best free tools for keyword research

The 4 best free keyword research tools

There's no shortage of tools purpose-built for keyword research (literally hundreds of them), and they run the gamut from beginner-focused to highly advanced. They also range from totally basic and unhelpful to super valuable.

When done right, the best keyword research tools simplify and streamline your workflow—they make it easier to find the right keywords to target and give you the data you need to actually rank for them. But they shouldn't require you to empty out your bank account and sell your first-born child in order to access that data.

After years of working with multiple clients who use all different tools for keyword research and SEO content optimization, I've seen the best (and the worst) of them—and I know how important it is to choose the right keyword planner tool. To help, I considered over 70 tools with a free option for keyword research. After in-depth testing, here are the four best free keyword research tools, including the all-around greats and apps built for more specific use cases.

The best free keyword research tools

Google Keyword Planner for researching paid keywords

Ahrefs for simple SEO tools

Semrush for advanced SEO professionals

What makes the best keyword research tool?

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The features that make for a great keyword research tool are pretty straightforward: you search for a given keyword, and the tool tells you about it. But there are so many different ways to use keyword data, so I wanted to find tools that could handle a variety of use cases, along with a few designed for some of the most popular uses for keyword research.

During testing, I looked primarily at the factors below to determine which apps made our initial list.

Data included. The best keyword research tools give you all the data you need to rank for your chosen keyword. All of the apps we selected include, at minimum, traffic, keyword difficulty, and competitive SERP analysis .

Data sources. You should be able to trust that your keyword data is free of errors and biases, so considering where the data in each keyword research tool comes from was an important step for us. Every tool we included pulls data in from Google Analytics or Google Search Console at a minimum.

Keyword optimization guidance. You shouldn't have to be a 10-year SEO industry veteran to use keyword research tools—the best tools offer simple, straightforward suggestions to optimize for your keywords. There are tools (like Ahrefs, Semrush, and Moz) that do complete SEO analysis on your site, checking for everything from site speed and technical details to domain authority and topic clusters. That's not what we're looking for here. We're looking for tools that any business owner or marketer can use to quickly understand their target keyword and optimize their site to rank for it.

Free plan allowances and upgrades. Some tools include super limited results for free and call it a "free plan." Or they put time limits on the free plan, effectively making it more of a trial. I only included tools with evergreen free plans generous enough to actually be useful—and they won't break the bank when it's time to upgrade, either.

Standalone functionality. Since you're looking for something free, your keyword tool should be a one-stop shop—without requiring any additional tools or extensions to work for you, especially not ones you'd have to pay for.

To find the best of the best, I put each tool that checked those boxes to the test by running through an in-depth protocol. Here's what my testing workflow looked like:

If needed, I created an account and went through any provided onboarding or guided tutorials (many of these free apps don't require account creation or provide any onboarding).

I searched for a few different kinds of keywords—e.g., "free keyword research tools," "chocolate cake," and "best white sneakers"—to see the results for different search intent .

I checked which related keywords, metrics, and other data were offered. I also made note of the source, whether information was pulled from Google, included non-search engine websites (like social media or forums), or was drawn from the tool's own native data.

I verified allowances for the free plan—whether limited by time, number of results, metrics included, searches per day or month, or something else—and the cost to upgrade to a paid plan if needed.

Where available, I tested out additional keyword research tools like competitive gap analysis, content optimization features, and more.

After spending over a dozen hours with these apps this year, I landed on the four best keyword research tools—each with a manageable free version—below.

The best free keyword research tools at a glance

The best free keyword research tool overall, moz keyword explorer (web).

More approachable data presentation than many other tools

"Priority" score makes it easy to find the keywords worth chasing

Broad set of tools available for free

Less data than more robust tools

Free plan only includes 10 queries per tool per month

Moz 's SEO platform offers several different tools designed for keyword research. While Moz doesn't include as many data points as some of the other full-featured SEO tools (like SERP position history or the total number of keywords a competing result ranks for), I'd consider that a benefit. It makes for a less overwhelming user experience for those who aren't professional search marketers, without skimping on the metrics you really want.

With the Keyword Explorer tool, you can search any keyword you choose and see its monthly volume, difficulty, and organic clickthrough rate (CTR). Scroll down from there to see an analysis of current results ranking for it and suggestions for similar keywords.

My favorite feature: Moz includes a "Priority" score that simplifies keyword research by giving you the bottom line on whether a keyword is worth chasing for you. Moz automatically calculates the score based on the keyword's volume, organic CTR, and difficulty, along with your "My Score"—a metric you set yourself, designating how important a given keyword is to your business, based on your own expertise and knowledge of your business and industry.

Plus, with the Keyword Gap feature (part of the Competitive Research tool), you can find all the keywords your competitors rank for that you don't.

Moz pricing: Keyword research features are available for free for up to 10 queries per tool per month with up to 1,000 keyword suggestions and 10 SERP analyses per query; Moz Pro plans start at $99/month for 150 keyword queries per month

The best free keyword research tool for paid keywords

Google keyword planner (web).

Google Keyword Planner pros:

Completely free forever, even if you don't use Google Ads

Helpful forecasting features for budgeting if you do use Google Ads

Can pull keyword suggestions from just your website

Google Keyword Planner cons:

Not helpful for organic keyword research

When it comes to PPC keyword research, Google Keyword Planner is one of the best tools out there. It's completely free (even if you don't buy Google Ads), so you never have to worry about running into limits or expensive upgrades.

Google Keyword Planner includes two main features: one for exploratory keyword research and discovery and another for more in-depth research on search volume and forecasting.

The "Keyword ideas" feature is similar to many of the tools on this list: you search for a seed term, and it generates other keyword ideas, along with details on monthly search volume, change over time, competition, ad impression share, and bid ranges. You can refine your keyword list by brand or non-brand keywords, source website, and more. If you're also using Google Ads, the "Forecast" feature makes it easier to plan ahead for your paid ads and budget in advance.

Keyword Planner can inform your organic strategy, too, by showing you where ranking organically may help you save on PPC costs.

Google Keyword Planner pricing: Free

The best free keyword research platform for a broad suite of SEO tools

Ahrefs free seo tools (web).

Ahrefs pros:

Free tools cover a broad array of SEO use cases

Super simple to use

Includes keyword research for non-search engines (YouTube, Amazon, Bing)

Ahrefs cons:

Limited amount of data available for free

While you can't access the full Ahrefs suite for free, the company offers a surprisingly robust set of free SEO tools that are perfect for doing simple keyword research. The free suite includes a Free Keyword Generator, Keyword Difficulty Checker, Keyword Rank Checker, and keyword research for YouTube, Amazon, and Bing, among other tools.

The keyword generator includes up to 150 keyword ideas for free (100 phrase match keywords and 50 question-based keywords), along with data on monthly search volume for each and keyword difficulty for the top 10 results. The keyword difficulty tool includes a difficulty score, estimated number of backlinks needed to rank, and SERP analysis for the top 10 results.

None of these tools will give you the depth of data you'd get from a paid account, but the suite's breadth is a strength. Taken together, Ahrefs free tools can handle just about anything a basic SEO operation needs—keyword research, yes, but also link building, website audits, ranking and traffic monitoring, and more. And if your budget changes, you can upgrade to a tool that rivals the best of the best.

Ahrefs pricing: Free Keyword Generator includes up to 150 keyword suggestions with limited data, and Keyword Difficulty Checker includes difficulty score, backlink estimate, and basic SERP overview; paid plans start at $99/month for 500 search credits per month, additional data, and up to 5 keyword lists.

The best free keyword research tool for advanced SEO

Semrush (web).

Semrush pros:

Tons of granular keyword data

Wide range of specialized keyword research tools

Pretty generous free plan

Semrush cons:

Can be overwhelming for those less experienced with keyword research

Most expensive upgrade

If you're looking for something more advanced, Semrush shares a ton of keyword data and makes it easy to dig into the details, like SERP features (featured snippet, reviews, site links, image pack, and so on) and granular analysis of current results. Semrush offers a broad range of keyword research tools, too, from the standard traffic and search volume data to content-driven keyword research and competitive keyword gap analysis.

That range is what really sets Semrush apart, including the standard Keyword Overview, the Keyword Magic Tool for exploratory keyword research, a Keyword Manager and position tracking, competitive Keyword Gap analysis, and Organic Traffic Insights, which—when connected with your Google Analytics or Search Console account—can uncover those famously tricky "not provided" keywords.

As an added bonus, the SEO Content Template tool lets you automatically create a content brief and optimize content as you write by grading your content in real-time for readability, originality, tone of voice, and SEO: it uses a handy bullseye graphic to help you strike the right balance. Plus, the tool visually checks off SEO recommendations (like using your target and related keywords and adding relevant links and images) as you go.

All of this means that upgrading will cost you a pretty penny—but you can use it for free at low volumes to start.

You can do more with Semrush by connecting with Zapier to keep track of SEO tasks across Semrush and your project management tool, automate site audits and re-crawls, connect with Google Analytics goals, and more. Here are some examples:

Re-crawl site audit campaigns in SEMrush when new site audits are completed

Create SEMrush overview reports for new Google Analytics goals

Semrush pricing: Free plan includes up to 10 Analytics reports per day and 10 tracked keywords; paid plans start at $119.95/month for up to 10,000 results per report and 500 tracked keywords per month.

Can you use AI for keyword research?

You can ask AI chatbots like ChatGPT and Bard to do keyword research for you—but should you?

The main benefit of going the AI route is simplicity. You can ask for straightforward, simplified results and get a simple, streamlined answer.

The results are clear and actionable, and Bard did a great job of synthesizing data from a variety of sources and planning for both high-traffic and long-tail keywords. (Assuming it's not lying to me .)

ChatGPT isn't connected to Google Keyword Planner, and it did a slightly less impressive—but still kind of helpful—job.

But both ChatGPT and Bard struggled with anything more complex than the prompt above, offering super generic advice…

…or not answering at all:

Bottom line: AI chatbots aren't built for keyword research. They don't allow for building keyword lists, saving analyses and keyword reports, tracking your rankings, competitor gap analysis, or robust content optimization. Not yet, at least.

If you're in a bind and need simplified, bottom line-style information on a keyword quickly, an AI chatbot may be of some help. But as of today, I wouldn't recommend using AI chatbot as your primary keyword research tool—especially given the number of truly helpful dedicated free keyword research tools you can use instead.

Related reading:

The best SEO content optimization tools

The best WordPress SEO plugins

How to find low competition keywords that drive traffic

How to do keyword research on a budget with Keywords Everywhere

The best SEO rank trackers

The best SEO audit tools

This article was originally published in June 2021. The most recent update was in June 2023.

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Kiera Abbamonte

Kiera’s a content writer who helps SaaS and eCommerce companies connect with customers and reach new audiences. Located in Boston, MA, she loves cinnamon coffee and a good baseball game. Catch up with her on Twitter @Kieraabbamonte.

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16 Best Keyword Research Tools For SEO

We review the best keyword research tools, from the usual free versions and the "big three" paid tools to some lesser-known tools to try.

Ask any SEO pro and they will tell you that trying to do keyword research without a keyword research tool is a thankless task – and it’s pretty much impossible to build a comprehensive list of keywords with monthly search volumes .

As keyword research is one the most important parts of any search engine optimization strategy , the right keyword research tools are an essential part of your SEO tool stack .

If you’re new to SEO or just looking for new tools to try, we have the list for you.

We’re going to take a look at 16 of the best keyword research tools used by SEO professionals and help you choose the right one for your needs.

[Recommended Read] → A Guide to Essential SEO Tools for Agencies

The Best Tools For Keyword Research

One of the most popular keyword research tools on the market, Semrush offers a comprehensive suite of SEO tools.

Specifically for keyword research, it includes:

• Keyword Overview: Just like its name suggests, this provides an overview of keywords, including search volume, difficulty, CPC, and variations.
• Keyword Magic Tool: This tool gives you keywords by broad match, exact match, phrase match, and related words, alongside relevant metrics about search volume, intent, and competitiveness.
• Keyword Manager: Only available to paid Semrush users, this tool supports deep analysis and data export.
• Position Tracking:  This feature allows you to monitor how your site is ranking alongside the competition on a daily basis.
• Organic Traffic Insights: Combining Google Analytics and Search Console with its own data, this helps you identify the keywords that are actually driving organic traffic to your site.

Price: $99.95-449.95/month

2. Ahrefs Keywords Explorer

Another all-in-one SEO toolkit, Ahrefs includes a Keyword Explorer that provides incredibly in-depth information on keywords.

Using data from 10 different search engines, it provides more than keyword suggestions; it also provides information about search volume, ranking difficulty, and keyword movement.

Particularly useful is the insight it provides into your competition, helping you identify which keywords they’re ranking for that you’re not.

This information can then be used to create new content to target and capture that traffic.

Price: $83-999/month

3. Google Keyword Planner

It’s only logical that the world’s most dominant search engine would provide a tool to help you identify useful keywords.

Google Keyword Planner doesn’t offer as much functionality as some of the other tools out there, but it does have something they don’t: direct data from Google.

Primarily intended for digital marketers who are advertising on Google, it’s a free-to-use tool for anyone with a Google Ads account.

Using it is simple – just type in a keyword and it will give you data on approximate monthly searches, related keywords, and bidding information.

Price: Free with a Google Ads account.

4. Serpstat

Another full-service SEO suite, Serpstat includes tools for link building, PPC campaign management, and local search optimization, as well as keyword research.

Claiming to use the biggest database, it can help you identify keywords, analyze volume, popularity, and competition, and track your competition.

What’s really cool about Serpstat is that its results include the site in the featured snipped as the first result, to help you claim that spot for your own.

