18 Best Keyword Research Tools – Free & Paid!

As it’s been already mentioned, there are numerous keyword research tools that are available in both free and paid versions.

It’s worth mentioning that different solutions offer different functionalities, therefore, you should always make sure that you select an option that:

Remember that the Internet is full of both free and paid tools that support keyword research and analysis. Keep reading our article to learn about the most popular ones.

Read Also: Keyword Research Basics – How to Find the Right Keywords?

Keyword research tools are an indispensable part of the work of every SEO specialist. So, today we’ll introduce you to 6 best paid solutions that will make your research and analysis much easier. Let’s get down to it!

The list of the best keyword research tools couldn’t exist without SEMrush. It’s a real must-have in the work of every SEO and content specialist. The tool offers numerous features that streamline backlink, keyword, SERP and content gap analysis.

With its help, you can easily overview your website, check the parameters of your market rivals, find areas for improvement and monitor if recent Google algorithm updates have had an impact on your positions in the SERPs.

SEMrush is a tool that, apart from giving you the number of keyword searches and related long-tails, provides you with data concerning the phrase value, competitiveness, and CPC.

The tool works in numerous languages and provides access to general link profiles. SEMrush is extremely beneficial in everyday work. It’s an intuitive and valuable source of information. If you’re looking for a transparent keyword research tool, you should definitely consider this one.

Ahrefs is one of the most popular SEO tools. It’s a great choice for those who need to conduct keyword research, monitor their website’s SEO health, as well as for those who want to spy on their competitors.;

The tool provides lots of data, starting from the position in the SERPs and ending with information on the organic search traffic. Ahrefs also offers features like competitor analysis, site audit, and rank tracking.

Due to the fact that the tool generates detailed reports, it can be used by both small businesses and big corporations. It’s worth mentioning that Ahrefs offers a two-week trial period, which allows you to test all the features and decide whether the tool is worth your money.

To access this tool, you need to register.

When you click on the SEO tools tab, you’ll see many options that support keyword research and the SEO process. To conduct keyword research, you’ll simply need the Keyword Tool (it’s available only in English).

After typing in the word you want to check, you get data concerning its CPC and the number of Google, Yahoo, and Bing searches. The tool also provides long-tail recommendations and other keywords that may be helpful in the SEO process. The obtained results can be exported to a CSV file, so that you can easily use it later on.

Try our long tail SEO services and find out how we can increase your traffic and revenue with the right keywords!

This keyword research tool enables quick and efficient keyword research based on sponsored ads (PPC).

You can access it by registering on the website, however, to fully benefit from the potential of WordStream, you would need to pay. In return, you get a tool that will help you create a professional English campaign.

After typing in the selected keyword, you receive data concerning its SEO potential and a list of related long-tails. All the data is sent to your email address. While reviewing the results, you can remove words that aren’t of interest to you and leave those that can successfully support the SEO process.

Yippy is a keyword research tool that offers numerous language versions, however, it provides the most accurate results if you use it in English.

When you type in a selected phrase, you won’t see a list of keywords and their search volume. Does it mean that the tool is worthless? Nothing further from the truth.

On the left side, there will be suggestions of other words related to the selected keyword. Moreover you’ll see phrases that can be combined with it. The results can be grouped into thematic categories, sources, domains, or time frames that might help create long-tails. It’s a helpful tool for everyone who doesn’t understand complex keyword parameters and wants to take the first steps in the research process.

This is a tool provided by Moz that allows you to research keywords, as well as to check their difficulty and potential.

Keyword Explorer is really helpful when you want to find new keywords or to get more information on the ones you’re already using. The tool allows you to research both broad and exact match keywords. It provides keyword ideas, search volume data, and competition data to help users choose the best phrases for your website.

Not sure if you’re gonna like it? Benefit from a free 30-day trial and see if Moz is the right fit for your business.

Read also: How to Find Niche Keywords?

We realize that SEO software can be pricy. That’s why we decided to complement our list with the best free keyword research tools. Thanks to them, you’ll get a basic understanding of your target audience, its needs, expectations and problems.

With the help of the solutions described below, you should be able to take your first SEO steps without incurring extra costs.

What makes this option noteworthy? The tool is free and the data you get isn’t based solely on sponsored link campaigns.

Übersuggest is primarily intended to tell you which keywords are typed into the search engine. The results are provided in the form of an alphabetical list, which can be downloaded or displayed as text. By clicking on the arrow next to the keyword, you can view Google search trends.

One of the greatest advantages of this keyword research tool is the possibility to research keywords in numerous languages. Regardless of the chosen country, the phrases and the results are very accurate.

It’s one of the most frequently chosen free keyword research tools. However, it needs to be mentioned that it provides data based on the number of clicks on an ad creative concerning a given keyword.

