Keyword research holds significant importance in contemporary SEO. Whether reviving a dormant blog or devising a content strategy for a fresh one, high-quality keywords are an effective method for consistently attracting valuable traffic to your website.
To aid you in achieving content mastery, we have curated a collection of the best keyword research tools below. Before discussing them, let’s discuss keyword research and its importance in modern times.
What is Keyword Research?
Keyword research is the process of identifying and analyzing specific words and phrases (keywords) that people use when searching for information, products, or services on search engines like Google. It is an essential part of search engine optimization (SEO) and content marketing strategies.
The goal of keyword research is to understand the language and terms used by your target audience so that you can optimize your website content to match their search queries. By identifying relevant keywords, you can tailor your content to be more discoverable and rank higher in search engine results pages (SERPs).
How Do Keyword Research Tools Help With SEO?
Here are several ways keyword research tools can assist you.
- Identifying relevant keywords: Keyword research tools help you discover relevant keywords and phrases commonly searched by users in your target audience. By incorporating these keywords into your website content, you can align your website with user intent and increase your chances of appearing in search engine results.
- Understanding search volume and competition: Keyword research tools provide data on keyword search volume, which indicates how often a specific keyword is searched for within a given timeframe. This information helps you prioritize keywords with higher search volumes, indicating a greater potential for attracting traffic. Additionally, these tools often offer insights into keyword competition, allowing you to assess the keyword difficulty of ranking for organic keywords.
- Discovering long-tail keywords: Long-tail keywords are longer, more specific keyword phrases that usually have lower search volumes but can bring targeted traffic to your website. Keyword finder tools help you identify these long-tail keywords, which can be valuable for niche targeting and attracting users with high purchase intent. (Check out our free long tail keyword generator)
- Analyzing keyword trends: By examining historical data and trends, keyword research tools can provide valuable insights into the popularity of specific keywords over time. This information helps you stay up-to-date with emerging trends, adapt your content strategy, and optimize your website for current search demand.
- Competitive analysis: Keyword research tools often offer competitive analysis features, allowing you to analyze the keywords your competitors are targeting. This data can help you identify new keyword opportunities, gain insights into their SEO strategies, and refine your approach to outrank them in search results.
- Content optimization: Keyword research tools assist in optimizing your website's content by suggesting related keywords, semantically related terms, and variations. By incorporating these suggestions into your content, you can enhance its relevance, improve keyword targeting, and increase your chances of ranking higher in search engine results.
What Makes the Best Keyword Research Tool?
The best keyword research tools have one thing in common: they are all easy to use. In our search for them, we have combed through the numerous keyword research tools out there and created a list of the keyword research tools that are easiest to use.
The list below results from weeks of trial and testing of different tools to understand the quality of results they offer. During our search, we focused on the following aspects of these tools to evaluate them:
- Ease of Use
We use tools to save time and effort. Therefore, it is crucial that a keyword research tool is easy to use and takes relatively less time to learn its features.
- Quality of Results
The trustworthiness of the information provided by the keyword research tools is essential. The tool we use must provide accurate information that produces reliable results.
- Source of Data for Keyword Results
Most tools mentioned below use information from Google search algorithms, Reddit forums, and other dependable sources of the latest information. The credibility of the data sources tools used to produce results was also an important consideration.
- Cost-effectiveness
While many of the tools are free, the ones with a subscription model are chosen based on the price-to-utility ratio of the tools. We tried to keep this a free tool list, but keyword research requires a paid subscription for the best results.
Without further ado, let’s get started on the 15 best keyword research tools that you should know about in 2023.
15 Best Keyword Research Tools To Consider in 2023
Keyword Generator for Blog Ideas
Blogs are the building blocks of a top-ranked website. You must target the most sought-after topics by targeting the most commonly used search terms. Keyword research tools are great for generating blog ideas based on search trends.
Here are a few keyword generators for blog ideas that you can use:
- Keyword Planner by Scalenut
Scalenut’s Keyword Planner is one of the best keyword research tools for marketers due to its numerous benefits. Within a few seconds, this tool can provide several sets of keyword clusters and their corresponding search volumes.
Besides, it allows you to go through the monthly search volume, CPC, and relevance of each keyword.
Simply input a seed keyword and choose a desired location, and the tool will identify the most sought-after keyword clusters among your target audience.
The Scalenut Keyword Planner is an excellent resource for generating blog topics and strategizing content marketing campaigns. Additionally, you can utilize this tool to discover keywords for individual blog posts by repeating the process.
Pricing:
- Essential: $39/month
- Growth: $79/month
- Pro: $149/month
You can opt for a free 7-day trial to try out Scalenut’s Keyword Planner.
- Google Search Console
The Google Search Console offers a valuable method for monitoring the performance of your website and exploring potential ranking opportunities within your existing content.