It also includes tools for monitoring trending keywords, including searches by region, rank tracking, and content analysis.

Price: $59-499/month

5. KeywordTool.io

The most useful part of KeywordTool.io is the sheer volume of keyword suggestions it provides.

A search for [pharmacy], for example, returned 669 total keywords.

These words are provided with all the relevant data an SEO professional could want, including competition (both average and by specific keyword), search volume, and trend information.

KeywordTool.io also allows you to filter results based on your needs. You can specify region, language, platform, and even type.

Like most of the other keyword research tools listed here, it allows you to analyze your competitors and identify words and phrases that they’re ranking for, but you are not.

Price: $69-129/month

6. Moz Keyword Explorer

In the world of SEO tools, Moz is one of the biggest players. It’s no surprise, therefore, that it includes a keyword research tool.

Offering both a paid and free version (limited to 10 queries per month), Moz Keyword Explorer has comprehensive analysis tools, robust keyword suggestions, and predictive metrics.

It also gives you detailed information on SERPs, tools for identifying long-tail keywords and search questions, and suggestions to help you rank internationally.

Price: $79-599/month

7. Google Trends

Another tool from the biggest name in search, Google Trends is a free-to-use keyword research tool that lets you search by specific words and phrases, or related queries.

It breaks down results in a variety of useful ways, including interest by region, interest over time, and related topics and queries.

You can also compare two keywords to determine if one is trending more than another.

Price: Free

8. AnswerThePublic

Billing itself as a “search listening tool,” AnswerThePublic taps into autocomplete data from search engines and uses this to determine useful search questions and phrases.

This information is then presented in a visual format that makes it easy to identify search volume divided by questions, prepositions, comparisons, and related searches.

It also provides an alphabetical list of keywords.

It has a free version, which is useful if you’re only doing a small amount of research.

The Pro plan is better if you’re regularly performing SEO, as it gives you unlimited daily searches, priority customer support, and customization options.

Price: $9-199/month

9. QuestionDB

QuestionDB is a great way to discover relevant keywords that other keyword research tools may not suggest.

You enter a broad keyword, and it returns a list of highly specific questions related to it.

With this in mind, you can create content to target low-competition, high-potential words, and phrases, as well as establish authority within your niche.

It has both a free and paid version, with free accounts being limited to a maximum of 50 results per search.

Price : $0-50/month

Claiming to be the “world’s most advanced keyword tool,” Jaaxy is an easy-to-use tool that gives you a lot of keyword ideas.

Developed for affiliate marketers, it provides a huge list of related words and phrases, as well as useful data on search volume, traffic, and competitor performance.

It also includes information about how your website is ranking under tracked keywords.

Price: Free (limited to 30 keyword searches per month)-$99/month

11. Long Tail Pro

Designed specifically to help SEO professionals identify long-tail keywords, Long Tail Pro includes five tools to cover all things SEO:

• SERP Analysis.
• Site Audit.

Its keyword research tool offers a lot of functionality marketers may find useful, including keyword grouping, campaign metrics, and competition analysis.

But its true strength lies in its ability to uncover long-tail keywords from a broad seed, returning as many as 400 highly specific words and phrases in seconds.

Price: $24.75-

13. Majestic

Majestic has three keyword tools included in its suite of SEO tools:

• Keyword Generator , which can be used to discover new keywords for content ideas and targeted advertising.
• Keyword Checker , which provides an extensive index that tracks words and phrases.
• Search Explore , which explores competition for keywords and provides a more granular view of ranking difficulty. This is only available in Pro-level plans.

Price: $41.67-399.99/month

Combing sites like Google, Amazon, Bing, Wikipedia, and YouTube, Soovle suggests keywords that you may otherwise have overlooked.

Results are displayed by website, allowing you to optimize your content for each one specifically.

It lets you save suggestions for future reference, or download them in a .CSV file.

It also provides an alphabetical list of the top internet keywords, with the platform each one ranks highly on indicated by an icon.

15. Keyword Surfer

This tool is a bit different from the others listed here, in that it’s not a standalone platform, but rather a Chrome plugin.

Keyword Surfer gives you an intuitive way to collect and analyze search data, as well as separate your keywords into collections.

This plugin makes it easy to monitor search intent, uncover topic clusters and evaluate search volume at a glance.

Price: Starting at $49/month

16. Google Search Console

No list of keyword research tools would be complete without a mention of Google Search Console – even though it’s not technically one.

It’s included on this list for one primary reason: the performance report.

By breaking down your website’s performance, it tells you where your traffic is coming from, which queries are driving people to your site, and which pages are your best-performing.

This data can then be mined for new keyword opportunities and to optimize your existing content.

Even better, it lets you custom configure your reports, so you can include the data that’s most important to you.

Choosing The Right Keyword Research Tool

The tools listed here are just a few of your many options.

So, how do you choose the right platform for your needs, especially when many of them have the same, or similar functionality?

To help you decide, you should consider:

• Your budget – Obviously, you need something that will give you the functionality you need at an affordable price. Free options can be useful, but they tend to be less robust than paid tools.
• Your overall SEO strategy – What is the primary focus of your search engine optimization efforts? Are you seeking to establish yourself as an authority? Or do you want to attract new customers? Are you targeting people locally or internationally? Each keyword research platform has different strengths and weaknesses. Select one that’s well-matched to your goals.

Be sure to carefully evaluate your options. If you work as part of a team, invite everyone’s opinions.

They may have platforms they have used in the past that did or did not work. Understanding why can help you pick the best one for your needs.

And once you find the perfect one for you, you can start going after and landing traffic from more queries and generating more conversions.

More Resources:

• Google Keyword Planner: How To Use The Free Tool For SEO
• Keyword Research: An In-Depth Beginner’s Guide
• Rank Tracking: How To Do It The Right Way

Featured Image: Aysezgicmeli/Shutterstock

Loren Baker is the Founder of SEJ, an Advisor at Alpha Brand Media and runs Foundation Digital, a digital marketing ...

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The Best Free Keyword Research Tools

Learn about the tools that can help you craft a successful SEO strategy—all at no cost.

Without keyword research tools, finding the right terms to incorporate into your blog or online store content to help it rank on search engine results pages (SERPs) would be like throwing darts in a dark room. Every once in a while, you would hit the target, but many darts would land on the floor.

Keyword research tools facilitate your SEO planning in multiple ways. They can help you generate keyword ideas, reveal how many people actively use a search term, identify trends, and show you how much competition you face to rank for a specific phrase.

Free keyword research tools

There are a surprising number of fantastic free tools you can use to gather vital information for marketing and SEO. Here are 12 free keyword research tools that are easy to use and full of valuable data.

Some are powerful keyword generators for Google and other search engines. Others provide targeted data for e-commerce websites like eBay, Etsy, and Amazon. The most comprehensive of these tools include essential SEO data like the monthly search volume and intensity of competition for your target terms.

Below are descriptions of what you can accomplish with each free keyword research tool, as well as their benefits and drawbacks. The tools covered are:

Keyword Surfer

Answerthepublic, keyword sheeter, ahrefs keyword generator, semrush keyword magic tool, ubersuggest, moz keyword explorer, keyword tool dominator, google trends.

Keyword generators for blog topic ideas

Keyword generators help you home in on what your potential customers want to know. They scrape search engines and question-and-answer databases to reveal new blog topics and keyword ideas.

Keyword Surfer is a newer tool that plugs right into the Chrome web browser. When it’s on, results automatically display on the right side of your results page each time you enter a search term.

The data delivered by Keyword Surfer includes:

• Keyword ideas with their volume
• Cost per click (CPC) for each search term
• Pages that rank for the term you entered
• Traffic to pages ranked 1 through 10 for that term

It’s a highly efficient keyword research tool and delivers results as you use your web browser. As a new tool, there may be some kinks to work out. Data delivered by the plugin can sometimes differ from data supplied by other Google search tools. However, it’s a fast and easy way to get content ideas.

AnswerThePublic is a great place to see raw search insights. After you enter your search term(s), it displays the questions people are asking related to that topic. The results are shown in a graphic display with all the who, what, where, when, why and other questions users ask.

It’s a powerful way to generate keyword ideas and see what your potential customers actually want to know. You can download the data as a graph or a list.

There is one con for this tool: With a limit of 3 free searches a day, you have to be thoughtful about each phrase you search.

Keyword Sheeter pulls autocomplete results from Google. It delivers real-time data on what people are typing into the search engine.

If you want to generate a long list of keyword ideas fast, Keyword Sheeter is an excellent choice. It pulls about 1,000 ideas per minute, and exporting your list is free.

It’s a simple and powerful resource to identify ideas for blog topics. However, the free features of Keyword Sheeter do not include search volume or data on how competitive it is to rank for a phrase.

Keyworddit mines Reddit for keywords. To use it, enter a specific subreddit with at least 10,000 subscribers and specify a timeframe. The tool searches through the titles and comments to extract up to 500 keywords with search volumes.

Due to the variety of answers within each subreddit, the relevance of the results may vary. There is an option to specify high relevance, which slows down the tool somewhat.

Keyworddit is not designed to replace other keyword research tools, but it can be an interesting complement to your existing strategy. Reddit is a popular site where people with specific interests take deep dives into a topic. It may reveal keyword phrases and blog topics you wouldn’t find using other search tools.

QuestionDB is an excellent blog topic idea generator. It pulls from several question-and-answer websites, including Reddit and Quora, to give you questions people are actively asking related to your keywords .

The free version of the tool allows unlimited searches without registering for an account. You can download your results with a single click.

You have the option to display the source link for each question. This allows you to review additional details about how people are framing their questions. You can also review the answers. QuestionDB also displays related topics mentioned in the questions.

The free account limits you to 50 results per query.

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Freemium keyword research tools for SEO analysis

A few of the premium paid websites offer free tools for limited use. You get the same outstanding services provided by the premium services for a limited number of searches or fewer features. Even so, they are comprehensive free keyword research tools.

Ahrefs Keyword Generator is one of the free tools offered by Ahrefs, which is a popular paid service. Enter any target keyword or phrase, and it will pull the top 100 keyword ideas from its database of over 8 billion keywords from more than 170 countries.

For each keyword phrase, the Keyword Generator displays:

• Search volume
• Keyword difficulty from 1 to 100
• How recently this result was updated
• A list of questions related to your search term

You can use this keyword research tool to identify long-tail keywords, target less competitive phrases, and isolate your search using geographic location or search engine.

It allows you to export your data by downloading your list of results. In addition to the Keyword Generator that pulls from Google, Ahrefs also has free Bing , YouTube , and Amazon tools.

While some freemium services include the SERP results inside the keyword search tool, Ahrefs provides their free SERP service on a separate page.

Ahrefs Keyword Generator is an efficient and valuable free tool that allows you to do unlimited searches without creating an account. However, unlike other tools, it does not allow you to download your results. And, because you don’t create an account with the free service, you have to prove you’re not a robot with every new search.

Semrush Keyword Magic Tool is one of several free tools offered by SEO giant Semrush. To access their free tools, create an account and select Skip Trial. You can always sign up for the paid service down the road if you’d like.

The Keyword Magic Tool gives you access to more than 20 billion keywords from over 120 geographical databases.

Free reports include:

• Monthly search volume
• Competitive density (competition among paid advertisers)
• Keyword difficulty (how difficult it would be to rank in Google’s top 20)

The Keyword Magic Tool also has some helpful sorting and organizing features. It allows you to sort keywords into topic-specific subgroups, apply smart filters to narrow or expand your search, and quickly export your findings. You can see related keywords by topic and semantically related keywords or by keywords with similar phrasing.

The free account limits you to 10 searches a day across all the complementary tools provided by Semrush.

Ubersuggest provides a wealth of information with its free version. When you enter a search term, it displays the search volume, SEO difficulty, paid difficulty, and CPC.

Immediately beneath that display, it identifies the number of backlinks you would need to rank on the first page of Google for that keyword phrase.

As you scroll down, you can view lists of keyword ideas and page content ideas.

The list of page content ideas displays related blog titles. At a glance, you can see how many people click on and share each article. You can export most of your data reports to CSV to save and sort. Ubersuggest provides a free Chrome extension to see data right on the SERP easily.

The free version limits your use to a single website and 3 keyword searches per day.

Moz Keyword Explorer is an attractive and well-laid-out keyword research tool. You can see monthly volume, organic difficulty, organic click-through rate (CTR), and a priority score for each search term.

The organic CTR displays how many people who use the term follow through and click on one of the results. The priority score aggregates the difficulty, opportunity, and volume to show you in a simple score how likely you are to rank for that keyword phrase.

Keyword Explorer delivers a long list of keyword suggestions for each term, with monthly search volume and relevancy.

The SERP analysis, also included with the free search results, gives you 10 specific pages that rank for your target keyword. You can see their title, URL, page authority, domain authority, number of backlinks to the page, and the number of backlinks to the root domain. It’s easy to download results into a spreadsheet.

Moz provides an excellent service. The downside is the free account limits you to 10 queries a month.

Keyword research tools for e-commerce, online sellers, and multichannel marketers

Most keyword tools focus on Google and other search engines. However, platforms like YouTube, Amazon, eBay, and Etsy have their own algorithms.

For e-commerce stores or sellers whose goals reach beyond ranking on Google and other search engines, tools like Keyword Tool Dominator and Soovle help you target the platforms you are using.

Soovle is great for e-commerce websites or marketers using multiple channels. It helps you find popular keywords across several megasites, including Amazon, Wikipedia, YouTube, and eBay.

Soovle works as a keyword research tool and a keyword generator. As you type in your target terms, it autogenerates phrases to help you expand your ideas.

