ThemeGrill AuthorAre you in search of the best keyword research tools for SEO?
Keyword research is the process by which you can find appropriate search terms to market your products or to write content about. It’s also learning about the words or phrases people use to find specific information or products.
This is an important process to improve your site’s rankings and grow your search traffic. By researching keywords, you can learn about the terms mostly used by search engine users and then strategically include them in your content to boost SEO.
Therefore, you need the best keyword research tools for SEO to conduct keyword research. However, identifying the best keyword research tools can be a challenge.
Don’t worry! We’ve got you covered. In this article, we’ll talk about the 17 best keyword research tools for SEO that are used by experts. Let’s begin.
Why Use Keyword Research Tools?
A keyword is a word that people use as a search term in search engines to find something. It’s the term in which you focus your content so that when people search the keyword in the search engines, your content starts to rank.
A keyword research tool is a research instrument for finding keyword phrases. Using a keyword tool, you can know about the topic and keyword phrases that people are searching for in search engines.
When you get familiar with the trending keywords, you can plan your content effectively and include them in it. Doing so will improve your website SEO and help your content rank better in the search engine result pages (SERPS).
Not only that but using a keyword research tool also helps you to find out the keyword phrases used by your competitors. This will help you to plan a better content strategy than your competitors and stand out from the crowd.
In a nutshell, the right keyword research tools help you build a proper content strategy for your site. And, that will ultimately grow your website’s search ranking and generate more revenue.
17 Best Keyword Research Tools for SEO (Free & Paid)
We pointed out the use of a keyword research tool for the growth of your website, so now you must choose the best tool for yourself. To do so let’s discuss some of the best keyword research tools for SEO.
Here, we’ve picked the 17 best keyword research tools for SEO that are recommended by experts. Let’s have a look at them.
1. SEMrush (Paid)
SEMrush is the best keyword research tool for SEO. It has different toolkits like SEO toolkit, content marketing toolkit, competitive research toolkit, etc. So, you can do SEO, content marketing, competitor research, and social media marketing all from this single tool.
Using SEMrush, you can conduct keyword research. You get access to six different tools like keyword overview, organic research, keyword magic tool, keyword gap, keyword manager, and organic traffic insight. Using these tools, you can find out any keywords value, analyze the list of your competitor’s keywords, etc.
Key Features:
- Tools for keyword research
- Technical SEO tools to improve SEO
- SERP tracking tools for tracking rank
- Backlink analysis tools for building link
- Website monetization tools to monetize website traffic
Price: $119.95/month (Pro), $229.95/month (Guru), $449.95/month (Business) when billed monthly
2. Ahrefs (Paid)
Ahrefs is an SEO keyword research tool through which you can explore different trending keywords in the search engine. Using this tool, you can also analyze the ranking of the keywords and calculate their traffic potentiality.
You get thousands of keyword suggestions with accurate search volumes while using Ahrefs. And the best part is, it processes keywords not just from Google but 10 different search engines. Moreover, it also calculates the keyword difficulty score to help you identify the competition for the keyword.
Key Features:
- ‘Clicks’ metric to find the average monthly number of clicks
- SERP overview report
- Save keyword ideas for future
- 171 countries supported
- ‘Parent Topic’ to determine the rank of target keyword
Price : $99/month (Lite), $179/month (Standard), $399/month (Advanced), $999 (Agency) when billed monthly
3. Google Search Console (Free)
Google Search Console is the free keyword research tool using which you can measure your site’s performance and search traffic. This Google keyword research tool helps to fix issues and make your site rank in Google search results.
Its search analytics tool helps you find out the queries which bring the users to your site. You can also analyze the click-through rate and position of your website on Google search. Furthermore, other features like email alerts on issues, URL Inspection tools, search console training, etc. are available with this tool.
Key Features:
- AMP status report
- Mobile usability report
- Alerts on issues
- URL Inspection tool
- Rich result status reports
Price: Free
4. Google Trends (Free)
Google Trends is a Google keyword research tool that provides keyword-related data. Using this tool, you can find out the most popular questions and compare trending keywords in different countries. Also, it provides information about the keyword search volume index and geographical information.
This free keyword research tool helps you in the SEO and content marketing of your website. It helps you to identify the trending topics in your target market. After that, you can include the trending topics in your writing and drive more traffic to your website.
Key Features:
- Highlight the trending topic
- Analyze competitor’s performance
- Content marketing
- Keyword search volume index
- Keyword search geographical information
Price: Free
5. Google Keyword Planner (Free)
Google Keyword Planner is a free keyword tool through which you can research new keyword ideas for your website content. Based on your seed keyword, the tool will show you the most relevant keyword ideas.
This Google research tool has a website filtering feature to filter keyword ideas that are closely related to your website content. Moreover, the brand exclusions feature excludes the keyword that includes brand terms to make the keyword search easier.
