Given the importance of keywords to search engine optimization, it’s vital that you have the right tools at your disposal in order to research keywords effectively. There are many tools out there to choose from – some free and some paid – so it can be hard to know which ones are worth your time and which aren’t. In this article, we’ll go over 10 free keyword research tools you should be using in your keyword research endeavors, as well as some of the pros and cons of each one so you can make an informed decision on which one(s) are right for you.
Free Keyword Research Tool 1: SEMrush
SEMrush is a great keyword research tool to find and see your competitors’ positions in search engines. For example, you can use SEMrush to determine which keywords are ranking at position 1 in Google for your niche. In addition, it also allows you to see what positions your competitors are using for their website or page. If your competitor’s page or website isn’t optimized for SEO but ranks on top of search engines that means their keywords are working very well. And, if you take over any of those top-ranking keywords then you can use it to promote content on your website or page by simply creating awesome content around those specific keywords.
Free Keyword Research Tool 2: Keyword Surfer
Created by WordStream, Keyword Surfer is a free keyword research tool that helps you generate long-tail keyword ideas and find related keywords using search volume information. It’s nice because it works not only on your own website but also on any domain name as well. So if you see a cool niche site or web page you can easily get all of their keyword ideas and use them for your own project. You can input one or more seed keywords to be used for seeding other generator keywords.
Free Keyword Research Tool 3: Google Trends
Google Trends is one of my favorite free keyword research tools. While it’s not necessarily a keyword tool, it does help you analyze information in a creative and innovative way. When entering a topic that you’re interested in (for example marketing best practices), Google Trends presents you with a graph that details: how many times your search term has been searched, how much it increased or decreased during particular time periods, and how often people search for that term compared to related terms.
Free Keyword Research Tool 4: Moz Open Site Explorer
This free keyword research tool is a very robust option that will give you thorough and specific insight into which keywords are performing well in your niche and which ones aren’t. It takes a bit of time to get used to, but it is well worth it. The list of keyword ideas you receive from Moz Open Site Explorer can be exported and turned into landing pages. Free up your schedule by using some of these tools to do all or part of your keyword research for you!
Free Keyword Research Tool 5: Ubersuggest
This is an awesome free keyword research tool that I have used in multiple projects. It allows you to get extremely accurate keyword suggestions, which is great if you’re not looking for broad terms but rather a specific word or phrase. Another benefit of Ubersuggest is that it also gives you suggestions based on related phrases and synonyms, so it’s highly likely to come up with additional relevant keywords and suggestions if you aren’t satisfied with your initial results. However, Ubersuggest doesn’t provide any detailed information about search volume or competition levels; therefore, it’s really only good for choosing long-tail keywords and even then, only for certain niche industries.
Free Keyword Research Tool 6: Answer The Public
This is a cool tool. A nice alternative to Google’s Autocomplete function. Simply type in a seed keyword and then it will produce hundreds of long-tail keyword suggestions based on actual search data and user queries. This is an excellent way to uncover hidden keywords that Google’s autocomplete may not show you directly. As we’ve mentioned before, these often bring much more traffic than their shorter counterparts since they tend to convert better (to commercial queries). Long-tail keywords can also help improve your click-through rate for PPC campaigns as well.
Free Keyword Research Tool 7: Google Correlate
Google Correlate shows you which search terms are likely to show up on your site. Put another way, it helps you find other keywords that people might be searching for when they come to your site. It’s free and easy to use; all you have to do is enter one of your own search queries into Google and click Correlate with Google Trends. The results will give you keyword ideas as well as additional related searches. This is especially helpful for finding alternate versions of search terms, too.
Free Keyword Research Tool 8: Google Search Console
Google is a lot more than just search (see Google Now for that), but when it comes to keyword research, nothing beats it. With Google Search Console, you can dig deep into keyword-specific data such as search volume, competition and click-through rate. Unlike most other free tools in my list, Google Search Console is extremely detailed with tons of information that you’d only get if you were actually paying for a tool. And while they do offer paid versions of their tools and services, we’re going to use their free options so that anyone can try out SEO without having to invest any money up front. If you have a website, then all you need to do is head over to Google Search Console and sign in using your Google account. If you don’t have one yet, then create one here first before signing in. Once signed in, look for Search Analytics under Search Traffic on the left sidebar menu. Click on Keywords and enter your domain name or URL there.
Free Keyword Research Tool 9: Bulk Keyword Generator
Bulk keyword generator will provide you with a random list of hundreds or thousands of keywords from specific categories. This is an excellent tool if you have limited time and need to do extensive research on multiple keywords. Simply select your category, enter in a seed keyword and generate as many results as you need. While there are more advanced tools available, bulk keyword generator will prove to be more than adequate for most keyword research needs.
Free keywords research tool 10 – Google Trends
Google Trends is a keyword research tool that allows you to see related searches. Google wants to be sure you’re getting results relevant to your search and returns data based on users similar to you. This, in turn, provides valuable insights into what people are searching for, which will help you determine what kind of content they’re looking for (such as video vs. text-based) and where they might spend their time online. It also tells you what types of keywords have increased or decreased in popularity over time so that you can anticipate search demand accordingly.
