The Ultimate Guide to Finding the Best Keyword Research Tool

Keyword research is among the most important steps in any successful SEO strategy. Without understanding the search terms and phrases your target audience uses, you may miss out on valuable opportunities to drive traffic to your website.

The good news is that various tools are available to help you identify and optimize keywords for your content. In this guide, you’ll learn about the different options and tips for choosing the right keyword tool for your business needs. Read on to get started!

What Are Keyword Research Tools?

Instead of spending hours trawling through the search bar or search engine results page to find the most popular keywords, keyword research tools do all the hard work for you.

They can provide valuable insights into what people are searching for and help inform website content, advertising campaigns, and more.

Keyword research tools come in many forms and offer a variety of features – from providing keyword overviews and suggestions for other related queries and searches to giving detailed information on traffic, competition levels, and more.

They are a great way to help you identify relevant topics and target audiences, boost organic search rankings, and increase conversions. With the right keyword research tool, you can ensure you get the most out of your SEO efforts!

So what are the benefits of using one? Let’s take a closer look.

Types of Keyword Research Tools

Some keyword research tools are free; others come with a cost, some offer advanced features, and others are more suited for beginners. Keep reading to see which ones can help jumpstart your SEO!

Free Tools

These are freebies, and they do the job just fine. They’re a great way to start keyword research without spending money. Here are five of the most popular and best free keyword research tools:

Google Keyword Planner

Search  Engine Optimization (SEO) starts with keyword research. Without the right keywords, you won’t be able to optimize your website for proper visibility in search engine results.

Google Keyword Planner is a great tool for doing keyword research. This free keyword research tool from Google’s keyword planner also gives you insight into how often certain words are searched and how those searches have changed over time. This can help you narrow your keyword list to the ones you want.

Once you’ve found the most relevant keywords for your business, you can use them in your advertising plan. Save this plan for future reference, or share it with your business team when you launch your campaign.

Pros:

• Offers keyword suggestions from a huge database
• Suggestions come with search volume data, CPC, and competition statistics
• Breakdown of keywords by top countries and languages
• Ability to easily add keywords to an existing ad group or create new ad groups for campaigns.

Cons:

• Limited keyword filters
• Most suggestions are for broad or phrase matches instead of exact matches.
• Search volume data may not be reliable and accurate due to Google’s algorithm changes.
• Only provides information for one year, making it difficult to identify long-term trends.
• Not good for low search volume keywords

Google Trends

Google Trends is like a telescope for the search engine universe, allowing you to get a birds-eye view of Google trends, what people are searching for, and how it changes over time. 

It can help you gain insight into the current trends in your industry, as well as identify potential opportunities that you can capitalize on.

You can use that to gain valuable insights about the keywords people seek and adjust your content strategy accordingly.

With Google Trends, you can compare different search terms to see which are more popular than others and track their fluctuations over time. This way, you can better understand what’s hot in your industry and adjust your content accordingly.

Pros:

• Helps with market research, SEO planning, and marketing campaigns
• Provides up-to-date insights
• Allows for data grouping to find information relevant to your project

Cons:

• Difficult to interpret the data at first
• Related topics and queries are weaker than trends.

ChatGPT

Meet ChatGPT – the revolutionary AI-powered tool originally designed to help you get the most out of your searches by providing humanlike images, text, or videos created by artificial intelligence.

But you can also use it for a whole lot more!

With ChatGPT, you can search for keywords with ease.  Users can enter a prompt or question and receive an accurate response – like an automated chat service on customer service websites. You’ll also get clear explanations and detailed follow-up questions to make sure you understand the answers provided.

Pros:

• Extensive vocabulary
• Natural language processing
• Speed
• Accuracy
• Personalization

Cons:

• Limited to text-based queries
• Lack of human intuition
• Limited to pre-existing data

Ubersuggest

What makes Ubersuggest great? For starters, it was created by Neil Patel – one of the world’s leading digital marketing experts and founder of Crazy Egg.