By linking your website to the Google Search Console, you can effortlessly track a range of metrics, including indexed pages, the placement of web pages on search engine results pages (SERPs), and the search queries that display your web pages.
To identify the keywords you currently rank for and uncover additional keywords that can be achieved with minimal effort, you can utilize the "Performance" tab in Google Search Console.
Pricing:
It’s a free-to-use tool.
- Keyword Surfer by SurferSEO
Keyword Surfer is a valuable tool that provides instant keyword suggestions while conducting Google searches. This tool functions as a Chrome extension and seamlessly integrates with Google search, presenting a dedicated panel on the right side that displays the most relevant keywords for each search query.
One of the significant advantages of Keyword Surfer is its ability to provide monthly search volumes.
Alongside your entered keyword, it presents the corresponding monthly search volume and essential SERP metrics for each website listed, including estimated monthly search traffic, word count, and the number of keywords found within the content.
Pricing:
Free of charge
- Google Trends
Another useful tool from Google is the Google keyword planner called Google Trends. This nifty tool helps marketers and SEO strategists find what’s trending and where, along with search queries that you can use to find content on that topic.
There are two approaches to utilizing Google Trends for keyword research. The first method involves searching for a specific keyword and then exploring the "related queries" section in Google Trends. This provides insights into other keywords and topics closely associated with the initial keyword.
The second method involves checking whether a keyword is gaining popularity over time. All you got to do is simply enter your seed keyword and search.
The tool will give you a detailed look at the keyword's search trends, search traffic regions, related topics, and related queries.
Pricing:
This tool is free to use.
- Keyword Sheeter
The Keyword Sheeter is a no-sign-up keyword research tool that helps marketers find the most relevant keyword ideas for a target primary keyword. It even lets you find keywords based on specific locations inside your target country. The tool supports 14 languages and many countries.
Simply enter your primary keyword and click on ‘Sheet Keywords.’ The tool will start pulling the most relevant keywords for you.
You can also filter your keywords by using the position and negative filters. If you want to include a word, use the position filter, and if you want to exclude a word, use the negative filter.
With the Keyword Sheeter tool, you can find keywords related to your main topic. It can help you create keyword clusters for blog topics.
Searching for keywords is free; you can copy and paste the results. However, if you are looking for more than that, like search volumes or emailing your keyword lists, you will have to opt for a paid plan.
Pricing:
- Free keyword research
- Basic Storage (Email Your List): $9/month
- Starter Search Volume: $49/month
- Scale Search Volume: $90/month
Best Free Keyword Research Tools to Find Question-based Keywords
Questions are an engaging way of sharing information. They hook the reader and nudge them towards reading your content. If you are looking to find the best keyword-loaded question for your content piece, here are some great tools to help you find the best ones:
- People Also Ask by Scalenut
The ‘Questions’ section in the Scalenut SEO docs is a comprehensive source for finding the most popular questions people are asking for the target keyword. You can filter the results based on the source of questions like Google, Quora, Reddit, or AI-generated.
All you have to do is create an SEO doc by entering your target keyword and the target location and go to the questions tabs by clicking on ‘Create Brief.’ You will see a comprehensive list of all the FAQs people ask related to your target keyword.
Now that you have the most popular questions, next up is to answer them. Scalenut has a feature for that too. Use the Scalenut AI Templates’ Q&A content templates to answer questions with the best possible information.
You can use this tool to find the most popular questions for your target keyword and also answer those questions with the best information.
Pricing:
This tool is free to use.
- Answer The Public
Answer the Public is one of the easiest and best keyword research tools to generate long-tail keyword ideas. It searches the internet for questions, keyword prepositions, comparisons, and alphabetical related to your primary keyword.
You just need to type in the seed keyword, choose a location and language, and search.
The tool will come back with an in-depth analysis of the keyword divided into questions people ask, prepositions that people use, comparisons that people make, and alphabetical searches related to the main keyword.
You can use this tool to identify the most traffic-worthy questions related to your topic. It will help you find the who, what, where, when, why, and other questions that you ask about your primary keyword. The tool offers basic searches for free, with paid plans that come with advanced features such as social listening alerts and data comparison.
Pricing:
- Free Basic Searches
- Individual: $5/month
- Pro: $49/month
- Expert: $99/month
- Question DB
QuestionDB is another good source for finding the best questions related to your keyword.
Simply enter your target keyword, and the keyword research tool will present a list of questions you can use in your content.
One of the best keyword research tools, QuestionDB will show 50 questions for free, and you can download the questions too, but to see more than 50, you will need to upgrade to a paid subscription. There is no limit to the number of searches.
Pricing:
- Free 50 Questions
- Pro: $15/month
- Agency: $50/month
Best Free Keyword Research Tool for Paid Ad Campaign
Paid promotion might seem like a black hole in marketing budgets, but that is not necessarily the case! With the right tools, you can easily drive business results with your paid ad campaigns, and one of the best keyword research tools for this task is Google Ads Keyword Planner.