Key Features:
- Research keywords
- Website filtering tool
- Brand exclusion
- Bid estimates to estimate advertising budget
- Save advertising plan for future
Price: Free
6. AnswerThePublic (Freemium)
AnswerThePublic is a tool that can be used for public relations, consumer research, content marketing, SEO, and paid media. It tracks and alerts you about the important questions that are trending on Google. Using this tool, you can create relevant content so that you can drive more traffic to your website.
It’s a freemium SEO keyword research tool. You get a limited number of free searches every day. When the search limit is full, you need to wait for the next day. However, you can also upgrade to its pro version and get unlimited searches and access to other features.
Key Features:
- Helps to create ultra-useful content
- Measure and monitor the impact of your content
- Competitor analysis
- Monitor the market
- Discover search queries quickly
Price: Free or Pro version- $99/month (Monthly), $79/month (Annual), $399/month (Enterprise)
7. Keyword Tool (Freemium)
Keyword Tool is one of the best keyword research tools for SEO. Using its Google Autocomplete feature, you can generate relevant long-tail keywords for your content topic. The keyword suggestions will be processed on the basis of the search engine and language that you choose.
You can generate 750+ relevant keywords for your content topic in the free version. However, its pro version generates about two times more keywords than the free version. Other features include Google suggest, advertising, competitor analysis, checking search volume, etc.
Key Features:
- Google suggests analyzing the trends of word searching
- Competitor analysis
- Check search volume tool
- Accurate data of keywords
- Filters for location and language
Price: Free or Pro version – $89/month (Basic), $99/month (Plus), $199/month (Business) when billed monthly
8. Ubersuggest (Freemium)
Ubersuggest is a freemium online tool using which you can boost the ranking of your website. It offers various features like domain overview, analysis of top-ranking pages, content ideas, backlink data, site audit, etc.
This keyword research tool for SEO also helps you to find out hundreds of long-tail phrases. With its keyword suggestions feature, you can even see volume, competition, and seasonal trends for each keyword. The keyword list is generated on the basis of trending keywords on Google and those used by the top-ranking website.
Key Features:
- Domain overview
- SEO pages report
- Long-tail phrases suggestions
- Check backlinks
- Rank tracking
Price: Free or Pro – $12/month (Individual), $20/month (Business), $40/month (Enterprise/ Agency) when billed monthly
9. Serpstat (Freemium)
Serpstat is the best keyword research tool that is used by digital marketers. Using its primary feature keyword research tool, you can find high-volume keywords. You can also identify high-value keywords for SEO campaigns and generate new ideas for content.
It’s an all-in-one tool with a variety of features like backlink analysis, rank tracking, site auditing, etc. You can generate long-tail keywords and boost traffic to your website. Moreover, you can also analyze the keyword trends and check the webpage’s relevance.
Key Features:
- Keyword research
- Search analytics
- Advertising analysis
- On-page audit
- Backlinks analysis
Price: Free or $69/month (Lite), $149/month (Standard), $299/month (Advanced), $499/month (Enterprise) when billed monthly
10. Surfer SEO (Paid)
Surfer SEO is a premium SEO research tool that helps you to optimize pages, write new content, and rank your website in search engines. It compares your blog/articles with top-ranking blog/articles on the basis of 500+ ranking factors.
With this tool, you can search popular keywords, questions, phrases, common words, etc., and add them to your content. Moreover, it also offers a variety of other features like SERP analyzer, content editor, SEO audit, keyword surfer, content editor extension, etc.
Key Features:
- Analyze article for 500+ ranking factors
- Supports Google Docs and WordPress Editor
- Content planner tool
- SEO audit
- SERP analyzer
Price: $59/month (Basic), $99/month (Pro), $199/month (Business) when billed monthly
11. CanIRank (Freemium)
CanIRank is a freemium SEO software for small businesses and startups to improve Google ranking. It helps you to find keywords where your site is already competitive. This Keyword research tool calculates a Keyword ROI Score to find a balance between ranking difficulty and keyword value for your website.
You can also use its SERP analysis tool and collect data points for every keyword. It also has the Rank Tracking tool to find out the keyword rankings. In addition, its SEO Competitive analysis software to analyze which keyword is working and which isn’t.
Key Features:
- SERP analysis tool
- Rank Tracking tool
- SEO Competitive analysis
- Keyword research
- SEO progress reports
Price: Free or Pro- $49/month (DIY Individual), $79/month (DIY Pro), $299/month (DIY Agency)
12. Exploding Topics (Freemium)
Exploding Topics is one of the freemium keyword research tools for SEO. Using its advanced technology, it analyzes various searches, conversations, and mentions across the web. The data points are analyzed from sources like search, shopping, online communities, tech news, etc.