In order to access Google Keyword Planner, it’s necessary to start a campaign, you can disregard payments, and you’ll still have access to the tool.

When typing a selected phrase into GKP, you’ll receive information concerning the average number of searches per month, suggested CPC, and tips regarding activities performed by your market rivals.

The tool also enables expanding the list of keywords for an existing ad campaign and combining phrases from different lists.

This is a plugin by Surfer SEO you can add to Chrome for free. The tool is really similar to Übersuggest.

When you enter a query into Google, you get a list of related keywords with global searches. You can view the results in the form of a list on the right of the SERPs.

Keyword Surfer is a great way to quickly research a few related keywords.

This is a tool that can be really helpful if you’re looking for long-tail keywords.

The principle of Keyword Sheeter’s functioning is really simple. You just need to provide one keyword and the tool will generate a list of long-tail keywords. Moreover, you can include both negative and positive filters, which makes the results more specific. It’s a great solution for those who want to quickly create a list of potential key phrases.

The tool is free and doesn’t require registration. You can use it as many times as you want. However, the free version doesn’t provide you with helpful data such as search volume, intent, keyword difficulty, and more.

Another helpful free keyword research tool. How does it work? You just have to enter a broad keyword that’s of interest to you. In exchange, you’ll get a list of related questions.

With this tool, you can explore untapped content ideas and build topic clusters that will help you meet the expectations of your potential customers.

Keyworddit is a free tool that allows you to find relevant keywords for your website or blog. It works by taking a seed keyword and then finding related phrases that are being talked about on Reddit.

It provides search volume data and related keywords. With its use, you can understand your target audience better, discover trends and patterns to stay up-to-date.

How to use this keyword research tool? It’s really simple. Just enter a phrase that’s of interest to you and select the related subreddit you want to check. Then, you’ll obtain a list of keywords complemented with their monthly ranking. You can also analyze the Google search results. Just click context next to your keyword, and explore the posts or threads related to te keywords inside Reddit.

This isn’t a typical keyword research tool, however, it significantly facilitates the process of selecting phrases for the SEO process. It works in real-time and allows you to check what phrases are currently popular.

Google Trends allows narrowing the search results down to a specific region, date, or search engine. With its use, you can check which search queries were frequently used even a few years ago. After entering a selected keyword, you’ll see a trend chart and related phrases that can be ranked according to their popularity. Moreover, you can also check what factors encourage users to visit your website. This free tool is a valuable source of information and inspiration, especially if you don’t want to invest in keyword research software.

The name of this keyword research tool is pretty self-explanatory. It’s simply a keyword combination tool. To create the ready key phrase, you use two fields – the first one to provide the main word such as a “dentist” and the second one to enter all words that you want to combine with the main keyword, like “Chicago, Magnificent Mile”.

As a response, you get a list of related, most frequent phrases searched on Google, Yahoo, and Bing. It’s a great tool for every small business that offers a few products or services and wants to research necessary keywords quickly.

This keyword research tool and its unique way of presenting the results deserve special attention. 

When you enter a phrase that’s of interest to you, you get a circle with long-tails. It’s intriguing because the key phrases are actually full sentences starting with words such as: which, how, who, e.g., “How does a dentist extract teeth?”.

Thanks to it, you can literally find out what queries users enter into Google. Although AnswerThePublic allows keyword research in 10 languages, the results provided in English are the most accurate. Apart from the circle presented in the screenshot below, keywords are also listed alphabetically. Basic features are available for free, so if you’re looking for an easy-to-use keyword research tool, definitely check it out.

You can get keyword suggestions directly from Google. Surprised? There are three ways to do it.

Google auto suggest is the first one. As you’ve probably noticed, every time you start entering a query into the search bar, Google tries to predict what you need and provides you with numerous long-tails. Well, you can use these suggestions to get an idea of the type of queries people google.

However, we don’t recommend relying on this method – it doesn’t give you any information on the SEO potential of keywords, their search volume, intent, or difficulty. But it’s a great addition to other keyword research tools that can help you understand your target audience and its problems better.

The second way to get keyword suggestions from Google is to use the “People Also Ask” section. It appears under the first organic results in the SERPs and contains a list of questions related to the query.

To get even more keyword ideas, click on one of the questions – a new list of questions will appear. And so on, and so on. In this way, you can create an extensive list of questions related to your main keyword that people ask on Google.

Just like in the case of Google auto suggest, this method has its limitations – you can’t check the SEO potential of keywords, their difficulty, or monthly search volume. But it’s a great way to get an idea of your target audience’s interests and build topic clusters.

The third way to get keyword ideas from Google is to use related searches. They’re located at the bottom of the SERPs.

These are usually both questions and long-tails that (again) will help you create topic clusters and saturate your website with keywords that can support the SEO process.