So, you know you can trust that this tool has been designed with precision and will provide comprehensive insights into keyword performance.

What can Ubersuggest do? It provides data-driven keyword insights and recommendations to help optimize your content. You can also use it to brainstorm new topics for your blog or website and discover the best keywords related to those topics.

Pros:

• Many extra tools can help with SEO.
• Clean and easy-to-use UI.
• Focuses on what matters in SEO.

Cons:

• Certain metrics can be difficult to locate.

Soovle

Soovle is a search engine that enables users to search multiple websites simultaneously. It aims to offer a quick and effective means of finding information online by presenting search results from different search engines and websites on a single page.

Users can enter a query and see results from popular search engines like Google, Bing, Yahoo, and Wikipedia, as well as from other sites like Amazon, YouTube, and Twitter. Soovle also provides an autocomplete feature that suggests popular search terms as users type in their queries.

Pros:

• Free unlimited keyword searches.
• Quick and efficient keyword searches.

Cons:

• No other SEO features are available.
• Requires prior knowledge of SEO to utilize results.

Paid Tools

Here are a few paid keyword tools

AnswerThePublic

AnswerThePublic is a revolutionary content marketing tool that can help you create high-quality and engaging content for your audience.

Scouring the web for all the questions people ask about your topic provides a comprehensive overview of what your target market wants to know about the subject. This helps ensure you stay on top of current trends and provide relevant, useful information to your readers.

AnswerThePublic offers a range of features that can be used to gain insights into the questions people are asking about a certain topic. The tool provides visual representations of the data it collects, such as clouds and tables, making it easier for you to analyze the trends in conversations around that subject quickly.

Pros:

• Provides a wealth of content ideas
• User-friendly
• Free version available
• Helps identify long-tail keywords

Cons:

• Limited functionality in the free version
• Limited geographic data
• No search volume data
• It may not be suitable for all industries

Pricing Plans

• Free Trial
• Individual Plan- 9$ per month
• Pro plan- 99$ per month
• Expert plan- 199$ per month

Moz Keyword Explorer

Moz Keyword Explorer is a tool developed by Moz which provides various SEO (Search Engine Optimization) tools and services. Moz Keyword Explorer helps users find and prioritize keywords to optimize their website’s content for search engines. Here are some pros and cons of using Moz Keyword Explorer and pricing plans.

Pros:

• Comprehensive keyword research
• Easy to use
• Competitive analysis
• Customizable reports

Cons:

• Limited keyword suggestions
• No real-time data
• Expensive

Pricing plans:

Moz Keyword Explorer offers four pricing plans:

• Standard: $99 per month
• Medium: $179 per month
• Large: $249 per month
• Premium: $599 per month

Each plan includes different features, such as the number of keywords tracked, the number of reports generated, and the level of customer support. Moz also offers a free 30-day trial for users to test the tool before committing to a plan.

Serpstat

Serpstat is an all-in-one SEO platform that provides businesses with the tools and insights to optimize their websites for organic search engine rankings.

It offers seed keyword research, competitor analysis, rank tracking seed keyword, backlink analysis, PPC keyword research, and more.

The comprehensive suite of features helps users better understand the competition in their industries and develop strategies to get ahead in search engine rankings.

Pros:

• Enable multi-user mode for supporting your SEO and content teams.
• With automated rank tracking, you can receive daily reports about your search engine results page (SERP) positions.
• Competitive analysis
• Backlink analysis
• Site Audit

Cons:

• Limited data for smaller websites
• Some features can be complex
• Inaccurate search volume data

Pricing:

Serpstat offers several pricing plans, including free and four paid plans. The plans are as follows:

• Free Plan – limited to 10 queries per day
• Lite Plan – $69 per month
• Standard Plan – $149 per month
• Advanced Plan – $299 per month
• Enterprise Plan – $499 per month

Each plan offers different features and limits on how much data can be accessed. The higher-priced plans offer more features and data access.

Long Tail Pro

It’s an intuitive interface, and powerful tools can help you quickly identify all the keywords that will take your website to the top of the SERPs in no time.

