

Keyword Difficulty, commonly shortened to KD, is Ahrefs’ estimate of how difficult it may be to rank in Google’s top results for a keyword.

Ahrefs scores KD from 0 to 100, with higher scores indicating greater estimated ranking difficulty.

But KD should be treated as a screening metric, not a final go or no-go decision.

Before targeting an important keyword, examine:

• Who currently ranks?
• What types of pages rank?
• How authoritative are those websites?
• How strong are their backlink profiles?
• Does Google prefer guides, category pages, tools or comparison pages?
• Can your page genuinely provide something better?

If backlink strength is part of your evaluation, our guide on how to find competitor backlinks using Ahrefs shows how to investigate the sites you’re competing against.

Use the Questions Tab for Long-Tail Keywords

One of the most useful parts of the Ahrefs Keyword Generator is its question-based keyword discovery.

Instead of only finding phrases like keyword research, you may uncover questions such as:

• what is keyword research?
• how do you do keyword research?
• why is keyword research important?
• how to find low competition keywords?
• what is keyword difficulty?

Question keywords are valuable because they reveal exactly what searchers want answered.

They can become:

• Standalone tutorial topics
• H2 or H3 sections
• FAQ questions
• Supporting articles in a topic cluster
• Answers designed for AI search and answer engines

However, don’t automatically create a new page for every question.

If multiple questions have essentially the same search intent, answering them comprehensively on one strong page is usually more useful than publishing several thin articles.

How We Decide Which Keywords Are Actually Worth Targeting

Generating keywords is easy. Prioritizing them is where SEO strategy begins. At OneMetrik, we would evaluate a keyword using four signals.

1. Business Relevance

Ask:

If someone searching this term lands on our website, could they realistically become a customer?

A B2B SaaS business should generally prioritize topics closely connected to the problem its product solves.

Traffic without business relevance becomes a vanity metric.

2. Search Intent

Determine what the searcher expects to see.

Search intent commonly falls into categories such as:

• Informational: learning something
• Commercial: researching solutions
• Transactional: ready to take action
• Navigational: trying to reach a specific brand or website

Then inspect the actual Google results.

If Google consistently ranks software category pages for a query, publishing a 3,000-word educational guide may not satisfy that intent.

3. Ranking Feasibility

KD can provide a quick starting signal, but review the actual competition as well.

Compare:

• Domain strength
• Page-level backlinks
• Content quality
• Search intent alignment
• Brand authority
• Depth of coverage

You can also use our guide to check Domain Rating in Ahrefs when evaluating competing websites.

4. Revenue Potential

Finally, ask where the keyword sits in the customer journey.

For example:

what is PPC?
Broad informational intent

B2B PPC strategy
Problem-aware intent

best B2B PPC agencies
Solution-aware and high commercial intent

B2B PPC agency pricing
Potentially very close to purchase

An SEO program needs content across the funnel, but commercial keywords deserve appropriate priority when your objective is pipeline rather than traffic alone.

Ahrefs Keyword Generator vs Keywords Explorer

Ahrefs Keyword Generator and Keywords Explorer both help with keyword research, but they solve different stages of the job.

Capability	Free Keyword Generator	Keywords Explorer
Best for	Fast keyword discovery and initial exploration	Full keyword research, evaluation and prioritisation
Starting point	One or a small number of seed topics	Seed keywords or larger keyword sets
Keyword ideas	Designed for quick discovery	Designed for deeper and larger-scale exploration
Questions	Useful for finding question-based searches	Available within broader keyword research reports
SEO metrics	Useful metrics for initial evaluation	Deeper metrics and research context
Filters and topic analysis	Useful for narrowing ideas	Better suited to detailed, repeatable analysis
Parent Topic and SERP context	Useful context may be surfaced in the keyword workflow	Designed for deeper Parent Topic, clustering and SERP analysis
Bulk research	Not the main use case	Better suited to analysing large keyword sets
Research workflow	Lightweight and discovery-focused	More comprehensive and repeatable
Best next step	Build an initial shortlist	Validate, group and prioritise opportunities

The simplest distinction is:

Keyword Generator helps you discover ideas.

Keywords Explorer helps you analyse, organise and prioritise them.

Keywords Explorer also supports much larger keyword workflows. If you already have a sizeable list from Search Console, competitor research or customer interviews, it is usually more efficient to analyse that list there instead of processing each topic through a free generator individually.

How to Turn Free Keyword Ideas Into a Page Plan

Finding keywords is only the first step. The next decision is whether each keyword needs a new page, belongs on an existing page or should not be targeted at all.

Suppose you discover:

• SaaS content marketing
• content marketing for SaaS
• B2B SaaS content marketing
• SaaS content marketing strategy
• SaaS content strategy
• how to create a SaaS content strategy

Those phrases do not automatically require six articles.

Group the ideas by search intent and compare the pages that already rank for the important variations.

If Google repeatedly ranks the same URLs for several queries, those keywords may belong on the same page. If the search results and searcher expectations are materially different, separate pages may make sense.

Then assign each opportunity one simple action:

Create: There is a distinct search intent and no suitable existing page.