The algorithm of this tool identifies emerging topics and content ideas. It also helps you identify high-competition keywords and low-competition keywords for your website. You can find various categories of topics out of which you can search the trending topics of the specific category that you need.
Key Features:
- Category searches for searching keywords
- Great User Interface
- Send best trending topics each week
- Algorithm to identify emerging topics
- Data points analyzed from various sources
Price: Free or Pro- $67/month (PRO STANDARD), $197/month (PRO COMPLETE) when billed monthly
13. Long Tail Pro (Paid)
Long Tail Pro is a premium keyword tool that helps you to generate long-tail keyword ideas. You can enter a single seed keyword and get up to 400 long-tail keywords using this research tool. Also, you can add the filters like search volume, rank value to make your keyword selection process easier.
By using the ‘New competitor keywords mode’, you can analyze your competitor’s keyword strategy and compare keyword suggestions. You only need to enter your competitor’s page or domain URL. Moreover, you can also calculate the profitability of your selected keywords and analyze their usefulness in your article.
Key Features:
- Keyword grouping and filtering system
- Measure keyword competitiveness
- SERP analysis
- Backlink analysis
- Track ranking
Price: $14.8/month (Annual Starter Plan), $22.3/month (Annual Pro Plan) when billed annually
14. KWFinder (Paid)
KWFinder is an SEO keyword research tool through which you can find long-tail keywords with low SEO difficulty. Using this tool, you can find keywords in high volume that can help you rank. You can also use the competitor keyword research tool by entering the domain or URL of your competitors and analyzing their rank.
This research tool is rich in features. You get access to different features like SERP analysis and SEO metrics, search volume and keyword metrics, local keyword research, etc. You can use these features to plan your content better and rank in the search engine.
Key Features:
- Find hidden long-tail keywords
- Find competition’s keywords
- Local keyword search
- Search volume and keyword metrics
- SERP analysis and SEO metrics
Price: $49/month (Basic), $69/month (Premium), $129/month (Agency) when billed monthly
15. GrowthBar (Paid)
GrowthBar is a keyword research tool for SEO. It’s a Google Chrome extension that gives millions of keyword suggestions and backlinks. The tool also gives competition scores for every suggested keyword. You can also use it for Google Ads and keyword tracking.
You can use the ranking difficulty score to measure the competitiveness of the keywords. Moreover, you can also track your keyword rankings and export the data easily in CSV format. Using this tool, you can see the site’s organic traffic, domain authority, Facebook Ads, and page word counts.
Key Features:
- Keyword suggestions
- Keyword tracking
- Facebook Ad monitoring
- Backlink building
- Page word count
Price: $39/month when billed monthly
16. Majestic (Paid)
Majestic is an all-in-one premium SEO tool for keyword research. It measures the trust flow, citation flow, visibility flow, topical trust flow, and flow metric scores to find the best keyword suggestion for your website. Furthermore, it also conducts a web-based link investigation with the help of the Site Explorer tool.
With the help of the link context feature, you can browse, filter, and search a link to find audit backlinks. It also offers the fresh index feature through which you can view the up-to-date list of everything you have searched in the past 120 days. Similarly, the historical index stores the database for the last five years.
Key Feature:
- Keyword generator
- Fresh index
- Historical index
- Site Explorer tool
- URL language detection
Price: $49.99 (LITE), $99.99 (PRO), $399.99 (API) when billed monthly
17. SpyFu (Paid)
SpyFu is a tool for SEO and marketing that helps you in keyword research. It gives smart keyword recommendations so that you can increase your web traffic. You can include the recommended keywords in your article to drive clicks to your SEO or Google Ads campaigns.
Moreover, you can also monitor your SEO rankings on search engines like Google, Bing, and Yahoo. Not only this, but you can also search for a competitor and do research on the keywords they use. Similarly, you can also check the competitor’s backlink, keyword ranking history, and so on.
Key Features:
- PPC Competitor research
- SEO Competitor research
- Track keyword tracking
- Keyword groups and Bulk upload
- SERP analysis
Price: $33/month (BASIC), $58/month (PROFESSIONAL), $199/month (TEAM) when billed annually.
Conclusion
So, we have completed our list of the best keyword research tools for SEO. You can carefully view their details and choose one for yourself. You can review their features, price, offers, and select one at your convenience.
Using these tools, you can improve SEO and search traffic of your website. You can generate high-ranking keywords and even research the SEO strategy of your competitors. In this way, you can plan better content for your website and rank in the search engines.
We hope this article was helpful to you. Now, you must be able to decide which keyword research tool can be useful for your website. If you found this article insightful, please share it on your social media.
We would also like to recommend you to try some of our SEO-friendly themes for blogging- ColorMag and Cenote. As they are SEO and performance-optimized, you can use them on your website and boost your website traffic easily.
Also, check our article on the best WordPress speed optimization plugins to improve your site’s performance.
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