Finding niches, Method 2: the Ahrefs/SEMrush filter method

Steps

1. Go to ahrefs.com (or SEMrush).
2. Open Keyword Explorer (Ahrefs) or Keyword Magic Tool (SEMrush).
3. Select a blank search in your chosen country.
4. Apply filters — SEMrush needs more manual effort here than Ahrefs:
   • Lowest DR: 20, in the top 10 or top 5 results.
   • Word count: 2 words maximum in the keyword.
   • "Include" filter: add words matching your interest.

A later pass on the same method added a second filter set:

• Volume ≥ 20000
• KD 10
• DR 5
• Words: minimum 2
• If EMDs (Exact Match Domains) appear in the results, allow at most 2, and none of them should have an RD (Referring Domain count) above 60
• APK not required
• Category: Tool/Info
• Word count = 2
• Use an "include" term such as generate, calculate, or click — any word a user would search alongside your niche.

A revision pass on the same filters

Revisiting this method later added a few more filter details worth combining with the ones above, still inside Ahrefs Keyword Explorer with a country selected:¹

• Intent — filter to informational intent.
• Volume — around 30,000.
• KD — up to 25.
• SERP Features — open the "All" rule and deselect whichever features make a keyword less worth targeting for your case, e.g. exclude keywords where Google already shows an AI Overview, or where video results dominate the page.
• An "include" term, same as before, matching your niche.

Combination ideas

Blend a fixed prefix/suffix with your niche keyword to surface untapped combinations:

• {FAB} — balance-check content covering every bank in a target city
• {BANK} — salary-check content covering every bank in a target city
• {Company} — tracker content covering every company in a target city
• Manuals — deep-diving into a niche's manuals can surface "diamond" sub-niches nobody else has covered

Seed keyword targets (a worked example)

• Search volume: minimum 15,000/month (Keyword Everywhere)
• Moz KD < 25
• SERP analysis: at least 3 sites with DA < 20
• Main competitor's Ahrefs DR < 20
• Organic traffic: more traffic generally means more revenue

Country matters here: a seed keyword volume of 10,000 in the USA (a Tier 1 country) is not directly comparable to 100,000 in Pakistan — Tier 1 traffic is worth more per visit.¹

Footnotes

1. iSkills SEO course notes, compiled 2025. ↩ ↩²