If you want to find the best keywords and improve your site’s SEO, you need to use the best tools. With new tools, algorithms, and competition introduced every day, it can be difficult to determine which ones are right for you.
Below, we’ll explore 11 keyword research tools you can use to empower your content and speak to your audience:
1. Moz Keyword Explorer
The Moz Keyword Explorer is a search engine that provides keyword suggestions based on a user’s search query. Moz provides a keyword research platform with several different tools.
Moz does not include as much data as some of the other full-featured SEO tools, but we consider that a benefit.
The user experience is less overwhelming for those who are not professional search marketers, while still providing the metrics that are desired.
The Keyword Explorer tool allows you to search any keyword you want and see monthly volume, difficulty, and organic clickthrough rate.
Scroll down to see the analysis of current results and suggestions for similar keywords.
Moz’s “Priority” score is my favorite feature because it makes keyword research simpler by giving you an idea of whether a keyword is worth pursuing.
Moz’s score for a keyword is based on that keyword’s volume, organic CTR, difficulty, and your “My Score.”
The Competitive Research tool has a new Keyword Gap feature which allows you to find all the keywords your competitors rank for that you don’t.
2. Google Keyword Planner
Google Keyword Planner is one of the best resources accessible. It’s totally allowed to use (regardless of whether you don’t buy Google Ads), so you never need to stress over hitting cutoff points or costly enhancements.
The Google Keyword Planner includes two main features: one for exploring potential keywords and another for more detailed research on search volume and forecasting.
This feature allows you to search for a seed term and generate other keyword ideas, along with monthly search volume, change over time, competition, ad impression share, and bid ranges.
You can improve the quality of your keyword list by specifying the brand or non-brand keywords, source website, and more. The “Forecast” feature in Google Ads makes it easier to plan and budget for your paid ads in advance.
Keyword Planner allows you to save on PPC costs by informing you about which keywords you should rank for organically.
3. Semrush
Semrush provides a lot of keyword data and makes it easy to access the details, like SERP features (featured snippet, reviews, site links, image pack, and so on) and granular analysis of current results.
Semrush provides a variety of keyword research tools, from the standard traffic and search volume data to content-driven keyword research and competitive keyword gap analysis.
Semrush is unique because it offers a range of features, 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. With these features, you can uncover those tricky “not provided” keywords.
This content writing tool not only allows you to create a content brief, but also provides real-time feedback on readability, originality, tone, and SEO. This feedback is given in the form of a bullseye graphic, making it easy to see what needs to be improved.
Additionally, the tool provides a visual checklist of SEO recommendations (like using your target and related keywords, adding relevant links, and images) as you progress.
This means that it will cost a lot of money to upgrade–but you can use it for free at first if you don’t use it very much.
4. QuestionDB
QuestionDB is a tool that allows you to find related questions people ask online by typing in a keyword or broader topic.
What’s unique about QuestionDB is the sourcing.
QuestionDB gathers questions from a variety of sources on the internet, including Reddit, Quora, and Stack Exchange. This provides a comprehensive collection of questions that can be useful for research.
QuestionDB enables you to see how, why, and where people are talking about a topic by scraping the web to find common questions people are asking related to that topic.
You can come up with content topics by brainstorming, see what people are saying about a topic on the internet, and get more information on how you should approach the topic.
5. Jaaxy
Jaaxy’s keyword research tool is pretty straightforward: after entering a keyword, topic, or URL, the tool provides a list of related and suggested keywords, along with basic stats on each.
What I found most helpful about Jaaxy was its ability to help me find affiliate programs to promote on my site.
Click on the Affiliate Programs tab, and enter your keyword to find a list of affiliate programs from Commission Junction, Link Share, Digital River, and ClickBank.
Jaaxy allows you to see the commission you will make for each program as well as the Alexa Rank for the product website.
If you’re looking to make money through affiliate marketing, Jaaxy’s paid plans offer a reasonably affordable starting point.
6. Keyword Surfer
A browser extension is a lightweight way to do keyword research without having to leave the search engine results page. Keyword Surfer, a Google Chrome extension from Surfer SEO, is a limited version of the platform that is available for free.
Once you have the extension downloaded and enabled, go to Google and search for your keyword using a normal Google search. You will see estimated search volume and CPC data appear in the search bar as you type.
If you hit enter, you will be able to see the same information, but you will also be able to see the number of keywords that match your search exactly for each SERP listing.
On the right side of the screen, you will see related keywords and visualizations of the SERP data. You can also click on the right side to generate an article outline using the Free AI Article Outline Generator.
A list of suggested keywords and a heading hierarchy is provided that can be shared with others via a link.
If you want to use the full Surfer SEO app, you can use the Content Editor to get a “Content Score” and suggestions on how many headings, paragraphs, and images to include. The Content Editor is available for free with WordPress and Google Docs extensions.
7. Google Trends
Google Trends allows users to explore real-time and historical search trends, based on data and search queries from Google. The tool provides global trends by region, allowing users to see what is being searched for across the globe.
Google Trends can help you plan your content, understand your audience, build seasonal ad campaigns, and more. You can also use Google Trends to spot new trends and track when interest in them is waning.