Soovle includes unlimited searches for free. On the downside, it is limited to an idea generator and does not include metrics like keyword difficulty or search volume.

Keyword Tool Dominator helps you identify search trends as they happen. It brings you the autocomplete databases from Google, YouTube, Amazon, Walmart, Bing, Etsy, and eBay to uncover up-to-date keywords and search terms.

It’s an outstanding resource for sellers and multichannel marketers who want to rank on more than Google or the other search engines.

The downside of this fast and easy-to-use tool is the free version limits you to 2 searches a day. For more queries, you’ll need to pay for a plan.

Keyword usage over time

Sometimes you want to know if a topic is an established trend or just a fad. In that case, Google Trends is a powerful and unique tool.

Google Trends is a free tool that delivers graphs and data on specific search terms used on Google and YouTube.

When you enter a search phrase on the homepage, it will deliver a list from Google by default. On the results page, you can change your options to see results from YouTube instead. It also offers trends from Google Shopping, Images, and News.

Google Trends is a valuable tool for:

• Identifying what’s currently trending
• Isolating popular topics or subtopics within an industry or related to a theme
• Discovering local search trends
• Finding related keywords that are growing in popularity
• Graphing the public interest in a topic over a range of time
• Seeing where a topic is most popular

Google Trends helps you identify keywords that are rising in popularity and avoid terms that are losing momentum. It does not provide data on monthly search volume or how much competition there is for each keyword phrase.

Free keyword research tools aren’t your only option. If your business is booming or you want to go down a new avenue, you can always invest in paid tools. Tools that require payment or a subscription to access do everything that the free tools above can do, but may also:

• Provide more keyword data
• Enable you to do more keyword research
• Feature location-based SEO tools
• Have rank trackers so you can see how well your website is ranking on SERP pages for certain keywords
• Have more user-friendly interfaces
• Have an all-in-one suite where you can conduct all your keyword research

If you are looking to branch into pay-per-click marketing, these tools may also offer additional insights into search engine marketing. (One free tool for paid marketing is Google Keyword Planner , which supplies data around Google’s biddable keywords.)

Planning with data

Whether you are promoting a blog or building an e-commerce website, each page you create takes time, energy, and expertise. When you use the best keyword research tools for your business, you ensure your efforts produce results.

Don’t throw darts in the dark and hope they find their target. All the data you need to make solid content planning decisions is available in these 12 free keyword research tools.

Your audience knows what they want and need. Do you?

Best Keyword Research Tools: FAQ

Which tool is the best for keyword research.

When conducting SEO research , finding the best tool for keyword research can feel overwhelming, especially with the vast selection of both free and paid solutions available today. One of the most notable keyword research tools used today to help with understanding the top-performing keywords in any industry includes Keyword Surfer. Keyword Surfer is a well-known keyword research tool that can be used entirely for free from Surfer SEO.

Is Google keyword research tool free?

Yes. Both Google Trends and Google Keyword Planner are free keyword research tools that can be accessed by both individuals and business owners alike. With Google Trends and Google Keyword Planner, take advantage of free keyword tools that deliver top-tier results based on the latest algorithms in place by numerous search engines, including Google itself.

Using Google keyword research tools is highly recommended, especially if you are interested in boosting the ranking of your website or eCommerce store within Google search results themselves. With Google Trends, you can quickly and efficiently search for and compare keywords, phrases, and trends that are most relevant to your business and brand. Compare regions where your keywords are most popular as well as data as it has been collected and tracked over time. Using Google Trends is optimal for anyone who is seeking the best free keyword research tool or for those who are just getting started with keyword research for the first time.

Google Keyword Planner also provides a free keyword research tool that can help you plan for PPC and SEO marketing campaigns based on keyword popularity, usage, and market trends.

Are paid keyword research tools worth it?

At times, paid keyword research tools may be worth the investment, depending on the features you require as well as the budget you have for your next marketing campaign. Some paid keyword research tools provide additional keyword data, offer more results, and even include location-based SEO tools, which are optimal for those interested in locale-based targeting.

With paid keyword research tools, it is also often much easier to save and store your keyword research in one central location. You can also take advantage of rank trackers to determine how well individual pages on your website are currently performing with the tweaks you have made using your preferred paid keyword research tool.

How to choose the best keyword tool for your needs?

Before choosing the best free keyword research tool for your business or brand, consider your needs and the reason you are conducting keyword research. Ask yourself the following questions before determining whether a free or paid keyword research tool is right for you:

• What purpose is my keyword research going to serve? What am I attempting to learn or gain by conducting keyword research?
• Am I trying to spread the word about my business or brand with proper keywords and targeting, or am I attempting to generate sales with my keywords?
• How can I reach my users with relevant language and keywords? What keyword is my target audience most likely to search for while browsing for the products, services, or content I provide?
• Who is my current competition and how can I use popular keywords to boost my own ranking among my competition online?
• What features matter when it comes to a keyword research tool?

Knowing what features are necessary to achieve your own marketing goals can help in the process of eliminating keyword research tools that simply do not serve your needs.

• Website Planet

8 Best FREE Tools for Keyword Research (2024 TIPS)

• #1: Google Trends

Keyword Research Tip #1 : Choose a long-tail (or seed) phrase rather than just one word in order to successfully cut down the competition. I can see that the popularity of the search term is generally high throughout, but spiked in December and February. This could be due to the fact that consumers buy more dark chocolate as gifts around Christmas and Valentine’s Day.

• Interest By Subregion : This section allows you to view the locations where your search term was the most popular during a particular time frame
• Related Topics & Queries : This miracle box shows you related search terms with rising popularity that you can also insert into your content

• #2: Google Correlate

• #3: AdWord & SEO Keyword Permutation Generator

Keyword Research Tip #2 : Be your own search term generator first and foremost. Play the word association game with your chosen keyword(s) – it’s amazing how many you can come up with when you put your mind to it! Try to produce an extensive list of related terms and ideas before using a keyword research tool. This super-easy-to-use tool does all the thinking for you. You can produce up to three lists of words or phrases – then, all you have to do is click “Generate Permutations” to see the results.

• #4: Ubersuggest
• Volume : The number of searches per month
• Cost Per Click (CPC) : The average CPC according to Adwords
• Paid Difficulty : The estimated competition in paid search
• SEO Difficulty : The estimated competition in organic search

Keyword Research Tip #3 : Sometimes it’s better to avoid the most competitive search terms. Instead, consider one of the most popular options that doesn’t score particularly high in terms of paid or SEO difficulty. This way, you’re more likely to come up on top of the Search Engine Results Pages (SERPs). There will also be a little text box from Neil Patel himself that communicates how easy it is to rank for your search term, alongside a handy graph showing the volume of searches per month.

• #5: Keyword Shitter

• Positive Filter : Type a word that you’d like to see in your results into this box
• Negative Filter : Type a word that you’d like excluded from your results into this box
• #6: AnswerThePublic

• Question : “Can dark chocolate go bad”
• Preposition : “Dark chocolate nearby”
• Comparison : “Dark chocolate vs milk chocolate”
• Alphabetical : Lists the terms from A-Z, e.g. “dark chocolate advent calendar” to “dark chocolate zinc”
• Related : “Dark chocolate calories”

Keyword Research Tip #4 : Most keyword research tools allow you to export the data to CSV. However, for the ones that don’t, with minimal effort you can copy and paste the results into an Excel spreadsheet.

• #7: Keywords Everywhere

Keyword Research Tip #5 : Once you’ve used a keyword research tool, be sure to actually Google each search term that you’re thinking of using in your content and check out the top three results. Your aim is to match—or, even better, beat—the top three websites, so you need to ensure that your website exceeds theirs in terms of quality content, design, formatting, as well as keyword insertion (of course!).

• Free vs. Paid Keyword Research Tools

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16 Best Free Keyword Research Tools 

Diligent keyword research is among the first and most important steps of a successful SEO (search engine optimization) strategy. If you don't target the right search terms, your content marketing efforts most likely won't pay off.

This guide will help you avoid this by reviewing some of the best keyword research tools on the market. We'll discuss both free and paid options to help you choose the most suitable one based on several factors like ease of use, pricing, and features.

Why are these the best keyword research tools?

Finding a keyword research tool is no easy feat. There are dozens of platforms to choose from, each promising to help you rank high in SERPs (search engine results pages). Opting for a tool that doesn't deliver on this promise is a huge waste of time and money, so this is a decision you shouldn't make haphazardly.

To give you a shortcut, we shortlisted the best keyword research tools based on the most important factors:

Keyword metrics

The first and most obvious box that every keyword research tool must check is comprehensive keyword data. You should get detailed insight into several metrics, most importantly:

• Search volume
• Keyword difficulty
• Competitive SERP analysis data

Ideally, your chosen tool will go beyond these basics and provide data on search intent, keyword trends, and other useful extras.

User-friendliness

Keyword research tools aren't only used by SEO experts. On the contrary, beginners can leverage them to learn how search engines think and publish their first SEO-friendly pieces.

For this to happen, a keyword research tool must be intuitive and easy to use. Besides outlining all the relevant data clearly, it should guide you on how to use all the insights you've gathered without extensive background knowledge.

Scope of data

A keyword research tool should offer a decent feature set in its free/starter plan to let you get the most important work done without investments. At the very least, it should let you test a platform out to see if it's worth the commitment.

This isn't the case with many options, though. They intentionally give you limited information to make you sign up for the paid tier, so steer away from such platforms. When considering paid options, prioritize those with full-fledged trials.

Functionality

Keyword research can be challenging enough without having to juggle several platforms at once. That's why you should look for an all-in-one solution that gives you the necessary data and actionable insights.

This is particularly important for paid tools. If you spend money on an app, it should justify the price by ensuring you don't need any add-ons or extra tools.

Data sources

The whole purpose of a keyword research tool is to get an inside look at search engines and ranking mechanisms, so your chosen platform should pull data from reputable sources, such as Google Search Console and Google Trends.

To enable competitive analysis, the tool must also effectively scrape the best-ranking websites for a query and offer real-time data.

Surfer: The best keyword research tool

The term keyword research is actually a blanket term given to a sequence of multiple steps. These include,

• identifying your niche
• generating seed keywords to expand your keyword list
• clustering pages and topics together
• and finally, internally linking keywords within clusters.

Missing any of these steps can somewhat negatively impact your SEO strategy. Ideally, the best keyword research tool will merge all these practices into simple, actionable steps.

Surfer's Keyword Research tool helps you generate a list of topics related to your niche and cluster them into content hubs that you can then link together.

Generate a list of content hubs

Unlike other keyword tools, Surfer goes beyond presenting a mere list of keywords with associated keyword metrics.

Instead, it will group related pages into topically connected clusters. Covering these clusters can help you achieve topical authority in your niche, making your pages easier to rank.

To generate keyword clusters for your website, head to Surfer Keyword Research and follow these steps.

• Enter your website's niche or main topic
• Select from 3 modes
• Keyword This option will present the most common keywords among the top 20 domains for your topic
• GSC Domain This feature is based on your Google Search Console data and will reveal new keyword opportunities you can target including which terms your website has covered
• Competitors Surfer will filter keywords your competitors are ranking for
• Click Create Keyword Research

Note: The Topical Map feature is auto enabled but can be disabled. More on this later.

Surfer will take a few minutes to group your content into topical hubs by related keywords.

For example, Surfer will present

• Content hubs with metrics
• Pillar and supporting pages
• Potential traffic for each page
• Average keyword difficulty

If you selected the GSC Domain mode, Surfer's keyword research tool will reveal topics you have already covered so you know which hubs to prioritize.

Here's an example for our blog.

You can also see your article coverage, average keyword difficulty, and potential monthly traffic for the entire cluster under the hubs.

In the image below, the hub "Web Server" has

• 9 articles, 0 of which are covered
• an average keyword difficulty of 56
• and total potential traffic of 32.6k per month

Instead of guessing which articles you should link to, you can start linking from the pillar page in a hub to the first supporting pages and then from that page to the next supporting page, until you link back from the last page to the pillar page.

Compared to other tools, Surfer Keyword Research tool simplifies keyword research information into actionable data, allowing website owners to extract valuable insights without requiring extensive knowledge, time and effort.

Generate a list of blog post ideas

If you only want to brainstorm a list of keywords for your website, head to Surfer Keyword Research

• Disable the Topical Map feature

In a few minutes, you will have a list of keywords that you can then filter by

• search intent
• monthly volume
• cluster size

Surfer generated ideas for 94 articles for the "web hosting" topic.

Changing the seed keyword will give you even more blog post ideas.

You can also click on a tile to reveal more information about that specific keyword like,

• User intent
• Monthly search volume
• Potential monthly traffic
• Related keywords

By carefully selecting the right keywords, clustering them, and implementing an internal linking strategy, you create a structured approach to SEO that can significantly improve your website's visibility and ranking in search engine results pages (SERPs).

Surfer provides the best all-in-one solution, offering actionable steps to avoid additional tools.

9 free keyword research tools.

If you're new to SEO and don't need any high-end tools—or don't want to invest in keyword research—we've cherry-picked nine tools you should check out.

They're all free as of the time of this writing, so you can start using them without any commitments.

1. Ubersuggest

Ubersuggest was initially developed to scrap Google Suggest terms. Since being acquired by Neil Patel, the tool has evolved into a comprehensive SEO Swiss army knife. The free version mainly focuses on keyword research, though, as other SEO tools are under a paywall.

Still, you get lots of value out of the free plan. When you enter a seed keyword, Ubersuggest will give you lots of long-tail keyword ideas alongside useful information, such as:

• Ranking difficulty for organic and paid search
• CPC (Cost per Click), which is particularly useful if you use Google Ads
• Keyword trends

Ubersuggest will also give you some content ideas based on well-ranking pieces to get some inspiration for your content plan.