Update: You already have the correct owner page but it needs stronger coverage.

Combine: Several ideas or URLs are competing for essentially the same search intent.

Drop: The keyword is irrelevant, commercially weak or inconsistent with your site strategy.

This prevents one of the most expensive keyword-research mistakes: turning every keyword variation into another URL.

Don’t Optimize for Search Volume Alone

One of the easiest ways to waste an SEO budget is to prioritize a spreadsheet instead of the customer journey.

Consider these hypothetical keywords for an analytics SaaS company:

Keyword	Search volume	Business value
What is analytics?	High	Low
Marketing analytics examples	Medium	Medium
Best marketing analytics software	Lower	High
Marketing analytics software for SaaS	Lower	Very high

The largest keyword may generate the most impressions.

The smallest keyword may generate the most qualified pipeline.

There is nothing wrong with targeting top-of-funnel searches. They can build topical authority, links and brand awareness.

But a strong SEO strategy should connect informational content to commercially valuable pages.

For B2B SaaS companies, this is the difference between growing traffic and building an organic acquisition channel.

Optimize Keywords for Google and AI Search

Keyword research remains useful in 2026, but search visibility is no longer limited to traditional organic listings.

Your content may also be surfaced, summarized or referenced by AI-driven search experiences.

That means a target keyword should not simply appear repeatedly throughout a page.

Create sections that directly answer the related questions your audience asks.

For example:

What is the Ahrefs Keyword Generator?

Answer the question immediately.

Is Ahrefs Keyword Generator free?

Give the answer before adding detail.

What’s the difference between Keyword Generator and Keywords Explorer?

Use a concise explanation and comparison table.

Clear, self-contained answers make content easier for both users and machines to understand.

We cover this approach in more depth in our guide to Answer Engine Optimization (AEO).

Limitations of the Free Ahrefs Keyword Generator

The free Ahrefs Keyword Generator is useful for discovery, but it should not be treated as a complete SEO planning system.

Its biggest limitation is not that it cannot produce useful ideas. It is that a list of ideas still does not tell you which pages your website should create.

For deeper research, you may need to analyse:

• broader keyword datasets
• search intent
• Traffic Potential
• Parent Topics
• SERP competition
• keyword clustering
• keyword lists
• competitor rankings
• historical or trend data
• large batches of keywords

That is where Keywords Explorer becomes more useful.

Use the free generator to expand the search landscape. Use deeper keyword research to decide what deserves your time and what page should own the query. for strategic analysis.

Ahrefs Keyword Generator Alternatives

Ahrefs isn’t the only free way to discover keyword ideas.

Depending on the job, you can combine it with:

Google Search Console

Best for identifying keywords your existing pages already appear for.

If your website has been publishing content for a while, these queries can reveal easy optimization opportunities.

Our tutorial explains how to check website keyword rankings in Google Search Console.

Google Keyword Planner

Useful for keyword ideas and paid search planning, particularly if you’re already running Google Ads.

Google Trends

Useful for understanding whether interest in a topic is growing, declining or seasonal.

Ahrefs Keywords Explorer

Best when you need deeper filtering, clustering, competitive analysis and prioritization.

The tools don’t need to compete with each other.

A strong workflow can use one tool for discovery, another for validation and Search Console for measuring what happens after publication.

A Simple Ahrefs Keyword Research Workflow

If you’re just getting started, use this workflow:

1. Choose 3 to 5 seed topics
Start with problems your customers actually experience.

2. Run each topic through Ahrefs Keyword Generator
Collect relevant keyword and question ideas.

3. Remove irrelevant keywords
Don’t keep a term just because it has search volume.

4. Group similar searches by intent
Avoid creating multiple pages for near-identical queries.

5. Prioritize business value
Give commercially relevant searches appropriate weight.

6. Validate the SERP
Look at what currently ranks before deciding on the page format.

7. Create or optimize the page
Build something that satisfies the query more completely than existing results.

8. Measure rankings after publication
Use Google Search Console to see which queries actually generate impressions and clicks.

That turns Ahrefs from a keyword idea generator into part of an SEO operating system.

Is Ahrefs Keyword Generator Worth Using?

Yes. Ahrefs Keyword Generator is useful when you want a fast, free way to explore a topic and discover related keyword ideas before committing to deeper research.

It works particularly well for early-stage topic discovery, finding long-tail searches, identifying questions and generating starting points for a keyword brief.

It is less suitable when you already have hundreds of keywords and need to compare opportunities, cluster them, inspect SERPs or build a complete content roadmap.

A practical workflow is:

Discover with Keyword Generator, validate with Keywords Explorer and the live SERP, then measure the resulting page in Google Search Console.

Frequently Asked Questions About Ahrefs Keyword Generator

Ahrefs Keyword Generator is a strong starting point for free keyword research because it quickly turns a broad topic into real search ideas.

Its value is highest at the discovery stage.

Once you need to decide which topics deserve pages, analyse competition, group related searches or build a larger SEO roadmap, move into a deeper workflow instead of treating the generator as the strategy itself.

If you want to see that process in Ahrefs, continue with our Ahrefs Keywords Explorer tutorial.