The question “what keywords does a website rank for” hides two very different jobs, and most guides answer only one. For your own site, Google Search Console shows the real queries people typed, with impressions, clicks and average position, for free. For someone else’s site, you need an SEO tool that estimates rankings from its own index: Semrush, Ahrefs, Ubersuggest or Moz; most have a free tier that shows the top handful. Both routes are below, with what the numbers mean, how far to trust them, and the mistake most people make when they copy a competitor’s keyword list.
How do you see the keywords your own website ranks for?
- Open Google Search Console and verify the site if you have not (DNS record, HTML tag, or the built-in connection on Squarespace and most WordPress SEO plugins).
- Click Performance, then Search results.
- Set the date range to the last 3 or 12 months.
- The Queries table is the list: every search that showed your site, with clicks, impressions, click-through rate and average position.
- Click a query, then the Pages tab, to see which page ranks for it.
Google’s Performance report guide explains the four metrics. The one to read first is impressions with a position between 5 and 20: those are keywords Google already thinks the page might answer, and a rewrite of the title or a better section usually moves them faster than any new page would. Search Console only shows data from the moment it was connected, which is why connecting Search Console on day one matters (that guide is for Squarespace; WordPress SEO plugins have the same one-click connection).
What keywords does a website rank for when it is not yours?
| Tool | Free tier shows | Paid tier adds | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Semrush (Organic Research) | Top 10 keywords per domain, 10 requests a day | Full list with volume, KD, intent, position history, page-level view | Largest database for most markets; the one I use for this site |
| Ahrefs (Site Explorer, Webmaster Tools) | Top keywords for sites you verify; limited competitor data | Full organic keywords, traffic estimates, page comparisons | Strong backlink data alongside |
| Ubersuggest | A few competitor lookups a day | Keyword lists, content ideas | Cheapest paid option; smaller index |
| Moz (Keyword Explorer) | 10 queries a month | Ranking keywords and difficulty | Difficulty scores differ from the others |
| Google itself | Type site:competitor.com plus a topic | Nothing | Shows which pages exist, not what they rank for |
- Enter the competitor’s domain in the tool’s organic or site explorer view.
- Filter to positions 1 to 10 and, for a small site, keyword difficulty under 10 to 20; that is where a newer site can compete.
- Sort by volume, then open the Pages view to see which URLs do the work. Two or three pages usually bring most of the traffic.
- Export the list and mark every keyword where your site has no page. That gap is the content plan.
This is the method behind the topics on this blog: pull the low-difficulty keywords from designers and studios in the same niche, check what actually ranks, and write the better answer. The keyword research guide for photographers walks through the same process for one industry.
How accurate are competitor keyword tools?
Less than the interface suggests. The tools crawl a sample of searches and estimate the rest, so:
- Volumes are rounded ranges. A “390” is closer to “somewhere between 200 and 600 depending on the month”.
- Positions lag. Rankings are refreshed weekly to monthly; a page can be at 3 in the tool and 11 today.
- Small and local sites are undercounted. A photographer ranking for “wedding photographer Leeds” often shows as ranking for nothing, because the tool’s database never sampled that query.
- Traffic estimates are guesses stacked on guesses. Use them to compare two sites, not as a figure to quote.
Search Console is the ground truth for your own site and the only place to get it. Tools are for everyone else’s.
What do you do with a competitor keyword list?
Not copy it. A competitor with ten years of links can rank for “web design” head terms that a two-year-old site cannot; chasing those produces pages that sit on page four. Filter the list three ways:
- Difficulty you can win: keyword difficulty roughly at or below your own authority; for a new site that means KD 0 to 10.
- Intent you can serve: a question you can answer better, or a service you offer. Skip informational queries that bring readers who will never buy.
- Gaps, not duplicates: where you already rank on page one for a topic, improve that page rather than writing a rival to it.
Then write each page to beat what ranks: more specific steps, real numbers, screenshots, the title rules Google itself publishes, and the on-page basics from the on-page SEO tips for small business sites.
Can you see what keywords a website uses in its code?
You can see what the site is targeting, which is not the same as what it ranks for. View the page source and read the <title>, the <h1> and the meta description; the main keyword is almost always in all three. The old meta keywords tag is ignored by Google and has been since 2009, so a site listing 40 keywords there is telling you nothing useful, and adding it to your own site does nothing either, as explained in adding meta keywords in WordPress.
Frequently asked questions
Open Google Search Console, go to Performance, Search results, and read the Queries table. It lists every search that showed your site with clicks, impressions, click-through rate and average position, and the Pages tab shows which page ranks for each.
Enter their domain in Semrush Organic Research, Ahrefs Site Explorer, Ubersuggest or Moz. Free tiers show the top keywords; paid tiers show the full list with volume, difficulty and the pages that rank.
Yes. Search Console is free for your own site. For other sites, Semrush and Ubersuggest allow a few free lookups a day showing the top keywords, and the site: search operator on Google shows which pages exist on a topic.
Volumes are estimates, positions are refreshed weekly to monthly, and small local sites are undercounted. Use tools to compare sites and find gaps; use Search Console for your own real numbers.
Only the ones you can win. Filter their list to keyword difficulty you can compete at, intent you can serve, and topics you do not already rank for, then write a better page than the one currently ranking.
You can see what it targets: the title tag, H1 and meta description. The meta keywords tag is ignored by Google and shows intent, not rankings.