The platform's main drawback is a limited free plan. You only get three daily searches, which isn't enough for someone serious about SEO.

If you want more searches alongside additional insights like target audience data, you'll need to subscribe to the paid plan.

Besides the free plan, Ubersuggest offers three paid tiers:

• Individual —$12/month
• Business —$20/month
• Enterprise/Agency —$40/month

There's a 7-day free trial, so you can test the paid features and see if they're worth the price.

2. AnswerThePublic

AnswerThePublic combines keyword research with social listening to give you detailed insights into the conversations happening around your chosen keyword.

It works with Google, YouTube, and Bing, so it's useful for executing a multi-channel SEO strategy.

When you enter the keyword, you'll see:

• Keyword suggestions based on commonly asked questions and related prepositions
• Related keywords in alphabetical order
• Search volume and CPC for the suggested keywords

You can use the app without an account, though you can only perform one search per day. Creating an account gives you three daily searches, but you must subscribe to a paid tier to unlock more.

AnswerThePublic has three paid tiers:

• Individual —$9.99 per month
• Pro —$99 per month
• Expert —$199 per month

It's not the cheapest keyword research tool out there, but it may be worth it if you want a peek into your audience's minds and search behavior.

3. Google Search Console

Google Search Console isn't a keyword research tool per se, though it can give you lots of useful information on the search terms you're currently ranking for.

Specifically, you can use the Performance Report and go to the Queries section, which will reveal all the keywords for which your pages appear in SERPs.

You can use this data to fine-tune your keyword research efforts and double down on the best-performing terms.

The Search Console also lets you identify declining keywords and pages so that you can pay special attention to them. The Performance Report will show any loss of traffic over a given period, so you can improve the pages accordingly.

Note that some fluctuations are normal due to seasonality, so a temporary drop might not be a cause for concern.

While you'll most likely need a dedicated keyword research tool instead of relying solely on the Search Console, the above uses make it well worth adding to your SEO toolkit.

In fact, if you had to choose just one free keyword research tool, GSC should be first on your list.

You only need a Google account to use Google Search Console. The platform is free to use, and you get access to all the aforementioned features.

4. Google Keyword Planner

Google Keyword Planner is among the most widely used free keyword research tools, and there are a few reasons for this.

The first and most obvious one is that you get insights directly from Google, so you can trust that the search results are accurate and up-to-date.

The platform is also easy to use regardless of your skill level.

All you need to do is enter the seed keyword and choose the location you'll target, and the Keyword Planner will give you an extensive list of relevant keywords.

You'll get a mixed bag of short-tail and long-tail keywords, as well as some basic keyword data, such as:

• Search volume data (average monthly searches and year-on-year change)
• Competition

The main drawback of this tool is vague search volume data. You get broad ranges (e.g., 100K–1M), so you can't know precisely how many searches a keyword gets.

If you're new to SEO, Google Keyword Planner can be an excellent starter keyword tool. It may not be as feature-rich as other options on our list, but it's great for getting the hang of keyword research.

Google Keyword Planner is free to use—anyone with a Google Ads account can use it, which contributes to the platform's beginner-friendliness.

5. Google Trends

Google Trends is another free keyword research tool that gives you actionable insights directly from the search engine. You can use it to identify and predict the interest surrounding a specific search term to create relevant, engaging content.

When you enter a search term, Google Trends will display a graph showing the audience's interest in it. You can choose the preferred time frame, which can range from a day to several years.

This allows you to assess a keyword's seasonality and tailor your content plan accordingly.

The tool also breaks down the interest by region using a score of 0-100. When you scroll down, you'll see related topics and queries, and you can choose whether you want to see the top-performing or rising (trending) ones.

The only issue here is the limited number of related queries and topics, which caps at 25 each. This means you may not discover as many related keywords as you can with other tools.

Google Trends is completely free, so no commitments are required.

6. QuestionDB

QuestionDB is a simple keyword research tool that uncovers the most frequently asked questions around a seed keyword you enter.

Choose a broad topic, and it will give you lots of questions you can use as both keywords and blog topics.

This makes QuestionDB a solid choice if you want to avoid running out of blog ideas and achieve topical authority by answering all the relevant questions surrounding your target search term.

The tool also provides data about the question's search volume and ranking difficulty, though this information is only available with the paid plan.

You also don't get a full list of questions without paying, so you can only see up to 60 questions.

QuestionDB offers two paid plans:

• Solo —$15 per month
• Agency —$50 per month

7. WordStream Keyword Tool

WordStream Keyword Tool gives you keyword suggestions based on either a seed keyword or a website's URL. This makes it a decent competitive research tool, as it can give you insights into the search terms the top players are ranking for.

You also get standard data like monthly search volume, CPC range, and competition. Unlike other keyword research tools like QuestionDB, WordStream's option doesn't hide this feature behind a paywall, which is a welcome benefit.

You can fine-tune your search according to the industry and country or state, which lets you target local keywords for your area.

The tool will display the first 25 keywords, and you can get the full list by leaving your email. All keyword data is based on Google and Bing API, so you don't need to worry about the validity of data sources.

WordStream Keyword Tool is free to use, so the only commitment you need to make is to leave your email address so that you can download the full list of keywords.

8. AlsoAsked

As the name implies, AlsoAsked aggregates questions from Google's People Also Asked boxes to provide new keywords and questions based on your search term.

You can either enter a seed keyword or upload a CSV file, and you'll get an interactive graph showing all the related questions.

You can perform three standard searches daily for free and get four credits for the so-called "deep search." It goes one level deeper than standard search, generating up to 100 related questions depending on your search term.

The platform's main downside is a lack of actionable keyword data—you only get a graph with suggested questions.

You can choose from three paid AlsoAsked tiers:

• Basic —$15 per month
• Lite —$29 per month
• Pro —$59 per month

9. Keyword Surfer

Keyword Surfer is a free Google Chrome extension installed by over 600,000 users that provides keyword metrics in the search bar alongside plenty of new keywords related to your search term.

When you type in a search query, the results will be enriched with lots of valuable data, most notably:

• Estimated domain traffic
• Number of words on top-performing pages
• Number of exact keywords used
• Whether Google changed the meta title

You'll see all of this directly in the SERPs, so you don't need to jump between tabs to get a keyword list or actionable insights.

All data is tailored to your audience's location, so you get geographically relevant keywords and topic ideas.

Keyword Surfer is 100% free, and you can install it from the Chrome Web Store.

7 best keyword research tools

We've covered the best free keyword research tools, so now it's time to broaden our scope and include paid tools as well.

Here are the most capable options with feature highlights and pricing updated as of today.

1. Semrush's Keyword Magic Tool

The Keyword Magic Tool is a part of the Semrush suite of apps. It's a freemium app you can use with a Semrush account, though you'll need to subscribe to a paid tier to get the most out of it because the free version only shows you a handful of search results.

The platform offers a comprehensive list of keyword suggestions based on the seed keyword alongside useful information, such as:

• Search intent and volume
• SERP features

You can filter the results depending on the match (broad, phrase, or exact match) and weed out everything but question-based results to get content ideas. For additional organization, you can sort the results by volume, difficulty, intent, and other factors.

You can't get the Keyword Magic Tool as a standalone app—you must subscribe to the entire Semrush suite, which comes at the following prices:

• Pro —$129.95 per month
• Guru —$249.95 per month
• Business —$499.95 per month

2. Ahrefs Keyword Explorer

Ahrefs offers a robust suite of SEO tools, Keyword Explorer being among the most useful ones. It features a massive database of over 7 billion keywords, which is updated monthly to ensure relevance.

Besides lots of keyword suggestions, the platform gives you an overview of all the necessary top-level keyword metrics (search volume, traffic potential, ranking difficulty, etc.).

It also provides insight into some unique metrics like the number of clicks, which represents the keyword's potential more than the volume.

Keyword ideas are split into several categories, including:

• Phrase match
• Newly discovered
• Autocomplete search suggestions

You can use these different types of keywords to create the appropriate content type for each and address various types of search intent.

You need to sign up for Ahrefs to use Keyword Explorer. It's not the most budget-friendly option out there, with the pricing structure being as follows:

• Lite —$99 per month
• Standard —$199 per month
• Advanced —$399 per month
• Enterprise —$999 per month

3. Conductor

Conductor is another advanced paid keyword research tool that goes beyond basic search. It helps you write content, analyze and optimize your website, and track your overall SEO performance.

As for keyword research, Conductor lets you discover new search terms and keyword ideas enriched by customer intent and demographic data. You can also perform a competitive analysis and leverage the platform's social listening features to identify trending topics.

Finally, Conductor integrates with popular project management tools, so you can create a streamlined workflow by connecting to Trello, Asana, and similar platforms.

With all of the above in mind, the tool is best suited for SEO pros. If you're a beginner, you might be overwhelmed by the sheer number of features and insights.

Conductor doesn't have fixed pricing tiers—you need to get a quote, and their sales team will create a custom package.

4. TopicRanker

TopicRanker puts a unique twist on keyword research. Besides providing top-level data, the tool identifies weaknesses in the top-performing results for your keyword, which lets you uncover hidden opportunities and optimize your content accordingly. You get lots of useful insights, most notably:

• Domain authority
• Page load time
• Readability

The platform also comes with a few AI-powered tools that automate outline creation and help you write content metadata and blog posts. These tools are built on the advanced GPT-4 model, so they can create coherent text that shouldn't require extensive editing.

TopicRanker offers three paid tiers:

• Starter —$9 per month
• Basic —$59 per month
• Premium —$129 per month

5. ChatGPT 4

ChatGPT 4 might not be a dedicated SEO tool, but it can be used for light keyword research and content creation. With an effective prompt, you can uncover new keywords and topic ideas in seconds.

To do so, it's best to provide the tool with proper context and ask for keywords related to a specific topic. This will give ChatGPT the direction it needs to provide accurate results.

For example, you can tell the chatbot you're writing a blog post about home remedies for the common cold and ask for the keywords you should include (refer to the image above).

You'll get a list of suggested keywords, though you won't see any keyword data like you would with a specialized keyword tool.

On the bright side, you can use plugins like Keyword Explorer to ask ChatGPT for such data and get a rough idea of the keyword's potential.

ChatGPT comes at $20 per month. Plugins are free as of this writing, so this is the only investment you need to make.

6. TubeBuddy

TubeBuddy can be a useful platform if you're trying to boost your YouTube presence. It comes with a diverse set of tools that lets you do everything from A/B testing to viewer retention analysis. Still, the most notable feature is the Keyword Explorer, which can help your videos rank higher in YouTube search results by suggesting the keywords and tags you should use.

All you need to do is enter the seed keyword, and it will give you insights into its search volume, competition, number of videos in search results, and similar useful data. You'll also get keyword and tag suggestions based on the top-raking videos.

You can test out the Keyword Explorer for free, though you'll only get the top three results and can't perform unlimited searches.

TubeBuddy comes with two paid tiers:

• Pro —$4.99 per month
• Legend —$31.50 per month

7. Surfer Content Editor

Although not a traditional keyword research tool, Surfer's Content Editor recommends keywords for your page, ensuring that content is optimized for search engines.

Its Content Score provides a real-time measure of on-page optimization, guiding writers to produce content that is both reader-friendly and SEO-compliant.

Surfer's Content Editor also comes with Surfer's AI writing tool that can streamline your SEO writing process from research to writing, allowing you to scale the production of high-quality content.

Now that you've seen some of the best free and paid keyword research tools, it's time to test different options and determine which fits your SEO strategy the best. While they all serve the same general purpose, each tool has unique selling points that make it worth considering.

It's important to test out tools before committing to them by taking advantage of free trials to see if they live up to their advertised promises.

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Best Keyword Research Tools for SEO

Ask any SEO expert and they will tell you how important it is to have a strong keyword strategy.

The right keyword strategy is not only identifying the seed keywords for your brand. It is to map out a smart keyword mix that includes primary, secondary, and long tail keywords. This helps you draft a content strategy that aligns with your service industry and build your online presence among your target audience.

• But how do you sort out the best keywords for your business?
• Which keywords will direct traffic to your website?
• What is the intent of the keywords you are targeting?
• What is the volume, CPC and keyword difficulty of your seed keywords?

These questions may seem simple. But the one who knows how to rank understands its importance.

You must define these factors in order to build a winning content strategy. And you cannot define these without a keyword tool.

Keyword research tools are platforms that enable you to conduct in-depth keyword research and analysis. It helps you to sort out the best keywords according to their demographics, volume, intent, SERP features, and more.

Additionally, keyword research tools for SEO give you an insight into customer queries. This helps you understand the common queries your customers have, their pain points, and preferences.

Keyword gap, competitor analysis, keyword clusters, and questions are added bonuses that you get with the best keyword research tools.

In this blog, we have curated a list of the best keyword planner tools (both paid and free) to help you find the one that fits your needs.

Table of Contents

What Makes the Best Keyword Research Tool?

There are hundreds of keyword research tools in the market. Finding the one that is easy-to-use, gives accurate data, and offers SEO optimization tips has become hectic.

So, what makes a keyword tool ideal for SEO purposes?

Accurate Data

The core purpose of a keyword planner is to offer accurate and credible data. It’s a simple process – you enter the keywords and it gives you all the data related to it.

You get demographically categorized volume, keyword difficulty, related keywords, faqs, top-ranking pages, CPC, intent, and more. The more the data, the better it is for your analysis.

So, you should go for the keyword planner that provides you with all the data you need to rank your website.

Credible Data Sources

Data is useful only if it comes from trusted sources. The keyword tool you use should be extracting data from reliable sources.

