Keyword or keyword research is the process of identifying which keywords help a brand reach its target audience. By using keyword research tools, you can maximize the accuracy and efficiency of this task.
Studying the best tools can help you provide an optimal keyword research experience. In this article, we cover the definition of keyword research tools, give you a list of 18 keyword research tools to use and discuss some tips to help you choose the best tools.
What are keyword research tools?
Keyword research tools are applications or programs that you use to research keyword traffic. Keyword research tools can help you identify the keywords that are currently driving traffic to your website, as well as the keywords that may be bringing your website traffic.
Choosing the right tools can speed up the time it takes to complete a keyword research task, while maximizing your traffic potential.
18 keyword research tools
Here are 18 keyword research tools to help with the task of identifying keywords, evaluating traffic potential, and studying competitors:
1. Google Search Console
Google Search Console is a reporting tool that allows you to review website search traffic. Using the performance report in Google Search Console, you can specifically look at the keyword opportunity.
Google Search Console lists the keyword opportunity as being at the end of the first page, or in the second-page rank. These are keywords that may be easy to target with minimal effort.
Learning how to use Google Search Console can help speed up keyword research.
2. SEMrush
SEMrush is a tool that allows users to discover what keywords their competitors are targeting to rank for. You can also use SEMrush to review keyword usage and popularity in other countries.
Another great tool in SEMrush is the ability to track down the keywords you want to target using the Keyword Magic Tool. You can enter certain keywords into the program and then track how much they move from month to month.
Learning how to use SEMrush can give you a way to organize your keyword research. Many brands use SEMrush so this experience can also help in finding a position in search engine optimization.
3. Google Trends
Google Trends is a tool that allows users to see the most trending topics and keywords over a period of time. Google reviews the top search queries for various topics and then provides you with this information.
Learning how to use Google Trends can help you improve your creative skills and help you discover new blog topics and content for your website.
4. Serpstat
Serpstat is a complete program with many built-in SEO tools, including content ideas and link-building recommendations. This tool also has a keyword research tool that allows you to visually see where your current SEO stands in comparison to other similar brands.
Learning how to use Serpstat can be beneficial in your career as it helps you visually compare your SEO strategy with your competitors.
5. Ahrefs Keywords Explorer
Ahrefs Keywords Explorer provides you with detailed information about the keywords you are targeting. Using their keyword explorer feature, you can find out what keywords the first-page business is targeting.
You can also see the potential traffic for a particular keyword, helping you decide if a particular keyword is worth targeting.
Learning how to use the tools in Ahrefs Keywords Explorer can help you improve your keyword research skills by helping you choose the ones that are likely to lead to the best results.
6. Google Keyword Planner
Google Keyword Planner is a tool that allows you to research keywords directly from Google.
While Google Keyword Planner has fewer features than some of the other available tools, it does provide accurate and up-to-date information.
One of the top features of Google Keyword Planner is the ability to identify how many people are bidding on keywords for paid advertising.
Learning how to use Google Keyword Planner can help you verify the data you get from other tools. This can be very useful when you are first learning how to do keyword research.
7. Moz Keyword Explorer
Moz Keyword Explorer is a tool that lets you find out how much traffic different keywords are likely to generate.
These tools offer suggestions similar to the keywords you are using, which can be useful for semantics. Semantics refers to the process of focusing on the meaning of keywords, not the keywords themselves.
Moz Keyword Explorer also has organic click estimation, which estimates how many people are likely to not only search for your keywords but also click on your web page from them.
Learning how to use Moz Keyword Explorer can help you identify a larger list of keywords. This can help you target a wider audience in your career.
8. Keywords Everywhere
Keywords Everywhere is a website browser extension that lets you check for keywords on any website you visit. You can use this tool to automatically send keywords to a saved list or to view related keywords.
Keywords Everywhere also has a built-in ‘People Also Search For’ feature, which lets you review similar keywords that your target audience might be searching for. Learning how to use Keywords Everywhere can help you identify similar keywords without actively searching.
9. RankIQ
RankIQ is a great keyword research tool for content creators. Rather than focusing on data like some other keyword research tools, it focuses on simple suggestions to help you build content.
You can use the Keyword Library to identify potential high traffic and low competition keywords for content. Learning how to use RankIQ can improve your skills in blog ideas and topics.
10. GetKeywords
GetKeywords is a local keyword research tool. This is one of the few tools that lets you narrow down your keyword research results by state and city.
This helps small brands identify easy-to-target keywords that other brands might not use. Learning how to use GetKeywords can help you improve your local marketing and small business SEO skills.
11. Keyword Surfer
Keyword Surfer is a browser extension, which means it’s always front and center when searching the internet. It also makes the process of completing keyword research faster and more efficient.
Keyword Surfer allows you to identify estimated search volumes and even estimated CPCs when completing other tasks. Learning how to use Keyword Surfer can help you become more efficient at keyword research.
12. Keyword Generator
Keyword Generator is a tool that takes a single keyword and displays up to 150 similar keywords. This tool also formats your one-word keywords into long format keywords or question types.
Learning how to use the tools in Keyword Generator can help you identify long-form keywords and questions that may have little competition.
13. Answer The Public
Answer The Public is a visual tool that lists the most common questions that users are looking for related to your keywords. This tool divides the questions into “how”, “could”, “what”, “which” and “would” questions to help users create content.
Learning how to use Answer The Public can help with content creation and identifying question-based keywords.
14. WordStream
WordStream is a keyword research tool that allows users to complete keyword research, including analysis and competitiveness of each keyword.
This tool has many built-in tools that provide you with research that you can use to create a keyword strategy. Learning how to use the WordStream tool can help you organize your data and create an SEO strategy from start to finish.
15. KWFinder
KWFinder is an easy-to-use tool that lets you know how difficult it is to rank for different keywords. It gives you a keyword difficulty score with each keyword you search for.
Once you use and learn KWFinder, you will find that you can predict the difficulty level of different types of keywords. This can help speed up keyword research tasks in your career.
16. Majestic
Majestic SEO is a tool that specializes in link analysis or backlinks. This helps users identify link building opportunities that are important for SEO.
Majestic also has a built-in keyword research tool that you can use to identify which keywords to anchor when building links. Learning how to use Majestic can help improve your link building skills in SEO.
17. Long Tail Pro
Long Tail Pro is a keyword research tool that specializes in finding long tail keywords. Long tail keywords are phrases, not single keywords, that consist of more than three words.
Learning how to use Long Tail Pro can help you learn how to target and incorporate long tail keywords into your current search engine strategy.
18. SpyFu
SpyFu is a tool that many brands use to spy on their competitors. It has built-in tools that can tell you about the specific keywords your competitors are targeting.
It also tells you which keywords are most profitable for them. Learning how to use SpyFu can help you improve your competitor’s research skills, which may be important when working in an SEO career.
Tips for choosing the right keyword research tools
Here are some tips you can use to help you choose the right keyword research tool:
- Review goals: Reviewing your goals can help you choose the best keyword research tools. For example, if you want to improve your ability to research long-tail keywords, you may want to choose a tool that specializes in this.
- Experience evaluation: Different keyword research tools have different experience requirements. It can be helpful to start your SEO career with easier tools and then move on to more in-depth ones.
- Consider the pros and cons of your chosen tool: Evaluate your strengths and areas of improvement in terms of keyword research. Decide on the specific area you want to improve and choose a tool that complements this.
- Learn about your competitors: Many of these tools allow you to find out what your competitors are doing, including the tools they use. Find out how well this tool works for them since they are in a similar industry.
