Free E-Commerce Keyword Research Tool (& How to Use It)

Our free e-commerce keyword tool shows you exactly which keywords your potential customers are using when they're ready to buy your products.

Traditional keyword research tools show you general search volume, but fail to identify the specific commercial and transactional queries that convert browsers into buyers.

If you're not focusing on the search terms people actually use, you’ll struggle to build traffic that converts.

Our free e-commerce keyword tool filters for commercial intent automatically, ensuring you discover keywords that lead to conversions, not just visitors.

The keywords that are less important to your strategy have been filtered out to save you time.

What is E-commerce SEO?

E-commerce SEO is the process of optimizing online stores to rank higher in search engine results for product-related queries.

When you’re looking to attract more customers, e-commerce keyword research should form the core of your strategy. To drive e-commerce traffic, you’ll need to focus on commercial and transactional keywords first.

Using the free tool at the top of this page, you can unlock valuable data about what your customers are really looking for.

Top 3 Benefits of SEO for E-Commerce

Organic search remains the most reliable channel for sustainable e-commerce sales, even as shopping behaviors shift toward AI-powered search engines. Here’s why.

Compounding Backlink Opportunities

SEO builds cumulative value over time. High-quality content on your e-commerce blog creates natural backlink opportunities that strengthen your entire domain's authority.

You can attract backlinks by focusing on high-quality content that addresses the queries people are searching for. Buyers love to read things like:

• Detailed buying guides
• Accurate, high-quality product comparisons
• News and insights about your company values

High-quality content attracts backlinks from other sites. And each backlink passes authority to your product pages, making them more competitive for commercial keywords.

This compounding effect means your SEO investment continues paying dividends months and years later.

Low Cost Per Acquisition (CPA)

Organic search consistently delivers the lowest customer acquisition cost across digital marketing channels.

PPC campaigns for competitive e-commerce keywords can cost $5-50 per click. With organic search, good rankings deliver qualified visitors without a cost-per-click.

This makes SEO particularly valuable for e-commerce businesses with thin margins or those competing in high-cost advertising verticals.

Broader Intent Coverage

SEO enables you to capture customers at every stage of their buying journey, not just those ready to purchase immediately.

You can do this by incorporating content that addresses:

• Informational queries
• Product benefits for specific customer groups
• Specific use cases for products or categories of products

This allows you to own the initial part of the buyer’s journey.

As an example, a customer searching for "best school shoes" may not buy until the beginning of the new school year. But your comprehensive guide can introduce them to your brand months before.

This early engagement builds trust and ensures your site remains top of mind when it’s time for them to make a purchase.

How to Conduct E-Commerce SEO

The e-commerce keyword tool at the top of this page can help you to plan out your strategy. Here’s how to start.

Keyword Research

Keyword research helps you to understand the specific terms customers use when they're ready to buy your products.

Our free e-commerce keyword tool addresses this challenge by automatically filtering for commercial and transactional intent.

These are the search terms that indicate the visitor is ready to buy.

Start by entering a broad product category into the tool. You'll immediately see keyword suggestions with crucial metrics:

• Search Volume: Monthly search frequency for each term
• Keyword Difficulty: How challenging it would be to rank in the top 10
• CPC: What advertisers pay for each click, indicating commercial value
• Search Trend: Seasonal patterns and popularity changes over time

When you’re starting out, pay special attention to long-tail keywords.

Long-tail keywords are phrases that include specific features, use cases, or modifiers, for example, "waterproof jackets for kids" or "android phones under $500".

Long, specific phrases often convert better than generic product terms because they capture users with clear purchase criteria.

Technical SEO for E-Commerce

Technical SEO can be complex on e-commerce websites. You’ll likely have more pages than a typical business website if you have product variations or a large product range.

First, create clear hierarchies that group related items into logical groups.

That makes it easy for both users and search engines to understand product relationships and navigate your site.

Here’s an example of a “mega menu” that reveals a detailed and well-organized hierarchy of categories, sub-categories, and individual product pages:

The structure of your site is important when you get to the stage of creating content. That’s because the goal of each page will differ depending on where it is within the structure of your site:

• Category pages should target specific commercial keywords
• Product pages should focus on specific, long-tail terms

Careful structuring prevents keyword cannibalization, which is where multiple pages rank for the same keywords.

On-Page SEO for Product Pages

Product page optimization requires balancing keyword targeting with user experience and conversion optimization.

Keyword Optimization

Incorporate your target keywords naturally throughout product titles, descriptions, and technical specifications.

Your product title should include the most important commercial keywords while remaining readable and compelling. Use bullet points and product descriptions to incorporate related terms and address common customer questions.

High-Quality Images and Descriptions

Try to use your own product images if you can. Original photography signals quality to search engines and users.

It also makes your e-commerce store stand out in search engine results.

To drive traffic from image search, use image alt text that includes relevant e-commerce keywords. This improves accessibility while helping search engines understand your visual content.

Optimizing for SERP Features

Google's Product SERPs display rich product information directly in search results.

The Popular Products feature showcases trending items for specific search queries, providing valuable visibility in search engine results.

Products with strong sales velocity, positive reviews, and proper structured data (schema markup) have the best chances of appearing in these prominent positions.

You can use Google’s Rich Results tool to check the schema for any product page:

Make sure your schema includes:

• Product name, price, and availability
• Customer review ratings and counts
• Product images and key specifications
• Shipping and return information

Although it’s not guaranteed, Google may show extra information next to your organic result, giving potential customers more reason to click and view the product.

AI Search Optimization

Customers are turning to AI search engines to compare products and obtain detailed information about different options.

In fact, traffic from AI sources to retail websites jumped 1,200% between in February 2025 compared to July 2024.

AI search represents a tiny fraction of traffic, but this trend is set to increase as more searchers use AI for shopping.

ChatGPT, Google AI Mode, and Perplexity all have dedicated e-commerce features. For example, Perplexity Pro allows customers to buy directly from their conversation.

Prepare Your E-Commerce SEO Checklist

Our free e-commerce keyword tool provides the foundation for strategic SEO planning by revealing the exact search terms your customers use when ready to buy.

• Start with quick wins by optimizing existing product pages for high-value keywords the tool identifies.
• Focus on terms with manageable difficulty scores and clear commercial intent signals.
• Address technical issues that prevent your products from ranking effectively.
• Expand your content strategy to capture customers throughout their buying journey.
• Optimize for AI search.

Our free keyword tool provides a solid foundation that you can build from. When you're ready to scale your efforts across larger product catalogs and track performance against competitors, the Semrush free trial offers the depth needed to maintain competitive advantage in both traditional and AI-powered search results.