how are people choosing best keywords for seo in 2026?

If the site has been live a while, Search Console first. Performance report, sort by impressions, and look for queries where you sit around position 8-20. Google already thinks you're relevant for those, so a better title, a proper section on that question and a couple of internal links often moves them more than chasing new terms ever would. New site with no data? Then it's the usual tool research, leaning hard toward specific long-tail questions.