Most of the top keyword research platforms get their data from Google Analytics and Google Search Console.

If the platform is using unreliable sources to pull in data, it won’t help you rank on Google SERP.

SEO Optimization

Best keyword research tools not only help with keyword planning but also SEO optimizations. The top-most SEO audit tools conduct an overall SEO analysis of your website and offer suggestions for improvement.

Tools like Semrush and Ahrefs help you:

• Evaluate site speed
• Analyze technical SEO
• Check backlink quality
• Track organic keyword positionings
• Analyze website traffic
• Offers tips for on-page SEO improvements
• Plan ad campaigns
• Analyze competitor’s social media metrics
• Conduct topic research …and more

This additional data helps you keep in check the overall SEO of your website. Plus, it also assists you in planning your marketing strategies that build your brand identity and boost your online visibility.

User-Friendly

The purpose of any tool is to make our work simple. So, when it comes to keyword tools with several features, user-friendliness is a necessity.

What is the use of SEO optimization features, and keyword analysis data when you cannot figure out how to access them?

That is why the best keyword planner tool is the one which you can easily navigate. You should be able to access the features and utilities. Plus, the SEO data should be structured in a way that’s easy for you to understand.

Also, backlinks, on-page SEO, technical SEO, social media, competitor analysis, and others should be categorized as separate features. So, that you are not overloaded with all the data on one screen. You can use these features as and when required and focus more on one aspect at a time.

All the goodies come with a cost. Top keywords research tools like Semrush, Moz, Ahrefs, and Keyword Surfer have monthly and annual subscription plans. Plus, the plans are divided as per the use cases. There are different plans for individuals, SEO companies , and enterprises.

However, there are free keyword research tools as well. The top ones include Google Keyword Planner, Google Search Console, Jaxy, and Google Trends.

Some keyword planner tool also offers limited free usage. After it’s exhausted, you will have to take a subscription to use the services.

So, you should find a keyword tool that is your one-stop destination for all SEO purposes and fits your budget. So, that you don’t require any additional paid tools or extensions to help you with digital marketing strategies.

Best Free and Paid Keyword Research Tools

Semrush is one of the best keyword research tools in the market right now. It is not because of the in-depth keyword analysis it offers. But its additional features like competitor research, position tracking, traffic insights, link building, local SEO, market analysis and more.

What you will like about Semrush is its Keyword magic tool. This is where you will find the real gem.

All you need to do is enter your seed keyword and target location. Once you click on the search button, you will get an overview of the keyword with its volume, traffic cost and other metrics.

Along with an overview, you also get questions related to that keyword, similar phrases, broad match, phrase match, languages and more. Plus, you can set advanced filters to sort out the keywords as per your needs.

These insights help you find the keywords your competitors are already ranking for and which are easy to rank.

For example, the “Yoga poses” keyword is difficult to rank when you have competitors with lots of quality content on it. But “Yoga poses for back pain” is easier to rank as there is less competition.

Key features of Semrush:

• SEO dashboard
• Keyword Magic Tool
• Traffic analytics
• Organic research
• Competitor analysis
• Keyword gap
• Backlinks audit
• Backlinks building
• Content Marketing

Pricing: $99.95-$449.95/month, Pro $129.95 monthly, Guru $249.95 monthly, Business $499.95 monthly

Ahrefs is the best-paid keyword research tool for digital marketing experts. Similar to Semrush, Ahrefs also offers keyword research, organic research, competitor analysis, backlink audit and more.

But one that differentiates Ahrefs from Semrush is its highly detailed data projection. For example, not all searches convert to real page visits. Semrush only gives you keyword search volume. But Ahrefs shows you “with clicks” and “without clicks” data.

This helps you find keywords that would bring people to your website. So, assisting you in narrowing down the target keyword list to more specific and result-oriented terms.

Also, the content marketing features in Ahrefs are far better than Semrush. From finding low-competition topics to content gaps, guest post blogging opportunities, and popular content, you can draft a content marketing strategy that generates traffic and leads for your website.

The crazy part is that you can also monitor your competitor’s publishing frequency. This enables you to plan your content calendar and churn out quality content pieces to outshine them.

Key Features of Ahrefs:

• Rank tracking
• Keyword research
• Competition analysis
• Content gap
• Content research

Pricing: Lite $129/mo, Standard $249/mo, Advanced $449/mo

Keyword Surfer

Keyword Surfer is a simple keyword explorer tool that works as a Chrome extension. You download and install it to your Chrome and then search for the keywords on Google.

Upon installation, the tool is visible on the right side of your SERP. It gives you keywords related to your search query with their volume and overlap.

Plus it also gives you the traffic, word count, number of keyword appearances, and title change if Google has changed the title tag for each page on the SERP.

It is a very affordable tool that lets you uncover hidden data about your SERP results.

Key Features of Keyword Surfer:

• Keyword counter
• SERP overview

Pricing: ESSENTIAL $89 per month, SCALE $129 Per month, SCALE AI $219 per month

ESSENTIAL plan For small business owners and freelancers starts from $89 per month. SCALE For mid-sized agencies & marketing teams begins at $129 per month. SCALE AI For agencies and teams looking to scale up with AI is of $219 per month. Also, contact for ENTERPRISE plan For large agencies & marketing teams Customized per month, billed yearly

KeywordTool.io

If you want to dive deeper into your keywords, there’s no better tool than KeywordTool.io.

For one keyword search, you will get an average of 1400 unique keyword suggestions. You surely will be able to find out some for your content.

Also, the platform has an easy-to-use filter that lets you narrow down your keywords on the basis of location, language, and network.

If these don’t entice you, you get a top-notch competitor research feature. It’s a very cool feature that gives you all the keywords your competitor is ranking. Plus, you also get keywords related to the niche of your competitor which is something you don’t see in other keyword planner tools.

KeywordToo.io offers both free and paid features. Compared to other keyword planners, the pricing is on the lower side.

Key Features of KeywordTool.io:

• Keyword Suggestions
• Multiple languages
• Advanced filtering
• Keyword basket
• Search volume
• Competition level
• Bulk keyword upload

Pricing: $69/month for Pro Basic; $79 per month for pro plus; and$159/month is for pro business

Moz Keyword Explorer

You cannot miss Moz keyword explorer in the list of best keyword research tools. Similar to other keyword research platforms, Moz gives you detailed insight into your seed keywords.

But there is one feature that makes it smarter than other tools. It’s the lateral search feature. When you enter a seed keyword on Moz, you get a lot of keyword suggestions including the metrics and related terms.

But Moz goes one step beyond and gives you unique long-tail keyword suggestions. These help you target new keywords and come up with quality content topics quickly.

Additional features that make Moz perfect for your SEO strategies are Keyword difficulty, organic CTR, priority and competitor research.

Key Features of Moz:

• On-page optimizations
• Link building

Pricing: STANDARD $ 99/mo, MEDIUM $179/mo LARGE $ 299/mo , PREMIUM $599/mo

AnswerThePublic

AnswerThePublic is not like your other keyword planner tools. It refers to itself as a “search listening tool”. This is because the platform uses data from autocomplete suggestions of search engines like Google. Then uses the same data to uncover queries that interest people.

This tool is great for content marketing purposes. It helps you easily come up with topics that are relevant to your audience and cater to their pain points.

For example, you enter the seed keyword “AI agents”. The tool will then come up with a visually appealing chart that includes questions, comparisons and related searches to AI agents.

The chart divides the keyword analysis into “what”, “can”, “who”, “why”, “when”, “where” and more such prepositions.

This helps to tap into all the aspects of the keyword. Most importantly the tool assists in understanding what customers are looking for, their pain points, and the type of content they are consuming.

You can use AnswerThePublic for free up to a limited number of searches. The paid plans start at $5 for 100 searches per day.

Key Features of AnswerThePublic:

• Search listening
• Chart based data
• Multiple search queries
• Data comparison

Pricing: $9/month, $99/month, $199/month

Ubersuggest

Ubersuggest, an advanced keyword research tool by Neil Patel, is 90% cheaper than Semrush and Ahrefs. Ubersuggest monthly subscription plan starts at $12.

With its keyword suggestions feature, you get hundreds of quality keyword suggestions including head terms and long tail keywords. Plus, you also get key metrics like volume, seasonal trends and competition for each keyword.

The best thing is that it generates a list of keywords based on what’s working for your competitors and what your target customers are looking for on search engines.

From social media marketing to content research and backlinks, Ubersuggest helps you run your digital marketing tasks smoothly.

Key Features of Ubersuggest:

• Domain Overview
• Organic keyword research
• Content ideas
• Backlink data

Pricing: Business $20/month, Individual $12/month, Enterprise $40/month

Google Trends

Google Trends is the best free keyword research tool. Coming from Google the tool helps you find what’s trending on the internet at the moment.

You can enter multiple seed keywords and filter the result by location, search history, and category. It will give you results on how much interest is present around your keywords, the reason for interest, and similar keywords.

You can also find what people are searching for that’s related to your keywords. The related queries and topics section is where you will get the real value of Google Trends.

Key Features Google Trends:

• Search term comparison
• Timeframe selection
• Geographic filtering
• Search type filtering
• Related queries
• Related topics

Pricing: Free to use

While Jaaxy calls itself the “world’s most advanced keyword tool,” its strength lies in its user-friendliness.

It simplifies keyword research for affiliate marketers by generating a comprehensive list of related keywords and phrases.

Along with these suggestions, Jaaxy provides valuable data on search volume, estimated traffic you can attract, and how your competitors are performing for those keywords.

You can even track your own website’s ranking for keywords you’re targeting.

Key Features of Jaaxy:

• Traffic estimation
• User-friendly interface

Pricing: Pro plan $49/mo and Enterprise plan $99/mo

Soovle is one such free keyword research tool that aggregates keyword suggestions for multiple search engines. From Google to Bing, Wikipedia, Amazon, eBay and YouTube, Soovle helps you prepare a 360-degree SEO strategy.

All you need to do is enter your seed keyword and click the search button. The tool will consolidate related keyword suggestions trending across all search engines.

Use the right arrow key to select a keyword from the search suggestions. Clicking the chosen keyword will open its live search results page.

Soovle offers you a smart way to find out keywords that your competition hasn’t tapped into.

Key Features Soovle:

• Multi-search engine suggestions
• Real-time suggestions
• Visual overview
• Simple interface
• Keyword filtering

Pricing : Free

Google Keywords Planner

Google Keyword Planner is a free tool that helps you explore keywords. It is particularly useful for planning pay-per-click (PPC) advertising campaigns but also has valuable applications for search engine optimization (SEO).

Key Features Google Keywords Planner:

• Estimated keyword search volume
• Bid estimates for PPC

FAQs About Keyword Research Tool

What is the most accurate keyword research tool.

Semrush and Ahrefs are the best keyword research tools in the paid category. While Google Keyword Planner is the top keyword planner tool available for free.

Which Google tool is used for keyword research?

You can use Google Trends and Google Keyword Planner to explore potential keywords, get key insights and review your competitors’ keywords. Both tools are free to use.

Can I do keyword research for free?

Yes, you can do keyword research for free. Keyword planner tools like Google Trends, Soovle, and Google Keyword Planner are some of the best free keyword research tools at the moment.

How to get keywords for SEO?

You can easily get a long list of keywords for your website SEO and content planning by using keyword planner tools. These tools give you in-depth insight into the keywords along with related queries, questions, and phrase match options.

What are keyword research tools?

Keyword research tools are online tools or extensions that help to explore and analyze keywords based on their volume, keyword difficulty, CPC, intent, and other factors. Additionally, these keyword research tools also offer features like competitor analysis, backlink audit, social media management, content research, keyword gap and more.

How to do keyword research?

Doing keyword research has become easy with keyword tools. Pick any tool and sign up. Then go to its keyword research feature and enter one or more seed keywords. Seed keywords are the terms directly related to your core services or products. Once you click on search, you will see on-screen a long list of related keywords sorted by volume, intent, traffic cost, latest trends, clicks, and other such metrics. The keyword result also includes related queries, topics, and phrases that match your seed keyword. You can select the keywords relevant to your niche and export them to a CSV file.

For keyword research, you can use tools like Semrush, Moz, Ahrefs, Google Trends, KeywordTool.io and Ubersuggest.

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Find Keyword Ideas in Seconds

Boost SEO results with powerful keyword research

41 Best Free SEO Tools

Written by Brian Dean

This is a list of the 41 best free SEO tools on the planet.

In fact, these tools have helped my site get 500k+ visitors per month.

(Most of which came from SEO.)

The best part?

All of these tools work GREAT in 2024.

Let’s get started…

To get the full version of Semrush you need to pay.

But, you can use some of the best tools it has to offer for free.

One of my favorite Semrush tools is the Keyword Magic Tool .

If you sign up for a free Semrush account you get 10 credits per day for this tool.

Pretty neat .

You can also use our free keyword research tool, powered by the Semrush

For definitive, relevant, and effective keyword research , just log into your free account and click on the Keyword Magic Tool tab.

Then, type in the keyword you want to research, select your region and hit the search button.

You will then get a list of related keywords.

It also shows you some really handy information like search volume and keyword difficulty.

But that’s not all you can do with your free Semrush account.

You also have access to:

• The Position Tracking tool
• The Site Audit tool
• The Listing Management tool
• The Semrush Copilot AI
• SEO Content Templates
• The SEO Writing Assistant
• The On-Page SEO Checker
• The Social Media Toolkit
• The Keyword Overview Tool
• The Domain Overview Too

All without paying a dime.

Just bear in mind that a free Semrush account does mean you’re limited to a fairly small amount of credits each day.

You get 10 searches each day for all of the domain analytics and keyword research tools.

But, that doesn’t mean 10 searches per day, per tool.