Long Tail Pro allows users to easily target specific keywords by providing a detailed analysis of the target keyword, competitiveness, and other related metrics.

This tool is used to research new keywords that benefit businesses and individuals by identifying low-competition and profitable new keywords for their SEO and PPC campaigns.

Pros:

• Long Tail Pro calculates the competitiveness of each keyword, making it easier for users to identify low-competition keywords they can rank for.
• Detailed metrics
• SERP analysis

Cons:

• Slow keyword research
• A limited number of keyword searches
• No free trial

Pricing:

Long Tail Pro offers three subscription plans:

• Starter: $59.99/month or $539.99/year, which includes 800 keyword searches per month.
• Pro: $89.99/month or $809.99/year, which includes 2500 keyword searches per month.
• Agency: $299.99/month or $2,699.99/year, which includes 6000 keyword searches per month.

KWFinder

A keyword research tool like KWFinder can help take the guesswork out of finding the right keywords for your content.

With its intuitive interface, you can easily search through millions of phrases to find relevant topics and words to attract more readers.

It also provides helpful metrics such as average monthly search volume, cost-per-click estimates, and competition levels. This can help you get a clear picture of how your content will perform in the search results and ensure you’re targeting the right phrases for maximum success.

Pros:

• User-friendly interface.
• Great data aggregation and keyword analysis.
• Provides the Keyword Difficulty score.
• Shows a SERP Overview of top-ranking URLs.
• Affordable pricing.

Cons:

• Daily data request limits.
• Keyword suggestions are capped at 700 results.
• Some suggested keywords do not include the KD score by default.

Pricing:

KWFinder offers three pricing plans:

• Basic: $29.90/month (annually).
• Premium: $44.90/month (annually).
• Agency: $89.90month (annually).

SpyFu

SpyFu is an awesome keyword research tool that helps you outsmart your competition. SpyFu reveals the search marketing secrets of your competitors and allows you to get ahead in the SERPs.

With its advanced features, SpyFu provides detailed analysis of keywords, backlinks, organic rankings, AdWords history, and Domain Authority metrics. With this tool, you can uncover profitable keywords and identify the best strategies to take your SEO game to the next level.

Plus, you can access personalized reports, local search rankings, and competitor tracking in one convenient place! SpyFu will surely be a great addition to any digital marketer’s arsenal.

Pros:

• Provides great insight into competitors and their campaigns
• Helps make informed guesses to improve the website or client’s website
• Cheaper than most tools

Cons:

• Certain websites are missing from the database
• Navigation within site is difficult to use efficiently.

Pricing

SpyFu offers three pricing plans:

• Basic Plan – $16/month or $39/month (if billed annually)
• Professional Plan – $36/month or $39/month (if billed annually)
• Team Plan – $149/month or $299/month (if billed annually)

SECockpit

Acclaimed for its ease of use, SECockpit is a must-have tool for any webmaster or SEO specialist. Its app version is designed with portability so you can take your keyword research tasks on the go.

It offers comprehensive data for each keyword, such as cost per click, search volume, and search competition. This user-friendly tool offers access to data such as cost per click, monthly search volume used, and search competition – all with simple taps.

Pros:

• SECockpit allows you to find profitable keywords quickly and easily.
• The tool provides comprehensive data on each keyword, including search volume, competition level, and potential profitability.
• You can easily filter and sort keywords based on search volume or competition-level criteria.
• The tool provides valuable insights into your competitors’ keyword strategies.
• SECockpit offers a 30-day money-back guarantee to try the tool risk-free.

Cons:

• SECockpit is one of the more expensive keyword research tools on the market, with pricing starting at $40 per month for the basic plan.
• The interface can be overwhelming for beginners, with many data and options.
• Some users have reported that the tool’s data is not always accurate or up-to-date.

