Keyword Research for Astrologers and Tarot Readers: Finding What Clients Search
"Tarot reading online" gets 22,000 monthly searches but is impossible to rank for new sites. How to find low-competition long-tails in astrology and tarot.
"Tarot reading online" gets approximately 22,000 monthly searches. A new practitioner's website has roughly zero chance of ranking for it without years of domain authority building and hundreds of backlinks. "Capricorn rising career advice" gets a few hundred monthly searches, has far less competition, and is searched by someone much closer to booking a consultation. Knowing which terms to target, and which to ignore until later, is the difference between creating content that ranks and content nobody reads.
This guide covers the free tools available, the keyword tiers that exist in this niche, and the research tactics that keyword planners miss entirely.
Free Tools: Where to Start
Google Search Console
If your site exists and has any traffic at all, Search Console (search.google.com/search-console) shows you the exact queries people are already using to find you. This is real data from real clicks, not estimates. Filter by clicks, impressions, and average position to find: terms where you rank between position 5-20 (close enough to push to the first page with a content update) and queries you didn't know you were appearing for.
Start here before any other tool. If you have 6+ months of data, you can see which terms bring buyers versus browsers by comparing pages that rank for those terms against your booking confirmation rate.
Google Trends
Trends (trends.google.com) shows relative search volume over time and is particularly valuable in the esoteric niche because of predictable seasonal spikes. Mercury retrograde periods create measurable traffic surges on "mercury retrograde effects," "what not to do during mercury retrograde," and related terms. Eclipse seasons spike astrology-related searches. Solstice and equinox dates increase ritual and spiritual practice searches.
Build a content calendar around these events. A "Mercury Retrograde Effects on [sign] in [month year]" article published 2-3 weeks before the retrograde starts captures searches as they build. Published the day of, you miss the ramp. Trends data makes this planning precise rather than guesswork.
Google Keyword Planner
Available free with any Google Ads account (you don't need to run ads). Keyword Planner gives monthly search volume estimates and cost-per-click data. CPC is useful as a proxy for commercial intent: keywords that advertisers bid $4-8 per click on are keywords where people spend money. "Vedic astrology consultation" at $6 CPC signals buyer intent. "Tarot card meanings" at $1 CPC signals information-seeking.
AnswerThePublic
At three free searches per day without an account, AnswerThePublic generates question-format long-tail variations around any seed keyword. Search "tarot reading" and you get formats like "how does tarot reading work," "can tarot reading predict the future," "what tarot reading should I get." These become FAQ sections, blog post titles, and article subheadings.
Ubersuggest
Neil Patel's Ubersuggest (neilpatel.com/ubersuggest) offers 3 free searches per day with keyword difficulty scores and related term suggestions. The SEO difficulty score is useful for filtering: look for terms below 30 SEO difficulty with 100-2,000 monthly searches. Those are the ones worth targeting for a site under 2 years old.
KeySearch Astrology Keywords
keysearch.co/top-keywords/astrology-keywords is a free curated page showing popular astrology keyword data. Useful as a starting dataset without needing to build a seed list from scratch.
Sources: serpsgrowth.com/blog/seo-strategies-for-astrologers; keysearch.co/top-keywords/astrology-keywords
The Three Keyword Tiers in This Niche
Tier 1: Broad Terms (High Competition, Long Timeline)
"Birth chart reading" gets approximately 12,000 monthly searches. "Tarot reading online" gets approximately 22,000. These terms are dominated by Keen.com, Kasamba, and established practitioners with 10+ year-old domains. A new site targeting these terms as primary content will not rank within the first year. Use them in page copy and metadata for context, but don't build articles specifically to rank for them yet.
Source: serpsgrowth.com; digitalpiloto.com/blog/seo-for-astrologers
Tier 2: Long-Tail Terms (Lower Competition, Buyer Intent)
This is where new and mid-stage practitioners should spend most of their keyword research time. Examples:
- "Capricorn rising career advice" (specific placement + topic)
- "Moon phase guidance for business decisions" (specific application)
- "Vedic astrology consultation for marriage" (specific tradition + life area)
- "Tower tarot career meaning" (specific card + life area)
- "Sagittarius season effects on Virgo" (transit + rising sign combination)
These terms range from 100-2,000 monthly searches each, but specificity means the searcher has a clear intent. Someone searching "Tower tarot career meaning" is dealing with something specific at work and looking for guidance. That intent converts better than "tarot card meanings."
