## **🤔 The Problem: You Don't Know Where to Begin**

Starting keyword research feels impossible when you can't think of a single keyword your brand should rank for. This is more common than you might think — especially for new brands, niche products, or businesses entering unfamiliar markets. The good news: you don't need keywords to find keywords. You just need to describe what your brand **does**, **solves**, or **sells**.

This guide walks you through a general approach to surface your first meaningful keywords using Search Atlas — no prior keyword knowledge required.

## **🧭 Step 1: Describe Your Brand in Plain Language First**

Before opening any tool, answer these three questions in plain, everyday language — the kind your customers would use, not industry terms:

- **What does your product or service do?** (e.g. "helps small restaurants manage online orders")
- **What problem does it solve?** (e.g. "saves time on manual order tracking")
- **Who uses it?** (e.g. "restaurant owners, café managers")

Write your answers as short phrases. These are not keywords yet — they are raw material. You will use them in the next steps to let Search Atlas surface real keyword opportunities.

## **🔎 Step 2: Use Your Phrases in the Keyword Researcher**

Navigate to the **Keyword Researcher** tool within Search Atlas.

1. Type one of your plain-language phrases into the search bar. Use the most specific phrase first — for example, *"online order management for restaurants"* rather than just *"restaurants"*.
2. Run the search. Do not worry if the phrase feels imperfect. The tool will return related terms, variations, and questions that real users are searching for.
3. Scan the results for terms that match your brand's offering. Look for keywords with lower competition and a reasonable search volume — these tend to be the best starting point for a brand with no existing rankings.
4. Repeat with your other plain-language phrases. Each search will surface a different cluster of keyword ideas.

By the end of this step, you will have a working list of candidate keywords — even if none of them were obvious to you before.

## **🏆 Step 3: Research Competitors to Validate Your Direction**

If you are still unsure which keywords are right for your brand, look at what competitors rank for. You do not need to know their keywords either — just their website URL.

1. Identify two or three websites that offer something similar to your brand. These could be direct competitors or brands in adjacent spaces.
2. Use the available competitor research features in Search Atlas to enter a competitor's domain and review the keywords they rank for.
3. Look for keyword patterns that overlap with what your brand offers. These validated keywords can serve as strong additions to your initial list.

Combining your own plain-language phrases with insights from competitor research gives you a well-rounded starting set of keywords — even when you had none to begin with.

If you need further assistance, open the chat widget in the bottom-right corner of the platform and type **human teammate** to be connected with a member of our team.