Keyword Generator: How to Find Long-Tail Keywords for Free

Why look for long-tail keywords at all?

Because a short keyword says almost nothing about what the person wants, while a longer one tells you exactly which page to write. “Running shoes” could be someone browsing, comparing brands or looking for a store. “Running shoes for flat feet” is a precise problem you can answer in one page.

A long-tail keyword is that longer, more specific query. Each one is typed less often than the broad term, which is often why a small or recent site has a better shot at it: fewer pages target it exactly, and the reader’s need is clear enough for you to meet it better than a generic page.

Google’s own starter guide asks site owners to think in these terms, starting from the reader rather than from a tool.

Think about the words that a user might search for to find a piece of your content. Users who know a lot about the topic might use different keywords in their search queries than someone who is new to the topic.

Google Search Central, SEO Starter Guide

The same guide adds a reassurance worth keeping in mind as you build your list: you do not need every variation. “Google’s language matching systems are sophisticated and can understand how your page relates to many queries, even if you don’t explicitly use the exact terms in them.” The goal of long-tail research is to find the distinct needs, not to collect every phrasing of the same one.

The method below takes one seed through five steps. We use “running shoes” as the seed throughout, the same example the free keyword generator offers, so you can follow along.

How do you generate long-tail ideas from one seed keyword?

Combine the seed with modifiers, grouped by the intent they signal. A modifier is the word or phrase people add around the core term: “best”, “how to choose”, “for beginners”, “vs”, “guide”. Each family of modifiers pulls the query toward a different kind of page.

Modifier family	Examples with “running shoes”	Intent it usually signals
Questions	how to choose running shoes, when to replace running shoes, are running shoes worth it	Informational
Buying	best running shoes, running shoes price, running shoes review	Commercial
Comparisons	running shoes vs, running shoes alternatives, cheap vs premium running shoes	Comparison
Audiences	running shoes for beginners, running shoes for women, running shoes for kids	Commercial
Qualifiers	lightweight running shoes, durable running shoes, running shoes near me	Commercial or local
Formats	running shoes size guide, running shoes mistakes to avoid, running shoes tips	Informational

The free Tonaily keyword generator does it as you type: it combines your seed with lists of question, buying, comparison, audience, qualifier and format modifiers, labels each idea with its intent, lets you filter by family, and exports the list to CSV or copies it in one click.

Be clear about what that list is: ideas, not data. A modifier-based generator does not know whether anyone searches for “running shoes for students”. It gives you a structured set of candidates in a few seconds; the next steps tell you which ones real people actually type and which ones deserve a page. The tool shows no search volumes for that reason, rather than displaying invented ones.

Where do you find the long-tail queries people really type?

In four free places: Google’s own search box, the results page, your Search Console, and your competitors’ pages. These sources complement the generator, because they surface phrasings no modifier list would think of.

Google autocomplete. Type your seed followed by a space, then a letter, and note the predictions. Google’s help page on autocomplete says that “autocomplete predictions reflect real searches that have been done on Google,” and that predictions also depend on the language and location of the query. The same page notes that signed-in users can see personalized predictions based on their activity, so use a private window to get a neutral view. Try the seed with question words in front (“how running shoes”, “why running shoes”) and with each letter of the alphabet after it.

The results page itself. Search for your seed and a few of your best ideas, and read the page. The questions box that often appears in the middle of the results, and the related searches at the bottom, show you how Google connects the topic to other queries. Each question you find there is a candidate long-tail keyword, and often a ready-made subheading.

Your own Search Console. If your site already gets some traffic, this is the most valuable source, because these are queries for which Google already shows your pages. The Performance report lets you “learn which queries are bringing traffic to your site.” Open it, select the Queries tab, show impressions, and extend the date range beyond the default three months. Look for long queries with impressions but few clicks: Google already associates your site with them, but no page answers them well. Note one caveat from the same help page: even if a query appears in your list, you might not see your site when you run it yourself, because results “are specific to the time, place, device, and recent history of the person searching.”

Competitor pages. Open the pages that rank for your seed and read their headings. The subtopics they cover, and the questions they answer in an FAQ, are long-tail queries they have chosen to target. You are not copying their content, you are mapping the questions the topic involves.

How do you sort long-tail keywords by search intent?

By asking, for each idea, what the person expects to find when they click. Search intent is that underlying goal, and it decides the kind of page you need far more than the exact words do.

Four labels cover most cases:

Intent	What the person wants	Example	Page that fits
Informational	To understand or learn how	when to replace running shoes	Guide or how-to article
Commercial	To compare before buying	best running shoes for beginners	Buying guide, comparison, selection
Transactional	To buy or act now	buy running shoes online	Product or category page
Local	A place nearby	running shoes near me	Store page, local listing

The modifier gives you a first guess, which is why the keyword generator tags each idea with one. Then confirm it on Google: search the query and look at what ranks. If the first results are product listings, a long article will struggle there, whatever the words suggest. If they are guides, a category page will struggle. The results page shows you what Google has learned people want for that query, and it is the most reliable check you have.