For example, let’s say you analyzed a domain with the Domain Overview tool and then performed a search with the Keyword Overview tool.

That would count as two out of your 10 credits for the day.

If you’re a little confused, Semrush’s free account guide explains it all in great detail.

Editor’s Note: Check out Backlinko’s free SEO tools, powered by Semrush, right now. Free Keyword Research Tool Free Website Authority Checker Free Rank Checker Free Backlink Checker

2. Answer The Public

Find 150+ keyword ideas in seconds.

Most SEO tools get their data from the same place: The Google Keyword Planner .

Answer the Public is different.

This awesome tool finds questions that people ask on forums, blogs and on social media.

And it turns those questions into awesome keywords:

Best Feature: “Vs. Keywords”

You’d be surprised how many people search for “X vs. Y” keywords in Google.

(For example: “iPhone vs. Android” or “ SEMRush vs. Ahrefs ”.)

And Answer the Public has a section of the results dedicated to “Vs. Keywords”.

This brings us to the 3rd tool on our list…

3. Woorank’s SEO & Website Analysis Tool

Get a list of SEO improvements in seconds.

This is a very handy Chrome extension.

First, you get an overall SEO score.

Then, the tool shows you EXACTLY how to improve your site’s on-page and off-page SEO.

Best Feature: “Marketing Checklist”

Most SEO tools only tell you about problems … not solutions.

But with Woorank you get a detailed SEO checklist that you can use to fix any issues that you run into.

And now it’s time for our next free SEO tool…

4. Animalz Revive

Improve and update old content.

Animalz Revive helps you find older content on your site that needs an update, an upgrade… or both.

Before this tool, you had to manually comb through your Google Analytics account to find these pages.Which was a giant pain.

Fortunately, this tool tells you exactly which articles on your site need the most attention.

Best Feature: “Traffic Loss Since Peak (Views)”

This feature lets you know exactly how many visitors that a piece of outdated content is costing you.

5. CanIRank

Quickly answer the question: “Can I rank for this keyword?”.

CanIRank is a super-detailed keyword difficulty tool.

And unlike most free SEO tools, CanIRank doesn’t give you generic advice like:

“This keyword is really competitive”

“This keyword has low competition”

Instead, it tells you whether or not YOU can rank for that keyword.

Best Feature: “How can you better target this keyword?”

CanIRank isn’t just for sizing up the first-page competition.

It also gives you suggestions that can help you rank for a specific term.

6. Google Lighthouse

Google Lighthouse is one of the most-used free SEO tools by webmasters.

And it’s easy to see why.

It’s a browser extension that gives you detailed reports about your site’s SEO performance and actionable tips on how to improve it.

You just need to add the extension to Chrome and then open it when you’re on the page you want to analyze.

Then, click ‘Generate Report’.

It then gives you various metrics related to your site’s performance, such as:

• Page load speeds
• Accessibility

It also shows you elements on your site that are currently harming its performance.

Plus, it gives you the option to get advice on how to optimize these elements to improve performance.

7. Google’s Mobile-Friendly Test

Get your site ready for Google’s Mobile-first Indexing.

You might have heard that Google recently made a big change to its algorithm.

(This change is officially called “ Mobile-First Indexing ”.)

The bottom line is this:

If your site isn’t optimized for mobile devices , you’re in big trouble.

Fortunately, you don’t need a full-time developer to make your site mobile-friendly. All you need to do is run your site through the Mobile-Friendly Test tool.

And it tells you whether or not Google considers your site mobile-friendly.

Best Feature: “Page loading issues”

This feature shows you how you can improve your site’s code. That way, Google’s mobile crawler can find and index all of the resources on your site.

8. SEOquake

SEOquake is another free SEO browser extension.

It allows you to analyze lots of different search engine metrics in real-time such as:

• Google index updates
• Semrush ranking
• Facebook likes
• Web archive page
• Pinterest pin count

This tool can be a little tricky to get used to at first, especially for beginners.

But, once you’ve got the hang of SEOquake it becomes a really valuable weapon in your SEO arsenal.

Once installed, the SEObar will appear underneath the URL for each site you visit.

This means you can immediately analyze the data without having to do anything.

You can use the tabs to change the metrics so that you can see the exact data you need.

For example, I can see metrics like Google cache date which tells me when the page was last indexed.

9. Seed Keywords

Find completely fresh keyword ideas.

Most keyword research tools work the exact same way:

• Enter a seed keyword into the tool.
• Get a list of closely-related terms.

The problem with this approach is this:

Everyone types the same seed keywords into these tools.

Well, Seed Keywords takes a completely different approach.

Instead of pulling seed keywords out of thin air, you ask your customers how they’d search for you online.

Then, type those seed keywords into your favorite keyword research tool.

Best Feature: “Submit Query”

Once the results come in, you can use SeedKeywords to do a Google search for the keywords that people gave you.

That way you can quickly scan the search results… and see how competitive those keywords are.

10. Exploding Topics

Find popular keywords before they get competitive.

This free SEO tool does one simple thing:

It bubbles up topics that are just starting to trend.

That way, you can create content around these emerging trends (or optimize your old content around a new keyword).

The tool currently has about 2k topics in its database. And they’re adding more every week.

Best Feature: Categories

Categories let you drill down to a specific topic category that’s important to your business.

For example, let’s say you run marketing for a skincare brand. Well, you’d hit “beauty” and get a list of emerging topics in that space.

11. GTmetrix

GTmetrix is great for analyzing the technical health of your site.

It takes just a few minutes to get information about the size of a page and assess its loading time.

The ‘Waterfall’ view is really useful too.

It displays the order and duration of files loading on your pages.

This allows you to identify areas that can be improved and prioritize your efforts to ensure your page loads faster.

12. Schema.org

Schema markup is incredibly important for your site.

It provides structured data that helps search engines understand the content and context of your page.

If you haven’t implemented schema markup on your pages, then you’re REALLY missing out.

One of the best options is to use Google’s Structured Data Markup Helper as it guides you through the process.

To view all the different schemas, you can browse the full hierarchy in HTML.

You can either click on ‘One page per type’ or ‘Full list of types, shown on one page’.

Or, you can search for a specific term with the ‘TermFinder’.

You can also choose from one of the commonly used schema types.

I clicked on ‘Organization’, for example.

All you need to do is fill in your information, copy the code and insert it directly into your web pages.

When implemented correctly, schema markup can enhance the appearance of your page in the SERP by displaying rich snippets alongside your title tag and meta description.

It looks like this.

This could potentially increase your click-through rates by enticing users to click on your link.

13. Seobility

Get a deep-dive SEO site analysis.

SEObility crawls your entire site and lets you know about search engine optimization issues like:

• Slow loading pages
• Blocked pages
• Sitemap problems
• Technical SEO issues

You usually only get this type of stuff from paid SEO tools. So it’s really nice that Seobility gives you this data for free.

Best Feature: Content Report

This report hands you a list of pages that have content-related SEO issues.

(Things like: thin content , missing meta titles, keyword stuffing, and duplicate content .)

14. Ubersuggest

Get keyword suggestions and competition data.

Ubersuggest has a lot of features that are usually only found in premium SEO tools.

But it’s 100% free.

To use it, type in a keyword that you want to rank for (or a competing website that you want to rank above).

And Ubersuggest will give you detailed data on keyword difficulty, monthly search volume, and more.

Plus, you get a list of suggested keywords that are based on the keyword you typed in.

Best Feature: “Comparisons”

This feature shows you “X vs. Y” keywords.

In my experience, X vs. Y keywords are super untapped.

Sure, they may not get as many searches as traditional keywords. But they’re SUPER targeted and high-converting.

And to my knowledge Ubersuggest is the only tool that specifically bubbles up X vs. Y keywords.

15. Similarweb Browser Extension

Similarweb is a nifty browser extension that lets you keep tabs on web traffic, keyword ranking, and MUCH more.

It’s available for Chrome, Firefox, Edge, and Opera.

One of the best things about Similarweb is that it’s very easy to use and has a minimal learning curve.

You can use it to analyze your site in amazing depth.

In just a couple of clicks, you can see data about the demographics of your audience.

You can also assess your organic competitors and get data for your shared keywords.

The free version of Similarweb is pretty generous.

You get a month of mobile app data, five results for each metric, and three months of data for web traffic.

16. BROWSEO

See your site through the eyes of a search engine.

As it turns out, search engines see your site VERY differently than you do.

And BROWSEO gives you the type of x-ray vision that search engines have.

Best Feature: SERP Preview

Get a sweet preview of how your page appears in the search results:

This is helpful for figuring out if your title and description tag are SEO-friendly (or too long). And optimizing your title and description can also help you get more organic clicks.

17. Detailed.com

Get intel on your competition.

Detailed gives you a curated list of the most popular sites in your industry.

That way, you can size up your biggest competitors.

(And copy what they’re doing.)

Best Feature: “Mentions”

This feature shows you who recently linked to (and tweeted about) your competition.

18. Grammarly

Grammarly is a browser plugin that corrects spelling and grammar mistakes and makes suggestions on how you can improve the writing in your content.

Once installed, you can leave it running in the background.

Whenever you’re writing content, it highlights any errors so that you can correct them.

Or, you can click on the extension and open up Grammarly by clicking on ‘Grammarly for Chrome’ so that you can paste the text into the tool.

When you do, Grammarly asks you what your goals are for the piece of content.

The tool gives you suggestions on how to improve your content. Plus, it gives the content an overall score and ratings for correctness, clarity, engagement, and delivery.

This helps you create engaging content that’s error-free which provides a much better experience for your readers.

19. Google Search Console

Get SEO help straight from Google.

No list of free SEO tools would be complete without the Google Search Console.

The GSC is a VERY feature-rich piece of SEO software. And unlike pretty much every other tool on the market, you know the data is legit.

(After all, it comes from Google.)

For example, you can use the Google Search Console as a rank tracker to check your site’s rankings in the SERPs.

Best Feature: Index Coverage Report

The Index Coverage Report gives you a list of pages on your site that aren’t getting indexed.

You can also see how you can get things back on track.

20. SERPerator

This awesome tool lets you check the SERPs across different locations and devices. As you probably know, the search results change dramatically depending on where you are and what device you’re using.

(Especially for local searches, like: “pizza shop” or “landscaper”.)

And this tool lets you see exactly how the results will look for someone searching on a particular phone from pretty much any major city in the world.

Best Feature: Compare Devices

See how the results look on two different mobile devices… side-by-side.

21. Google Trends

Like Exploding Topics, Google Trends gives you real-time information about trending topics.

You can take a look at the search interest trends for different keywords and see if they’re increasing or decreasing over time.

Simply enter your topic and select the region you’re interested in.

The tool will then present you with the search interest for the topic over your selected time frame.

If you want to get more granular, scroll down to the “Interest by subregion” section to see how popular the search term is across different locations.

On top of that, Google Trends has a feature that allows you to compare 2 or more topics against each other. This helps you identify which topic has more search interest.

Pretty cool.

Google Trends is great to use when doing niche research as well.

22. Rank Math

Rank Math is a brilliant WordPress SEO plugin that can help you to optimize your site and improve your rankings.

There are paid versions available but the free version gives you access to a good amount of features.

This includes:

• 5 free AI credits
• 18 pre-defined schema types
• Auto canonical URLs
• Google Search Console integration
• Advanced SEO analysis tool
• 1-click import from Yoast SEO and AIO SEO
• 1-click import for SEOPress
• SEO warnings
• SEO analysis score
• SEO failed tests
• Import AIO schema rich snippets
• 30+ detailed SEO tests
• Setting up redirects

And MUCH more.

One of the best things you can use Rank Math for is title tag and content optimization.

To use it, you provide a focus keyword and Rank Math gives it an SEO score.

Rank Math then tells you if your Focus Keyword has been used in your content’s title tag, meta description, URL, and body content.

It also gives you suggestions about how to optimize your content more effectively.

This is an excellent way to make sure that your content is fully optimized and that it keeps you climbing up the SERPs.

23. Screaming Frog

Find and fix technical SEO issues in seconds.

Let’s face it:

Finding technical SEO problems on your site can be a HUGE pain.

Enter: Screaming Frog.

This nifty tool crawls your site using a Google-like crawler. And it generates a report of potential issues (like HTTP header errors, javascript rendering issues, bloated HTML, and crawl errors).

Best Feature: Discover Duplicate Content

As you might have heard, Google HATES duplicate content .

Fortunately, you can use Screaming Frog to quickly ID pages with duplicate content.

Soovle gathers popular keywords from platforms like Google, YouTube, Amazon, Wikipedia, Bing, Yahoo, and Answers.com.

It gives you a database of terms that you can use to improve your search engine rankings.

By just typing in a keyword, you can see related terms that users are searching for on major platforms.

It may be one of the older SEO tools out there but there’s a reason it’s still so popular.

However, it’s worth bearing in mind that you don’t get search volume and keyword difficulty scores with the suggestions.

25. ShortPixel

If the images on your site have large file sizes then they’re probably slowing down your page load speeds. This can be super frustrating for users and can lead to high bounce rates you definitely don’t want.

ShortPixel is an excellent tool that allows you to compress and resize your images allowing for faster page load times.

It gives you the option to upload JPG, GIF, and PNG files that are up to 10 MB in size. To remove this size restriction, you just need to sign up for a free account.

All you need to do is choose your SmartCompress level and then upload your files.

ShortPixel then automatically compresses and optimizes the images without sacrificing quality.

ShortPixel also allows you to input your URL so it can analyze your site and optimize the images it finds. This helps to improve your site’s performance.

26. Google Analytics

See how people find and interact with your site.

OK, OK. Google Analytics isn’t really an SEO tool.