Using such free keyword research tools and features helps you unleash the potential of your website. Moreover, it’s a great way to figure out what should be included in your content to make it comprehensive, unique and ensure it brings value to users. If you meet these criteria, you’ll be quickly noticed and rewarded by Google.

Read also: How to Research Keyword Competition?

Internet users enter specific keywords into the search engine to find products or phrases of interest. The higher a given website ranked in the search results, the greater the probability of visiting it. Your Google position is, among others, determined and affected by the keywords you’ve chosen for your page.

It’s possible to distinguish:

Apart from a website audit, selecting appropriate key phrases is one of the first tasks that ought to be performed by a page owner and SEO specialist. Every company has its own proven methods and tools that facilitate the task. However, real-life showed us the most frequent mistakes made when choosing keywords.

● Too many keywords

Theoretically speaking, you can select as many keywords as you wish, however, this solution isn’t truly profitable. It’s advisable to choose approximately from 3 to 10 keywords (on each subpage) that appear on the website the most frequently. If you choose too many key phrases, you automatically decrease their power (10 keywords mean that each of them has 10% of the power).

● Inappropriate keywords

If your keywords don’t outline the content accurately, you’ll attract readers but not those you care about. This will translate into a low conversion rate.

● No keyword prioritization

Make your best to ensure that your keyword list contains phrases that are somehow helpful for the website. It’s worth selecting the most crucial keywords and prioritizing them. Which words are important for your business, and which ones are fillers somehow related to the content?

It’s impossible to answer this question unequivocally. Every website is different and requires individual keyword research or analysis. Many clients who are just beginning performing SEO activities on their pages mistakenly believe that choosing a lot of keywords will help them quickly reach high positions in the SERPs.

However, Google robots are really smart, and they efficiently detect any keyword stuffing, which decreases the page’s position in the search results. Small uncomplicated websites with a few subpages don’t need 20 different keywords – selecting the most important 5 phrases will be full enough, and it’ll guarantee much better results.

From the previous parts of the entry, you’ve learned what keywords are and how to categorize them. There’s one more question to answer – how to select keywords to make SEO activities profitable?

The most effective way to facilitate keyword research is to think about your business, products, or services you offer. The location of your activity is also relevant – it would be perfect if you could narrow it down to one specific area, such as a city. After all, it’s much easier to do SEO for more accurate keywords like “dentist Detroit” and not just “dentist”. Obviously, your decision whether to do local SEO or not will be determined by the industry you operate in – a store selling mobile accessories may successfully sell its products globally.

When typing a given phrase into Google, you get search results that are both very accurate and only somehow related to your query. If you try to enter a “laptop bag” into Google, it’ll suggest you looking for a “laptop backpack” as well. Thanks to it, you already have two key phrases that you can potentially use in the SEO process. Predictive Google suggestions are also displayed when you type the query directly into the search engine – below, you can see a roll-out list with the most frequently searched words.

The Internet is full of both free and paid tools that support keyword research and analysis. Keep reading our article to learn about the most popular ones.
Avoid using only one word and too complex or grammatically incorrect phrases
When you enter “cars” into Google, it gives you like 10 610 000 000 search results. Quite a lot, isn’t it? With such an enormous amount, it’s hard to reach TOP Google positions. However, when you type in “used cars Chicago”, you’ll see only about 200 000 search results. The difference is pretty significant, and in this case, you can actually try to reach better positions. Unfortunately, the problem arises if the key phrase you use is too long. The probability that someone will find exactly “used cars from Germany in Chicago Magnificent Mile” is rather low. The situation looks similar if you enter grammatically incorrect phrases. Instead of using keywords like “used Chicago cars”, go for “used cars Chicago”.

The online world offers various free tools like SEMstorm that are really helpful in checking key phrases used by your market rivals. On the other hand, if you aren’t familiar with your competitors, this tool allows you to see which websites are displayed on Google for similar keywords.

Advertising something that cannot be found on the website will do more harm than good. Just imagine a dentist in Chicago who is displayed on Google when you enter a key phrase like “used cars”. The bounce rate of such a website will be much higher than the bounce rate of any page whose keywords accurately correspond to the content.

The selection of appropriate keywords is an essential part of every SEO process that has a crucial impact on the effectiveness of subsequent activities.

The Internet abounds in both paid and free keyword research tools that can be used to improve your website visibility in the search results. With their help, you can understand your target audience and its problems better. All this to create unique and useful content that actually brings value to users.

Hopefully, today’s list of the best keyword research tools will help you find a solution tailored to your needs and business. Take advantage of the available features and take your keyword analysis to the next level. Not sure where to start? Contact us! We’ll be more than happy to assist you!

This is an update of an article published in 2020.