Google Trends uses a mix of real Google search data and other information to provide people with more accurate insights. This data is anonymized, categorized, and grouped by topic, region, and time period.
Google Trends can be used to either search for specific data or to explore general topics and generate new ideas.
Google releases topical reports throughout the year that collect and analyze data relevant to specific topics or time periods. Some examples of their reports include the 2021 Year in Search, Shopping Trends 2022, and Holiday Season 2021.
To get an idea of the topics people are currently searching, check out Recently trending.
If you want to research a specific topic, enter it into the search bar and start researching.
The “+ Compare” feature lets you compare multiple related keywords at the same time, which can help you understand your audience’s interests in related topics and how those interests vary over time in different regions. This data can be used to decide what to focus on in your content, or even for competitive analysis.
Related queries can help you come up with new ideas that are relevant to the keywords you’re targeting and the region you want to focus on. This can help spark new ideas for your content and marketing strategy, as well as provide guidance for your keyword research.
8. AnswerThePublic
AnswerThePublic helps you find long-tail keywords related to a topic by aggregating Google autocomplete suggestions and creating word clouds that visually group related queries.
AnswerThePublic is a great tool to help you come up with ideas for relevant content. The word clouds can help you anticipate more specific questions and search phrases your audience might use, which you might otherwise have missed.
This tool uses autocomplete data gathered from Google and Bing in 191 countries.
To begin, enter a seed keyword for the topic you want to write about into the search bar and select your preferred database. The default setting will show data from the United Kingdom, but for this example we will be using search data from the United States. Simply type in “chocolate” and hit the Enter key.
AnswerThePublic displays questions related to “chocolate” in word clouds grouped by theme.
The search terms in darker colors are more popular. However, this doesn’t necessarily reflect higher search volume or more results overall. Clicking on any search term will take you to the live search results for that term on Google.
In addition to questions, you can also find:
- Search phrases by preposition (e.g., chocolate for dipping)
- Comparisons (e.g., chocolate vs. vanilla ice cream)
- Alphabeticals (keywords sorted alphabetically by the word following “chocolate.” For example, “chocolate advent calendar” would be grouped under “A.”)
- Related searches
9. TubeBuddy
TubeBuddy is a browser extension that helps YouTube creators with optimization, publishing, promotion, and growth for their channels. They have tools that include Keyword Explorer to help creators find long-tail keywords and trending tags.
You can use Keyword Explorer to find keywords specifically for YouTube. In addition, you can use their templates, split testing, and other tools to help you test and apply your new keywords to your channel.
The Keyword Explorer tool includes data from both YouTube and Google Trends.
To use TubeBuddy Keyword Explorer, grant it access to your YouTube channel and then enter a keyword or topic you’re interested in and click “Explore.”
The Summary tab provides a score for a given keyword which takes into account the amount of competition as well as how well optimized the highest ranking videos are.
The Results tab shows you the current top-ranking YouTube videos and channels for a given keyword. You can use this to see what your competitors are doing and how they are ranking.
10. Keyword tool
Keyword Tool helps you find and target long-tail keywords, products, and hashtags by using autocomplete data from a variety of search engines, including Google, Bing, YouTube, Amazon, Instagram, eBay, and the Play Store.
Keyword Tool is focused on long-tail keywords that are not visible in Google’s Keyword Planner. Because of this, Keyword Tool is most effective for organic search, content marketing, and SEO.
Other search data besides autocomplete is from Google, Bing, Youtube, Amazon, Instagram, eBay, and the Play Store.
First, select the search engine and country you want to use to get data. Then, enter a seed keyword. The Keyword Tool will provide a list of autocomplete suggestions, questions, and prepositions associated with your chosen search engine.
11. AlsoAsked
AlsoAsked is a tool that allows you to collect and analyze data from Google’s “People Also Ask” feature. This is useful for digital marketers, as the “People Also Ask” box provides insight into related topics and questions for a given keyword.
To generate new content ideas that target PAA questions, simply brainstorm a list of topics that would address those questions. Once you have a list of potential topics, do a quick search online to see what content is already out there on each topic. This will help you to determine which topics are already being covered extensively and which ones may be more original. If you can’t find much content on a particular topic, that’s usually a good sign that it’s an original idea.
AlsoAsked collects and organizes data from Google’s People Also Ask results, which is a list of searches users also make when searching for your initial query. Therefore, AlsoAsked will only return results for queries that returned a PAA box.
The AlsoAsked tool shows you the PAA questions that are related to your seed keyword. These questions are displayed on a branching diagram that shows the relationship between these related questions.
For example, here are the questions AlsoAsked finds if you search “SEO” in the United States:
Searching for “SEO” generates four primary questions:
- What SEO means?
- What is SEO and how does it work?
- How do you do SEO marketing?
- What is SEO and examples?
However, these questions also result in their own PAA results. These new questions are displayed on additional branches. If you click on one of them, you can view a new diagram starting from that point.
Final thoughts
You are the best judge of your own content. Good keyword research will ensure that your content is seen by the right people when they need it most.
It’s not enough to just arm yourself with the best tools. You also need to challenge yourself through education, thought leadership, and grit to keep yourself sharp.