Pricing:

SECockpit offers several pricing plans based on the number of keyword searches you need to conduct each day and additional features such as rank tracking and API access. The plans are as follows:

• Personal: $25/month for ten keyword searches per day
• Pro: $42/month for 50 keyword searches per day
• Agency: $75/month for unlimited keyword searches per day

Benefits of Keyword Research Tools

Here are just a few benefits of using paid and free keyword research tools to help guide your SEO strategy and content marketing:

Identifying High-Volume and Low-Competition Keywords

Keyword research can be a real drag. But there’s no denying that it’s one of the most important aspects of SEO success.

With the help of the best keyword research tools, you can identify high-volume and low-competition keywords that can increase organic search traffic. This is great news because you don’t have to compete with other websites for the same terms.

But there’s more to keyword research than just finding popular keywords; you must also assess whether a given keyword alone is profitable.

Improving Content Relevance and Quality

In addition to helping you identify the best keywords for your website, most keyword research tools can also help you hone in on relevant topics for search queries. This helps ensure that your content is both high quality and engaging, increasing the chances of being seen by more people.

When used correctly, these tools allow you to become a content connoisseur. You can identify the topics people are searching for, locate gaps in existing content, and create material that offers true value to readers.

By focusing on relevance and quality instead of just keyword frequency, you can give your audience exactly what they’re looking for—and keep them coming back for more!

Identifying Long-Tail Keywords

WordStream reports that 56% of individuals searching use search terms consisting of three or more words, while only 7% use a single word or an acronym.

The use of long-tail keywords is essential for success in SEO. Long-tail keywords are phrases less commonly searched yet more likely to generate conversions from a smaller pool of users.

That’s why keyword research tools are the knight in shining armor you need to slay your competition and win the next battle royale successfully!

These tools provide insights into your target market’s search trends and the type of content most likely to rank on SERPs. They also help you discover long-tail keywords that will give your SEO strategy an edge.

Understanding Your Audience’s Search Behavior

I know it seems like a drag to do keyword research. But trust me, and it’s essential if you want your content to reach the right audience and be seen by more people!

Think of keyword research tools as binoculars for the internet – they help you take a closer look at how people are searching and provide insight into what they’re looking for. It’s like you can see inside the heads of your target audience and figure out what words they are typing in the search box.

With a better understanding of how people search for content, you can ensure your content is optimized for search engine results. This means creating more relevant, high-quality content that ranks better in search engine results.

Monitoring Keyword Performance and Ranking

Yes, It will help you measure the success of your keyword optimization. But it will also allow you to understand where your traffic is coming from, which can be extremely valuable information when targeting a specific demographic or audience.

Imagine for a moment that you’re a chef at a restaurant and have just created an amazing new dish. You need to test it out and see if your customers like it. You can’t wait and hope they’ll find it on the menu; you need to bring it to their attention and watch their reaction to the dish.

Similarly, monitoring keyword performance and ranking can test how well your content is doing with its intended audience and fine-tune it accordingly.

Analyzing Competitor Keywords and Strategy

Keyword research tools let you take a peek into your competitor’s playbook. You can use these to understand their target keywords and how they use them. 

Basically, you get to borrow their strategies, like sneaking at the answers during an exam!

You can look at organic and paid keywords that your competitors use to get an idea of what they think is important. Organic keywords give you insight into the topics and ideas that matter most to their target audience, while paid keywords let you identify what strategies they are putting money behind.

Analyzing competitor strategy also allows you to spot gaps in their approach.

Saving Time and Effort in Keyword Research

Lastly, it saves time and effort!

I can’t imagine creating content and having to search for relevant keywords manually. It would take hours, if not days! Thanks to the best keyword research tools, you no longer have to worry about missing important keywords or spending too much time looking for them.

Instead of wasting precious hours going through endless web pages and search results, use a tool to identify high-volume and low-competition keywords quickly.

These fast and efficient tools allow you to easily identify the most profitable topics and key phrases that can benefit your SEO strategy. Plus, they make the keyword research process a breeze so you can focus on creating quality content!