But it’s almost impossible to run an SEO campaign without it.

The data in Google Analytics tells you whether or not your SEO efforts are paying off.

I’m talking about data like:

• Organic traffic
• Bounce rate
• Traffic sources
• Time on site

Best Feature: Google Analytics and Google Search Console Integration

Google Analytics is super powerful on its own.

But when you combine it with the Google Search Console?

It’s even MORE powerful.

Linking your GSC account with GA hooks you up with helpful info, like the keywords people use to find your site, your organic CTR, and more cool stuff.

27. Reddit Keyword Research Tool

This is one of my favorite little keyword research tools.

Why? Because it can bring up terms that I probably wouldn’t find with any other tool.

This tool scrapes Reddit words and phrases that tend to crop up in specific subreddits.

So if you know where your target audience hangs out on Reddit, this is a goldmine of keyword and content topic ideas.

Best Feature: Context

This feature takes you to the actual thread on Reddit.

That way, you can see exactly how that keyword is used in discussions.

Mozbar is a killer browser extension that saves you time by allowing you to see the domain authority (DA) of sites right in the SERPs.

But why is this helpful?

Let’s say you want to target a keyword to rank for.

With MozBar, you can search for the term in Google and see the DA and page authority (PA) score for the ranking sites without having to leave the SERP. This allows for a quick evaluation of the competition and potential opportunities.

The free version also allows you to examine search results from alternative search engines and on-page elements such as:

• Meta description
• Heading tags

Plus, you can also highlight different types of links present on a page such as Dofollow and Nofollow internal and external links.

If you need to quickly check the ”canonical tag” on the page, you can do that too, as well as see how long the page takes to load.

29. Yoast WordPress Plugin

The best SEO plugin for WordPress.

If your site runs on WordPress, you need to install Yoast ASAP.

It’s by far the most robust SEO plugin on the market.

The best part? It’s 100% free.

Best Feature: XML Sitemap Generator

Sitemaps help Google and other search engines find, crawl and index all of the pages on your site.

And with the Yoast plugin, you don’t have to tinker with your sitemap every time you add a new page to your site.

That’s because Yoast updates your sitemap automatically. Cool.

30. Panguin Tool

Get to the bottom of a rankings drop.

This tool correlates your search traffic with known Google updates.

Why is this helpful?

Well, if you notice that your rankings dropped around the time of a big Google update, you can figure out what went wrong… and fix it.

Best Feature: Switch Updates On/Off

Panguin makes it easy to zero in on a specific update.

For example, if you’re a local business that focuses on local SEO , you can only have Panguin ONLY show you Google updates that impacted local results.

31. Wordtracker Scout

Steal your competitor’s keywords.

Wordtracker scout takes a unique approach to keyword research…

Instead of entering keywords into a tool, Wordtracker shows you the most common terms on a page.

That way, you can go over to one of your competitor’s pages… and grab the keywords they’re using in their content.

( Note: This is only available as Chrome extension and isn’t supported for Firefox)

Best Feature: Opportunity

Shows you which keywords on your list have the best ratio of search volume and competition.

32. Cloudflare

Cloudflare is a content delivery network (CDN) that caches static content across multiple servers.

Using a CDN means that content can be served to users from a location close to them which results in faster page load times.

It also automatically provides a free SSL certificate for your site.

This is really sweet as HTTPS makes your site more secure and is a ranking factor for Google as well.

33. ChatGPT

You’ve definitely used ChatGPT by now, but did you know you can use it for SEO?

Well, you can!

The tool is actually really versatile and you can use it to create optimized content, suggest keywords, generate schema markup, create meta titles, and much more.

To get the best results, you need to make sure you use detailed prompts.

Take a look at what I’ve asked ChatGPT to generate for me:

It’s important to know, the content ChatGPT gives you isn’t ready to just publish on your site.

But with a bit of tweaking and a decent amount of rewriting, you’ll have optimized content for your site in a fraction of the amount of time it would’ve taken to create it from scratch. Check out my ultimate guide on how to use ChatGPT for SEO .

34. BrightLocal’s Local SERP Checker

When you’re doing local SEO , it’s important to optimize your pages so they have a good chance of ranking for location-specific keywords.

Luckily, BrightLocal’s Local SERP Checker is a free tool that helps you do just that.

BrightLocal’s Local SERP Checker provides valuable insights into local search results. You can use this tool to analyze SERPs at a local level.

It allows you to assess your visibility, identify opportunities for optimization, and track the performance of your local SEO efforts.

By understanding the local search landscape, you can make data-driven decisions to improve your site’s visibility and attract more local customers.

So how does it work?

You input your keyword and location and then choose your country and language.

You can also choose whether you want to see results from Google Search or Google Maps.

If you choose the Google Search option, then the results look like this.

You can then click on each button and it takes you straight to the SERPs.

If you choose the Google Maps option, then this is what you get.

Likewise, the buttons take you to the results for the relevant pages on Google Maps.

This information then helps you to better optimize your SEO efforts for targeted geographical locations.

So, you can ensure maximum visibility and relevance in the locations that matter most to your business.

35. Hunter.io

Hunter.io is a great way to find email addresses that you can use in your link-building campaigns.

Instead of manually finding them yourself, using Hunter.io means you can just enter a domain and instantly find the email addresses associated with it.

You can save the email addresses you’re looking for as leads.

Plus, you can filter the results by type and department so that you only see the email addresses you need for your campaign.

This tool can speed up your link-building outreach effort.

36. Lipperhey

Powerful website analyzer.

Lipperhey is a full-featured SEO analyzer that doesn’t cost a penny.

Best Feature: Keyword Suggestions

Get a list of keywords to add to specific pages on your site.

(Which can help you get more organic traffic from long-tail keywords.)

37. Bing Webmaster Tools

Optimize your site for Bing.

Bing Webmaster Tools is basically the Google Search Console… but for Bing.

So if you want to get your site indexed (and ranked) in Bing, Bing Webmaster Tools is a must-have.

Best Feature: Keyword Research Tool

Get keyword ideas (and data) straight from Bing.

And unlike the Google Keyword Planner, the data from Bing is strictly for organic search (not Bing PPC or Adwords).

38. Dareboost

Analyze your site for speed, SEO, security and more.

Dareboost isn’t strictly an SEO tool.

But it does analyze your site for things that indirectly impact SEO, like your site’s loading speed and security .

Best Feature: Priorities

Let’s you know where to start first. Helpful if you’re strapped for time.

39. Siteliner

Get a full SEO report for free.

Siteliner scans your site for SEO problems (like blocked pages, messed up redirects and broken links).

Best Feature: Comparison with Other Sites

This lets you compare your site’s loading speed and page size to other site’s in Siteliner’s database. Helpful for benchmarking.

40. KWFinder

No-nonsense keyword research tool.

The best part of KWFinder is how darn easy it is to use.

But don’t let this fool you into thinking KWFinder isn’t powerful. It’s a legit keyword tool that lots of pros use.

Best Feature: LPS

LPS=Link Profile Strength.

This feature basically tells you how many links you’ll need to rank for that keyword.

So if you find a keyword that has a LPS of 50+, you know that you’ll need to do some serious link building to rank for that term.

41. People Also Ask

This free tool pulls questions that appear in the “People Also Ask” section of Google’s search results.

My only gripe with the tool is that it takes a while for the results to load. But I understand that’s because it has to actually run the search and grab questions from the PAA box. Which takes a while.

Overall, a very cool tool for finding question keywords.

Best Feature: Related Questions

People Also Ask shows you questions that you’d usually have to get by manually clicking on the PAA box in the SERPs.

For example, one of the questions the tool showed me was “What is a good keyword?”. And I also got a handful of questions that were closely related to the original question.

Bonus #1. Bulk Google Rank Checker

Simple and accurate rank checker tool.

If you want to see where you rank for a specific keyword in Google, you definitely want to use a rank tracking tool.

This free keyword tool makes the process a cinch (and you can check up to 10 keywords for free).

Best Feature: Search Engine Rankings

See where you rank in the SERPs… and where your competitors rank.

Bonus #2. LSI Graph

Advanced content optimization.

LSI keywords can help take your on-page SEO to the next level.

And that’s exactly what LSIGraph is designed to do: it creates a list of LSI keywords that you can sprinkle into your content.

Best Feature: Analysis

Analysis lets you dig deep on an LSI keyword from your list. That way, you can find even MORE awesome LSI keywords to use.

Anything I Missed?

So those are my favorite free SEO tools.

And now I’d like to hear from you:

Are there any tools that you love… but didn’t see on this list?

Or maybe you have a question.

Either way, let me know by leaving a comment below right now.

https://gtmetrix.com/

Yup, that’s a good one.

You already have a post about SEO tools, will not be this create a Keyword cannibalization issue for your website? This post is targeting “best free SEO tools”.

Good question. Not really. Because this post only lists 25 tools I have room to dig deep into each one. It’s more for people that are closer to choosing a tool (the other post is mostly for people that want an overview of all of the SEO software on the market).

Great point Brian. How do you make sure cannibalization doesn’t happen when you have so many posts targeting similar keywords? I’m sure you’d agree that Google doesn’t always rank the page that we prefer them to for a particular keyword?

I have the same question.

What about YouTube? Can we used any these tools for YouTube video Seo?

I only had a list of 25 to work with. So I had to limit them to Google-focused tools.

You can use TubeBuddy for YouTube for FREE, and VidIQ for free on YouTube as well. You can go on YouTube and search for videos on how to rank on with these tools to get a better understanding of how to use them. They are GREAT tools to use!!!

Hi Brian, Really nice post as usual. I use few tools from the list you described in this post. Such as, Google search console, Ubersuggest, SMERush, Google Analytic, KWFinder, etc.

Some of the tools you listed here I don’t even know about.

This list of tools will certainly help them who want to dig deeper into SEO.

Thanks for sharing this awesome list.

You’re welcome, Liton.

Hey Brian huge fan of the blog. I’m an SEO Consultant for Screaming Frog. Another nifty feature:

You can sort pages by the number of internal links pointing to them, so you can see what pages are valued the most on a site.

Great for finding content that could be bested with the skyscraper method and keywords!

Awesome, Faisal! I love the insider info 🙂

Thanks for this impressive list.

SimilarWeb browser extension is also an important free tool for determining the traffic on a site and other things of the sort.

You’re welcome, Rafia. I actually didn’t know SimilarWeb had a browser extension.

Good read! Use most of the tools almost daily, can also suggest http://mergewords.com to easily combine keywords!

Awesome tool. Thanks for sharing

Thanks again for sharing great tools with detailed information. I use few of them like Keywords Everywhere, Yoast SEO, Google Analytics, Google Search Console, Answer The Public. Keywords Everywhere and Answer The Public are one of the finest free tools available.

First time I’m knowing about DareBoost and Lipperhey and I am definitely going to try these.

I would just like to add that SEO Quake is a great tool that combines full-featured SEO analysis at one place and can be run easily via a browser plugin. Thanks Joyita

You’re welcome, Joyita. I actually haven’t tried SEO Quake in a while.

Thank you so much for this post, this is a great list of SEO tools that I will definitely use for my future clients and my own site. Can you suggest a good tool to check for keyword density on a page, for short and long tail keywords?

Awesome, Peter. I actually wouldn’t worry about keyword density. As long as you mention your main keyword a few times on your page, you’re good ( http://www.backlinko.com/on-page-seo )

3 and 4 do not currently seem to be working (1 & 2 are excellent)

Hey Nicholas, do you mean the links don’t work or the tools themselves?

Great list here, discovered some new ones too! Can I suggest another one too? It’s https://www.cocolyze.com – a free rank tracking tool, be great to see if you’ve heard of it before.

I haven’t heard of that one. I’ll check it out.

it’s fantastic that Seobility made it on your list!! Thank you so much!!

We also launched some new stuff in the last weeks, a free SEO Check App on Android and APIs to connect Seobility with other systems or to build your own site auditor. Also I’m excited what you think about our TF-IDF Content Creation Tool.

Thanks again!

You’re welcome, Tom. And thanks for the update.

https://gtmetrix.com/ is a also a great tool.

Agreed. I tried to limit this list to 100% SEO-focused tools.

http://www.countingcharacters.com/google-serp-tool

This one I used to optimize my meta tags.

The best feature of this is pixels counting of meta tags.

Hi, I love the dashboard features of Siteliner and Lipperhey but am looking for a tool that as well as checking for broken links, duplicate content etc also incorporates website submissions to search engines. We currently use SEOprofiler but dont use many of the features we are paying for so am looking for something cheaper or free if possible?

Hey Elena, you don’t really need to submit websites to search engines anymore.

Great post Brian – I’m trying to find a cheap/free rank tracker that will just give me a couple of hundred keywords, something no-frills is fine. I’ll check out some of the suggestions here – cheers!

Happy to help, Jon

https://brokenlinkfinder.com is a pretty good free option for tracking down broken links, images, and content. There is also a settings option to create a sitemap.

Thanks, Brian, I was looking for a good keyword tool that provides accurate competition volume. Sometimes I find tools to be inaccurate.

Hey Brian, big fan of your content. Have you tried using Google’s Lighthouse browser extension? It gives you a full 360 view of a lot of ranking factors like SEO and site speed. Thanks for all your work!

Thanks Jordan. I’ve only used Google’s lighthouse stuff in the Google Pagespeed insights tool. I’ll have to give the browser extension a try!

You need to be careful with Lighthouse Chrome extension. For measuring performance in “throttling mode” your computer power and use part of it. This means that for performance check for some specific site you will receive a completely different result. Another issue – you know, it’s an extension … and probably not the only one installed in your Chrome. Each of those installed extensions may have an impact on performance result, because of javascript injection. The results returned from pagespeed insights or web.dev are much more reliable than from extension (even if they return different values).