Google Ads Keyword Planner
Google Ads Keyword Planner is a free tool that helps marketers find the best keywords and look at forecasts for publishing ads on the Google search and display network. You simply have to create a Google My Business account and log in to the Google Ads Keyword Planner.
Once you log in, select the ‘Discover New Keywords’ option and enter your primary keyword in the search box of the next page and click on ‘Get Results.’
The tool will present a list of related keywords that people are using on Google. It will show you the average monthly search volume, along with the competition, bid range, and changes in search trends.
You can use the information from this tool to find the most budget-friendly keywords for your paid promotion campaigns.
Pricing:
This tool is free to use.
Best Free Keyword Research Tool for E-commerce
The most successful e-commerce brands have one thing in common: they target the best keywords related to their products. The trick is to include the most searched keywords in your product title, meta descriptions, image alt texts, and other structured data.
Here are a few tools to help you find the best keywords for your e-commerce products.
- Keyword Tool Dominator
Keyword Tool Dominator is the most popular keyword research tool for e-commerce content. Whether you are writing a product description or a meta title, this tool will help you find the best keywords.
The tool has separate sub-categories for finding keywords on Amazon, Bing, eBay, Etsy, Google Shopping, Home Depot, Walmart, YouTube, and Google Search.
Pricing:
The pricing will depend on the sub-category of keyword research you require from this tool. However, they also offer two free keyword searches per day.
- Keyword Wizard for Amazon tool
The Keyword Wizard for Amazon is a SemRush App available to people with a SemRush account. The tool produces a list of the most relevant e-commerce keywords from its database of over 200 million keywords.
The free version of the tool gives you three searches that provide a list of broad match, phrase match, and exact match keywords with the individual search volume and the number of competitors using the term for each keyword.
This tool is great for Amazon sellers as it actively maintains a database of keywords buyers use to find products.
Pricing:
App Price: $14.99/month
- Keyword.Guru
Keyword Guru is a real-time keyword research tool that gives you the most searched keywords on Google, Yahoo, Bing, Amazon, eBay, and other popular websites.
The tool lists popular keywords segregated by the platform for any term you search. However, it does not give additional statistics, such as search volume or competition.
You can use this tool to kickstart your keyword research and combine it with the other tools mentioned above for more specific stats about those keywords.
Pricing:
Free
How Do Keyword Research Tools Help With SEO?
Here are several ways keyword research tools can assist you.
- Identifying relevant keywords: Keyword research tools help you discover relevant keywords and phrases that are commonly searched by users in your target audience. By incorporating these keywords into your website content, you can align your website with user intent and increase your chances of appearing in search engine results.
- Understanding search volume and competition: Keyword research tools provide data on search volume, which indicates how many times a specific keyword is searched for within a given timeframe. This information helps you prioritize keywords that have higher search volumes, indicating a greater potential for attracting traffic. Additionally, these tools often offer insights into keyword competition, allowing you to assess the keyword difficulty of ranking for organic keywords.
- Discovering long-tail keywords: Long-tail keywords are longer, more specific keyword phrases that usually have lower search volumes but can bring targeted traffic to your website. Keyword research tools help you identify these long-tail keywords, which can be valuable for niche targeting and attracting users with high purchase intent.
- Analyzing keyword trends: By examining historical data and trends, keyword research tools can provide valuable insights into the popularity of specific keywords over time. This information helps you stay up to date with emerging trends, adapt your content strategy, and optimize your website for current search demand.
- Competitive analysis: Keyword research tools often offer competitive analysis features, allowing you to analyze the keywords your competitors are targeting. This data can help you identify new keyword opportunities, gain insights into their SEO strategies, and refine your own approach to outrank them in search results.
- Content optimization: Keyword research tools assist in optimizing your website's content by suggesting related keywords, semantically related terms, and variations. By incorporating these suggestions into your content, you can enhance its relevance, improve keyword targeting, and increase your chances of ranking higher in search engine results.
Let’s Wrap It Up!
The right keywords play an important role in the success of your content efforts. We hope the abovementioned tools guide you through the initial stages of planning and creating a content marketing strategy for your products and services.
In addition to the abovementioned tools, you can check out the Moz keyword explorer and Ahrefs keyword research tool. However, the ideal tool for you will depend on your requirements and needs.
And if you need more help, you can always explore an all-in-one content marketing and SEO tool like Scalenut. It offers a full suite of keyword research, content creation, and SEO optimization features.
About Scalenut
Scalenut is an all-in-one AI-powered SEO and content marketing platform that helps marketers worldwide create high-quality and competitive content at scale. From research, planning, and outlines to ensuring quality, Scalenut helps you do your best at everything.
Empower your content marketing campaigns with AI. Sign up on Scalenut and start creating content today.
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