What keywords mean and why you should check them
A keyword is a word or short phrase that someone types into a search engine when looking for something. When you check a website's keywords, you are finding out which search terms the site owner thinks will bring people to that page. This matters because it tells you whether a website is trying to reach the same people you are, and whether the site's actual content matches what it claims to be about.
If you run a website or write content for one, knowing which keywords you are using — and which ones your competitors use — helps you understand how visible you are in search results. If you are reading a website and want to know what search terms led people there, checking keywords shows you the site owner's strategy.
The tools in this guide are free and do not require special technical knowledge. They show you keywords that a site owner has deliberately included in the page code, and sometimes they estimate which keywords are actually driving traffic based on what search engines see.
Key Takeaways
- Keywords live in two places: in the visible text on a page, and in hidden code called meta tags that search engines read but visitors do not see.
- Free tools like Ubersuggest, Ahrefs Free, and SEMrush show you what keywords a website targets and how much traffic those keywords might bring.
- The simplest method is to right-click on any webpage, select "View Page Source," and search for the word "keywords" to see what the site owner declared.
- A website's actual keywords are not always what the owner intended — you can also look at the words that appear most often in the visible text.
- Checking keywords helps you decide whether a site is trustworthy, whether it is trying to reach your audience, and whether its content matches its claims.
Finding keywords in the page source code
Every webpage contains hidden code that search engines read. This code often includes a meta keywords tag — a line where the site owner lists the words they want the page to rank for. You can see this code yourself without any special tools.
Open the website you want to check in your web browser. Right-click anywhere on the page and select "View Page Source" (in Chrome, Firefox, and Edge) or "Show Page Source" (in Safari). A new window will open showing the raw code behind the page.
Press Ctrl+F (Windows) or Command+F (Mac) to open the search box within that code window. Type the word "keywords" and the browser will highlight any meta keywords tag on the page. You will see something like this:
<meta name="keywords" content="home repair, drywall, painting, contractor near me">
The words inside the quotation marks after "content=" are the keywords the site owner chose. This method works on most websites, though some sites do not use a meta keywords tag at all — in that case, the search will return no results, which is also useful information.
Using free keyword research tools
If you want to see not just what keywords a site claims to use, but how much search traffic those keywords might bring, free tools give you that picture. Three widely used free options are Ubersuggest, Ahrefs Free, and SEMrush. Each one lets you enter a website URL and see estimated keyword data.
Go to ubersuggest.com, ahrefs.com, or semrush.com. Paste the website URL into the search box and run the report. The tool will show you a list of keywords the site appears in search results for, along with an estimate of how many people search for each keyword per month and what position the site ranks in. This tells you which keywords are actually working for that site, not just which ones the owner hoped would work.
These tools have limits on the free version — you might see only the top 10 or 20 keywords instead of a complete list, and the traffic estimates are approximations, not exact numbers. But they are enough to understand a site's keyword strategy. Paid versions unlock more data, but for checking whether a website is targeting your audience, the free version is usually sufficient.
Looking at the words that appear most often on the page
Sometimes the most honest way to find a website's keywords is to look at what words actually appear most often in the visible text. Search engines do this too — they do not just read what the site owner declared; they also count which words show up repeatedly and in important places like headings and the first paragraph.
Read through the page and notice which words repeat. Look especially at the headline, the first paragraph, and any subheadings. If a page about home repair mentions "water damage" five times in the first two paragraphs, "water damage" is a keyword whether or not the site owner listed it in the meta tags.
You can also use a free tool called TF-IDF (available through sites like textanalyzer.net or keyword-density.com) to upload the page text and see which words appear most frequently. This shows you what the page is actually about from a search engine's perspective, separate from what the owner claimed.
Understanding the difference between declared and actual keywords
A website owner might declare one set of keywords in the meta tags but actually target a different set through the words they use on the page. This gap tells you something important: either the site owner does not understand how search engines work, or they are being misleading about what the page is really about.
For example, a page might have a meta keywords tag that says "affordable legal information" but the actual page content focuses entirely on personal injury lawsuits. The declared keywords do not match the actual content. When you spot this mismatch, it is a sign to read the page carefully and decide whether it is actually useful for what you are looking for.
Legitimate sites usually have declared keywords that match the visible content. If they do not, ask yourself whether the site is trying to trick search engines into showing it to the wrong audience — and whether you should trust it.
Checking keywords to evaluate whether a site is trustworthy
Keywords reveal what audience a site is trying to reach. If a site claims to be educational but its keywords are all sales-focused terms like "buy now" and "limited offer," the site's real purpose is selling, not teaching. This does not make it bad — it just tells you what to expect.
Look at whether the keywords match the site's stated purpose. A nonprofit housing resource should have keywords related to housing information, not keywords designed to sell a product. A news site should have keywords about current events, not keywords trying to rank for unrelated topics. When keywords and purpose align, it is a good sign the site knows its own audience and is being honest about what it offers.
You can also check keywords to see whether a site is trying to rank for terms it has no business ranking for. A local plumber's website should have keywords like "plumber in [city name]," not "emergency room near me." If the keywords do not match the site's actual informed, that is a warning sign.
Comparing keywords across similar websites
If you are trying to decide between two websites on the same topic, checking their keywords shows you how they are positioning themselves differently. One site about home repair might target keywords like "DIY home repair" while another targets "hire a contractor." The first is trying to reach people who want to fix things themselves; the second is trying to reach people who want to hire someone.
Use the same free tools on both sites and compare the keyword lists. Look at which keywords appear on both sites and which are unique to each one. This tells you whether the sites are competing for the same audience or serving different needs. It also helps you pick the site that is actually trying to reach people like you.
Frequently Asked Questions
Do all websites have a meta keywords tag?
No. Many modern websites do not use meta keywords tags at all because search engines like Google have said they do not rely on them heavily. If you view the page source and search for "keywords" with no results, the site owner either did not use one or chose not to. This does not mean the site has no keywords — it just means you will need to look at the actual page content or use a keyword research tool instead.
Can I see keywords for a website I do not own?
Yes. The methods in this guide work on any public website. You can check keywords for a competitor's site, a news outlet, a nonprofit, or any other page on the internet. The only exception is pages that require you to log in — you cannot view the source code of a page you cannot access.
What if a website's keywords do not match its content?
It usually means the site owner either does not understand search engine optimization or is deliberately trying to mislead search engines into showing the page to the wrong audience. Either way, it is a sign to read the page carefully and decide whether it actually answers your question before trusting the information.
Are the traffic numbers from free keyword tools accurate?
They are estimates, not exact numbers. Free tools use publicly available data and algorithms to guess how much traffic a keyword brings, but they do not have access to the real search volume that Google keeps private. The estimates are useful for comparing keywords and understanding which ones are more popular, but they should not be treated as precise numbers.
Why would I need to check a website's keywords?
If you run a website, checking your own keywords helps you understand how visible you are in search results and whether your content matches what you are trying to rank for. If you are reading a website, checking its keywords tells you what audience it is trying to reach and whether it is being honest about its purpose. Either way, keywords reveal the site owner's strategy.