I can’t imagine my day-to-day work without some of them, but I’d all add Nightwach Search Simulator to this list. It simulates unbiased search queries from anywhere. Super useful to track your competitors’ rankings too.

Thanks Katarzyna. I haven’t tested out Nightwatch in a while.

Fantastic Article, some of those tools are very interesting especially Screaming Frog and free google tools.

Great List. Thanks Brian

You’re welcome. Hope you found some new tools to try out.

SEMrush is my favourite tool for SEO, I really didn’t know about Answer The Public Thanks you for such a awesome article, really helpful

Happy to help, Vineesh

Great Article, awesome list of tools and website. I personally loved the Rank Checker tool you mentioned, until now I was using Bright Local but they didnot have any Bulk feature like seoreviewtools

I’m not sure how you can call half of these free when all the free version gives you for example is like the first 5 keywords that would have been exactly the same in Google’s own Keyword Tool.

I’m not questioning that there are some great tools here, but a lot of them need to be paid for before they actually become usable.

Fair enough, Doug. There really aren’t 25 completely free tools that I’d recommend. These all contain free versions which may or may not meet your needs.

As usual a great informative post! However, I could not see a free tool dedicated to backlinks here. I believe openlinkprofiler.org would be a good fit.

Thanks Kaya. Great suggestion! I might add open link profiler when I update this post.

Hi Brian, I loved this blog. I used some of the sites from this list but I didn’t listen the name of some of sites at all. Thanks for this informative article. I will check all of these sites.

KWFinder is definitely not a free seo tool anymore. They’ve even restricted their free access which they were providing earlier. So, that needs to be updated.

Apart from that, I loved the list! It will come in handy!

Thanks Ankush. I’ll take another look.

Hi Brian, is there any tool which can be used to measure how effective a written content in for SEO ?

Not that I know of. It’s something no tool (outside of Google) can really measure because there are hundreds of variables.

Great list ! I love YOAST on wordress, would you know if there is a YOAST doppelganger for Silver Stripe websites??

Nice, quite a few that I have never even tried.

My trustworthy duo is Yoast and Ubersuggest, I wholeheartedly recommend everyone to try em.

Thanks for the list and greetings from Finland 👍

You’re welcome, Juha.

I think this article needs to be updated. Because UberSuggest is here with amazing features.

You think so ? I tried to use UberSuggest for search a really basic keyword and it couldn’t find any information at all for a widely used keyword..

Great article on this I find Yoast to be effective on sever of the sites I work on. And Uber Suggest for sure is one of the most valuable tools when looking for a free SEO tool its incredible as a free tool.

I currently have hrefs, SEM Rush paid but I still compare results on Uber suggest and search what trending on Google Trends constantly.

Thanks Kevin.

Hi Brian, thanks a lot for the great post ! Out of the 25, which ones are you using the most ? What would be a good a complete combo to start with ? I am now focusing on sharing content to capture leads.

That’s really an amazing tool list. You have mentioned some tools that I have never ever heard about. But is it OK to mention freemium tools as free tools?

I had the same issue. I invested time to go to the website of each of these tools, had to read through the specs of what they offer in their free account etc etc. Some of them did not even allow you to use one single feature until you gave them details for a credit card (even thouhg they wouldn’t charge it for 10-15 days or so). I did not enjoy this approch at all. Free is free. “Free version” should only talk about what you can do in the free version. Same goes for trial version.

Keywords Everywhere no longer works. They suspended the service for an undisclosed period.

Is the (3). Detailed.com has stopped giving such reports.

Thanks Manish

Thanks Manish. I’ll keep an eye out for a replacement.

Just a heads up that we do have these over here: https://detailed.com/links/

So they’re still there. Just moved them over.

I didn’t realize that. I thought you pivoted the site to another model. My bad. I need to add Detailed back to this post.

Hey Brian great post.

Do you know of any onsite optimization tools that looks at your onpage seo vs your competition.

For example a snapshot of the top 10 serps compared to the webpage webpage you’re trying to rank.

Thanks Stanford. I don’t know a tool that does exactly that. The closest thing to what you described would be a tool called canirank.com.

Hi Brian, thank you for your reviews on these seo tools. Unfortunately for the 2nd tool you suggest it is only free for 14 days, which is disappointing. I haven’t finished the whole list yet but is this the same theme for most of them?

Thanks Brian! I love these tools & always share them with colleagues & clients.

It is great that most tools have the ability to utilize Google.

Is it likely that Google India mobile will be in a future roadmap for the keyword research & keyword rank checker?

Hi Brian, I am huge fan of your writing. Great list of tools. Thanks Bro!

You’re welcome, Sam.

Great post, Brian! First time I’m knowing about DareBoost and Lipperhey and I am definitely going to try these. Thanks for sharing 🙂

Nice post as usual! Thanks for the useful list. Already installed the chrome extensions for WooRank and Wordtracker 🙂

Brian – appreciate the list! With so many tools and extensions and what have you, a list such as this is very handy. Have this site bookmarked for future tips and advice.

You’re welcome, Charlie.

Hi Brian, There’s a typo in the KWFinder section, instead of “But don’t let this fool you” it’s “But don’t less this fool you”.

This article is a very good place to start for a beginner, thank you. Unfortunately, Lipperhey is rebuilding the engine so the website functionality is affected for at least 2 months. At some point, Alexa was offering a free rank checker tool, but they have changed it because it was too much info for free, and the information is power and power has a price, except for GNU/Linux, which is powerful and free! By the way, Semrush rocks but no Moz in this list?

Really great post, Brian! But still no MOZ in the list? 🙂

Moz is free?

No Brian, Moz is not free, but there are 6 free SEO tools on Moz, and few of them are useful. At some point, we have to pay for online services, those guys need to eat too, or at least to pay for web hosting.

I’m not hating on them for charging for their SaaS product. I personally pay for Moz, Ahrefs AND SEMrush. So I don’t have any issue paying for tools. The issue in this case is that this is a list of free tools.

Wow, I just installed and tried the WooRank extension. I haven’t seen anything as comprehensive and helpful as that tool before.

I use also the audit tab in the developer’s tools include in google chrome, you have “page speed” and some other indicators as “SEO best practices” which can help a lot to fix some mistakes on your website

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9 Best Free Keyword Research Tools for SEO on a Budget

Searching for the best free keyword research tools?

Keyword research is an important part of any SEO strategy, but not everyone has the budget to start off with a paid keyword research tool, as most premium tools can be pretty pricey.

To help, we’ve collected nine tools that all help you find keywords for free. Let’s dig in…

Nine best free keyword research tools

• Google Keyword Planner
• Google Trends
• AdWord & SEO Keyword Permutation Generator
• Wordtracker Scout
• Keyword Tool
• Answer the Public

1. Google Keyword Planner

If you’ve heard about any one tool on this list before, it’s probably Google Keyword Planner . There’s a good reason for that: this tool makes it easy for you to find quality keywords to build both website content and advertising campaigns around. Bring a short list of keywords with you to discover how many people are searching for those keywords, what level of competition there is for advertising with those keywords, and alternative keywords that might be more useful in your marketing.

Standout features

• Access real-time, accurate data directly from Google search
• Organize keywords into lists based on different campaigns, commercial potential, and more
• Enjoy easy integration with Google Ads

2. Google Trends

Google Trends allows you to see what topics are trending in various regions around the world. You can use Google Trends to get an overview of recently trending topics, explore search trends related to your industry, or to find out how trendy a specific subject is.

• Trend maps with real-time data directly from Google
• Search options to see data from Google Images, Google Shopping, and YouTube
• Category breakdown allowing you to search for mentions of specific keywords on certain types of websites

👉 Read also: Best SEO Web Hosting Providers for Top-Notch Search Rankings

3. AdWord & SEO Keyword Permutation Generator

The AdWord & SEO Keyword Permutation Generator is a tool designed to help you find variations on keywords. You can plug in up to three lists of keywords and the generator will combine the keywords you’ve listed in as many different ways as possible to give you a range of permutations to choose from.

This is one of the simplest tools on this list, but it’s also one of the most powerful, allowing you to create permutations for hundreds of keywords at a time.

• Three spaces for keyword lists
• Instant permutation generation for hundreds of keywords
• Multiple choices for how to display keyword permutations

4. Serpstat

Serpstat offers instant, detailed analysis of keywords. Their easy-to-read reports show search volume, keyword difficulty, ranking pages for that keyword, and more. Graphs and other visual tools make this data easy to digest. Serpstat comes with specialized tools for different types of research.

• Content marketing tool that generates potential search questions
• Ad research tool that allows you to browse relevant ad examples
• Access to Serpstat’s suite of website analytics tools

Cost and limits

Non-registered users can do up to ten free daily searches with Serpstat. Registered users can do up to 30 daily searches for free.

They also offer premium plans which allow you to conduct thousands of daily searches, view more detailed URL analytics reports, and more.

• Lite plan – $69/month for 4,000 queries per day.
• Standard plan – $149/month for 5,000 queries per day.
• Advanced plan – $299/month for 8,000 queries per day.
• Enterprise plan – $499/month for 12,000 queries per day.

5. Wordtracker Scout

Wordtracker Scout is a free browser extension that transforms every webpage you visit into a treasure trove of keyword ideas. All you need to do is click on the Wordtracker logo beside your search bar, and you’ll gain a variety of insights into the SEO for that page and keywords you can use in your own marketing.

• Near-instant assessment of any website that provides insights on basic page info and keywords contained in page content
• Ability to view results for different locations
• Copy function allowing all results to be easily moved
• Full integration with the Wordtracker tool

Wordtracker Scout is 100% free, but you can use it in conjunction with the premium Wordtracker tool for greater effect.

• Bronze – $27/month for 1,000 keyword results.
• Silver – $69/month for 5,000 keyword results.
• Gold – $99/month for 10,000 keyword results.

6. Keyword Tool

Keyword Tool is a freemium tool that automatically generates suggestions for long-tail keywords . What makes this tool one of the best free keyword research tools around is the ability to run searches for how keywords rank on a variety of search engines including Google, Amazon, YouTube, and eBay. This allows you to optimize your presence on each of these websites based on their unique parameters.

• Separate keyword search functions for Google, YouTube, Bing, Amazon, eBay, Play Store, Instagram, and Twitter
• Search capabilities in a wide variety of languages
• Negative keywords box for excluding keywords that contain unwanted terms

The primary function of the Keyword Tool is free . To access detailed statistics for all keyword options, you can buy Keyword Tool Pro .

• Pro Basic – $69/month for 7,000 keywords per day.
• Pro Plus – $79/month for 35,000 keywords per day.
• Pro Business – $159/month for 70,000 per day.

7. Answer the Public

Answer the Public is a unique tool that generates a visual representation of potential search questions based on autocomplete data from Google and Bing.

• Instant generation of dozens of potential search questions
• Visual organization tools to help teams assess the most valuable potential search questions
• Multiple options for copying the data to your own machine

You can run a limited number of daily searches as a free user. The Pro plan costs $99/month for unlimited searches and advanced functionality.

SEMrush is a powerful suite of tools that allows you to analyze the SEO of your website, research keywords, plan effective content, and write properly optimized content with ease. They offer several integrations with Google to give you the most comprehensive site diagnostics available.

• Detailed analysis related to individual keywords based on live data, including ranking difficulty and average cost per click (CPC)
• Comprehensive listings of related keywords based on live data
• Access to all the SEMRush tools, including comprehensive site diagnostics

SEMrush allows you to use all of their tools for free , but you can only make ten requests per day . You are also only allowed to create an SEO dashboard for one website.

To create multiple projects for different websites, perform unlimited tasks each day, and monitor up to 500 keywords, you need to invest in one of their premium plans .

• Pro plan – $108.33/month for 3,000 daily searches.
• Guru plan – $208.33/month for 5,000 daily searches.
• Business plan – $416.66/month for 10,000 daily searches.

SpyFu analyzes your competitors’ websites and advertising campaigns to show you how they’re performing, what keywords they rank for, and more. If you want to go beyond the information displayed in their online dashboard you can request a comprehensive .PDF report.

• Listing of organic and paid keywords your competitor’s site ranks well for
• Graphs displaying organic and paid competition based on shared keywords
• Export all results to CSV or request a detailed .PDF report

The free version of the SpyFu tool allows unlimited searches but offers limited data.

For access to complete lists of competitor keywords and all of the other data SpyFu connects, you’ll need to upgrade to one of the premium plans (all prices are based on an annual payment plan).

• Basic plan – $33/month for 5,000 tracked keywords.
• Professional plan – $58/month for 15,000 tracked keywords.
• Team plan – $199/month for 40,000 tracked keywords.

Get started with keyword research today

All of these tools help you discover keywords for free. They also do it in different ways, so it’s worth using multiple tools to get different perspectives.

For example, Answer the Public can help you find the questions that people are asking, while Serpstat is more of a straight keyword research tool that can give you estimated search volumes.

To learn more about how to find keywords, check out our guide to keyword research .

Of course, all of these tools have some type of limitation – that’s just the nature of free tools. Once your site starts growing, you might want to consider upgrading to one of the overall best keyword research tools so that you can generate even deeper insights.

Do you have any questions about using the best free keyword research tools? Ask us in the comments!

By Dianna Gunn

Themeisle contributor.

Dianna Gunn started building WordPress websites in 2012. She has since built and managed several WordPress websites for small businesses, managing everything from design to content schedules and publication. She has also helped small businesses and nonprofits build social media publishing schedules and email marketing campaigns. She shares this expertise by writing about WordPress, digital marketing, and online business management.

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