Keen.com built one of the most effective content networks in the psychic SERP space by creating individual pages for each tarot card combined with specific life areas. "Wheel of Fortune Tarot Card Meaning," "Tower Tarot Career Advice," "Lovers Tarot Relationship Interpretation" each target a narrow phrase with limited competition. High content volume, each page low competition. This is a replicable model for individual practitioners.
Source: nichefacts.com/psychic
Tier 3: Event-Driven Terms (Short Window, Predictable)
"Mercury retrograde effects [month year]" has near-zero searches until 2-3 weeks before a retrograde, then spikes sharply. Same for "Venus retrograde 2026 effects," "eclipse astrology [month]," and similar. These terms are easy to rank for on a well-established site because the content window is short and most competitors don't prepare content in advance.
Build a recurring content calendar with retrograde dates, eclipse dates, and major planetary events. Publish 2-3 weeks before each event. Use Google Trends to verify which specific phrase construction is gaining search volume ("mercury retrograde effects" vs "mercury retrograde meaning" vs "mercury retrograde [month] 2026").
Research Tactics That Tools Miss
Community Language Mining
Keyword planners show what people search but not how they phrase concerns in natural conversation. Reddit's r/astrology and r/tarot use authentic client language that keyword tools undercount because search terms are often more formal than forum language.
Search "what should I ask" in r/astrology to find the exact questions people have before booking a consultation. Search "confused about" in r/tarot to find points of friction in readings that clients want explained. Build FAQ pages and articles around these exact phrases. A page titled "What Questions Should I Ask an Astrologer in My First Reading" addresses a real pre-booking concern in the searcher's own language.
Local Intent Keywords
"[City] astrologer" and "astrologer near me" carry the highest commercial intent of any esoteric keyword category. Someone searching for an astrologer near them is actively looking to book. Google Business Profile is essential for capturing local intent search traffic (see SEO for esoteric sites for the full local SEO setup). Even practitioners who work entirely online benefit from claiming a city-based GBP listing because "astrologer [city]" searches still surface online practitioners.
Common Mistakes in Esoteric Keyword Research
- Targeting only "meaning" keywords ("Scorpio Mercury meaning") without "advice" or "reading" variations. Meaning searches are information-seeking; advice and reading searches indicate purchase intent.
- Ignoring the specific life area modifier. "Career," "relationships," "finances," and "health" added to any astrology or tarot keyword shift from general to specific and lower competition dramatically.
- Building one pillar page on a broad topic instead of multiple narrow pages. Ten pages on specific tarot card career meanings outperform one page titled "Tarot and Career" for long-term organic search volume.
- Not updating seasonal content. A "Mercury Retrograde 2024" article still ranks but loses relevance. Update the year and publish a refresh rather than creating entirely new content.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many keywords should I target per article?
One primary keyword per article, with 3-5 related long-tail variations worked into subheadings and body text naturally. Trying to rank one article for 10+ unrelated keywords dilutes optimization and confuses search engines about the article's topic. Better to write 10 focused articles than one article targeting 10 keywords.
Should I use AI to generate keyword lists for esoteric topics?
AI tools generate plausible-sounding keyword lists but can't tell you actual search volume or competition. Use AI to generate variations and topic ideas, then validate each in Google Keyword Planner or Ubersuggest before investing time writing content around it. A keyword with zero monthly searches or a difficulty score of 80+ on a new site is not worth targeting regardless of how topically relevant it sounds.
Is it worth creating content around very specific planetary placements like "Pluto in Capricorn 7th house"?
Yes, for practitioners building content at scale. These hyper-specific terms have low volume individually (50-200 searches per month) but very low competition. A practitioner who writes 100 placement-specific articles accumulates organic traffic across all of them. Keen.com's tarot card library works on the same principle: individually small, collectively substantial. The model requires volume and patience, not a single viral article.
How do I find keywords specific to my tradition or modality (Vedic, Human Design, Gene Keys)?
Search volume for modality-specific terms is lower but conversion is higher because searchers are already qualified. "Vedic astrology consultation" signals someone who knows what they want. Use the seed keyword of your modality in Ubersuggest and AnswerThePublic to generate long-tails. Check niche forums and Facebook groups in your modality community for phrasing that keyword tools miss. Build content that ranks within your modality before competing for general "astrology reading" traffic.