Drop the ideas that do not match what you offer. “Running shoes for kids” is a fine keyword, but not for a store that only sells adult trail shoes.

How do you check volume and difficulty before writing?

Check two things for each candidate: whether enough people search for it to justify a page, and whether the pages already ranking are beatable.

Volume. Google Keyword Planner is the reference source for search volumes from Google itself. Its help pages describe two entry points: “Discover new keywords” for ideas, and “Get search volume and forecasts” for a list you already have, which is where you paste your shortlist. Two details from Google’s documentation are worth knowing before you rely on it:

• To access it, “you must complete your account setup by entering your billing information to access basic features like ‘Get ideas for new keywords’.”
• “Average monthly searches” is defined as “the average number of times people have searched for a keyword and its close variants based on the month range as well as the location and Search Network settings you selected.” Set the location and language to your market before reading the numbers.

For queries your site already appears on, Search Console impressions are a second, very concrete signal: they count how many times your site appeared in results for that query.

Difficulty. Here, be careful with Keyword Planner’s “Competition” column. Google defines it as “the number of advertisers that showed on each keyword relative to all keywords across Google.” It measures competition for ads, not how hard it is to rank organically. A keyword can be “high” there and still have weak organic results, or the reverse.

To judge organic difficulty for free, open the results page and look at what ranks:

• Are the top pages written precisely for this query, or are they broad pages that only mention it?
• Are they from sites much larger than yours, or from sites of your size?
• Do they answer the question completely, or do they leave obvious gaps you could fill?

A long-tail query where the top results are broad pages that only half answer it is a good target. One where the first page is all exact-match, thorough pages from major sites is a poor target for now.

Should you create one page or several for similar keywords?

One page per intent, not one page per keyword. If two long-tail queries mean the same thing to the reader and bring up the same results on Google, they belong on the same page. If the intent or the results differ, they need separate pages.

A quick test: search both queries and compare the first results. If most of the same pages rank for both, Google treats them as one need. “Best running shoes for beginners” and “running shoes for new runners” will typically land on one page. “How to choose running shoes” and “best running shoes 2026” will not: one wants a method, the other a ranked selection.

Splitting the same need across several pages does not help. Google’s starter guide recommends ensuring “that each piece of content on your site is only accessible through one individual URL,” and notes that duplicate content is “not a violation of our spam policies, but it can be a bad user experience and search engines might waste crawling resources on URLs that you don’t even care about.” It also lists keyword stuffing among the things not to focus on:

Excessively repeating the same words over and over (even in variations) is tiring for users, and keyword stuffing is against Google's spam policies.

Google Search Central, SEO Starter Guide

In practice, one group becomes one page: the main query in the title, the close variants used naturally in the text, and the related questions as subheadings. When a topic yields several groups with different intents, publish them as a pillar page on the broad topic and supporting articles on each long-tail group, linked to each other.

A worked example: from “running shoes” to a publishing plan

Here is the whole method applied to one seed, for a small online store selling road running shoes.

1. Generate. Typing “running shoes” in the keyword generator gives several dozen ideas across six families. Export them to CSV.
2. Add real queries. In a private window, autocomplete for “running shoes for” and “how to choose running shoes” adds phrasings the list did not have. The questions box on the results page adds others. The store’s Search Console shows impressions on a few long queries about sizing that no page answers.
3. Cut. Remove what the store does not sell: kids’ shoes, trail shoes, used shoes, “near me” queries for a shop with no physical store.
4. Sort by intent. The remaining ideas fall into three groups: choosing (informational), sizing (informational), and selections for beginners or for specific needs (commercial).
5. Check. Volumes in Keyword Planner, with the location set to the store’s market. Then a look at each results page: the sizing queries show forum threads and brand pages with partial answers, a sign of an open target. “Best running shoes” shows thorough pages from large publishers: set aside for now.
6. Group into pages. Three pages come out of it: a guide on how to choose running shoes, a sizing guide that absorbs every sizing variant, and a selection page for beginners. Each links to the others and to the matching category.

What should you check before writing the page?

How do you go from a list of keywords to a content plan?

Run the method once per seed, keep the groups in a spreadsheet, and publish the groups where your site has a real chance first.

To get started, generate a first list for your main topic with the free keyword generator, then run it through the steps above.

People also ask AI assistants like ChatGPT questions in their own words, and those questions read a lot like long-tail queries. The guides on generative engine optimization and on which prompts to track for AI visibility pick up from there, and AI content and Google covers how to write those pages with AI without breaking Google’s rules.