Criteria to Consider When Choosing a Keyword Research Tool

Here are the top factors to consider when selecting a keyword research tool:

Features and Capabilities

The features and capabilities of a given keyword or research tool are what you should focus on when selecting it. What kind of data does the keyword explorer tool give you access to? Does it have robust reporting capabilities? Is there support for custom searches or integrations with other tools?

Data Accuracy and Reliability

It’s important to make sure the tool you’re using is up-to-date in its data and delivers accurate results. Otherwise, you could make decisions based on outdated information, costing you time and money. Ensure the tool has been tested for accuracy and reliability.

User Interface and Ease of Use

Nobody wants to waste time working with a keyword research tool that is difficult to use. Ensure the keyword magic tool you choose has an intuitive user interface and offers easy-to-understand tutorials and help documentation so you can use it quickly and easily without hassle. 

In addition, ensure that the keyword magic tool can be used across multiple devices and platforms to access your data whenever needed.

Pricing and Value for Money

Pricing is important when selecting a keyword research tool but should not be the only criterion.

After all, you don’t want to end up with a tool that doesn’t adequately meet your needs just because it’s cheaper than its competitors. Instead, focus on finding a keyword research tool that delivers good value for money and has features that will benefit you in the long run.

That way, you can be sure you’re getting the best bang for your buck without compromising quality. Additionally, look at what subscription or payment options are available and ensure flexibility to suit your budget.

Customer Support and Training

If something goes wrong with your keyword research tool, you’ll need access to quality customer support. Make sure the competitive research tool you choose has a reliable team of experts available to help with any issues that may arise.

In addition, see if they provide training on using the tool and getting the most out of its features. This way, you can be confident that you understand all the capabilities and get the most out of your investment.

Look for customer service ratings and reviews before making a final decision.

Integration With Other Tools and Platforms

Linking your keyword research tool with other tools or platforms can be incredibly beneficial. It allows you to access data from other sources and make better-informed decisions regarding your marketing strategies.

Ensure the tool you choose is compatible with any other tools or platforms you want to use to capitalize on the integration advantages.

Compatibility With Your Website and Marketing Goals

Matching your website and marketing goals with the right keyword research tool is like finding a needle in a haystack. But when you find one that works for you, it’s like discovering gold.

The best keyword research tool should be compatible with your website and help you achieve your desired marketing goals. Determine what data metrics are important to you and ensure the free keyword research tool can accurately collect them.

Also, consider how easy it is to use the tool’s features and what support and training options are available.

Frequency and Extent of Updates and Improvements

Bored of using the same keyword research tool? You’re not alone. With so many different tools, how do you know which is best for your needs?

That’s why it’s important to look at the frequency and extent of updates and improvements each tool offers – this will help you determine which one is right for you. For instance, if you’re using a tool that hasn’t been updated in years and isn’t supported anymore, it’s probably time to start looking elsewhere.

User Reviews and Ratings

User reviews and ratings are invaluable resources when selecting a keyword research tool.

By reading what others say about their experiences, you can gain valuable insight into the features and capabilities of the tool, as well as any potential limitations or problems it may have.

Reading user reviews can help you decide which tools are worth considering and which you should avoid.

Reputation and Track Record of the Tool Provider

Your last but equally important criterion when selecting a keyword research tool is the reputation and track record of the tool provider. Even if you think a tool has all the features and capabilities you need, it won’t matter if the company behind it isn’t reliable or trustworthy.

It’s essential to check out what industry experts have to say about any potential tools you’re considering.

Look at the company’s history and see how long they’ve been in business, what customers think of them, if they have a good reputation among experts and other users, and whether its past products have been reviewed favorably.

Frequently Asked Questions

Conclusion

Bearing all the criteria mentioned above in mind, it is evident that a wide variety of keyword research tools are available on the market. Each tool has unique features and capabilities, from SECockpit to KWFinder to SpyFu.

As such, it’s important to weigh your options carefully and select the one that best suits your website and marketing goals. With the right tool, you can optimize your keyword research strategies quickly and easily, giving you an edge over your competitors in the SERPs.