The 4 Best Keyword Research Tools

To ensure your website receives relevant organic traffic, it is essential to utilize effective keyword research tools. In this comprehensive guide, we will explore five paid and free tools that can assist you in conducting keyword research.

1. Semrush

Semrush boasts the most extensive keyword database available, comprising over 23 billion keywords across 140 international databases. Their suite of keyword research tools seamlessly integrates with each other, streamlining your keyword research workflow.

Pro tip: By creating a free account, you can make up to 10 queries per day, including Domain and Keyword analytics queries. Now, let’s delve into some of the key keyword research tools offered by Semrush:

A. Keyword Overview

Keyword Overview provides a detailed summary of any keyword within the Semrush database. It serves as the default top-level report that appears when you click on a specific keyword from any Semrush tool. This report consists of three main sections:

• The first section offers a quick yet comprehensive overview of key metrics such as:
  • Volume: Average monthly searches (including metrics like “Global volume” and search volume “Trend”).
  • Keyword Difficulty: An estimation of the ranking difficulty on a scale of 1 to 100.
  • Intent: The underlying purpose or intent behind the keyword search.
• The second section presents a concise overview of other relevant keywords, including Keyword Variations, Questions, and Related Keywords.
• Lastly, the “SERP Analysis” section displays the top-ranking pages for the analyzed keyword, along with useful metrics such as the number of referring domains and estimated organic traffic.

B. Keyword Magic Tool

Similar to other SEO keyword research tools, the Keyword Magic Tool begins with a seed keyword—a word or short phrase representing your main topic. Simply enter your seed keyword into the search bar and select your desired location database to generate thousands of suggestions. You can further narrow down your search by applying filters based on:

• Questions
• Broad, Exact, Phrase, and Related Match keywords
• Language
• Search Volume
• Keyword Difficulty
• Search Intent

By selecting the options of interest, your search results will automatically align with your specified criteria. You can even refine your results by incorporating popular or high-volume words and phrases. To maximize your understanding of utilizing the Keyword Magic Tool and other Semrush keyword tools, we recommend reading our detailed keyword research guide.

C. Keyword Gap

The Keyword Gap tool offers a side-by-side comparison of keywords, allowing for SEO competitor analysis. It enables you to identify the keywords shared with your competitors as well as the keywords they rank for but you may be missing out on. To utilize this tool:

• Enter your domain and up to four competitor domains.
• The “Keyword Overlap” section on the right shows the relative size of each domain’s keyword profile and the extent of their overlap.

Below, you will find a comprehensive report comparing your current keyword profile to that of your competition. Pay close attention to the “Missing” and “Weak” tabs to uncover keywords you haven’t targeted yet or those where you can improve your performance.

Click on the keywords of interest to gather more information or add them to your Keyword Manager list for future reference.

Pricing: Apart from the free version, you can upgrade to a Pro account for $119.95 per month, granting you access to a comprehensive toolset featuring over 55 SEO and online marketing tools, including Semrush’s keyword research tools. To explore all the subscription levels and their breakdown, refer to the Semrush pricing page.

2. Google Trends

Google Trends is a free keyword tool that enables the analysis of real-time and historical search trends based on sampled data and Google search queries. This tool offers various benefits such as content ideation and planning, audience insights, and the ability to build seasonal ad campaigns.

Why we like it: Google Trends allows you to identify emerging trends and gauge their declining interest over time. It aids in content creation by providing valuable insights into what topics are currently popular.

Here’s how it works: You can utilize Google Trends to search for specific data or explore more general topics to generate new ideas. Simply enter your topic into the search bar and start your research.

One of the notable features of Google Trends is its ability to directly compare keywords. By clicking “+ Compare,” you can simultaneously view multiple related keywords, enabling you to analyze audience interest in these topics and how their popularity fluctuates across different regions. This data empowers you to decide where to focus your content efforts and even conduct competitive analysis.

With the “Related queries” feature, you can generate new ideas related to your target keywords, relevant to the specific region you wish to target. This aids in content and marketing planning, providing a clear direction for your keyword research.

Furthermore, you can analyze and compare the interest in a particular topic by country. This feature allows you to discover new audiences globally or ensure your content remains relevant to your target region which benefits your brand development.

Pricing: Google Trends is completely free.

3. QuestionDB

Rather than solely focusing on keywords, QuestionDB offers insights into the questions people ask on websites and forums like Reddit and Stack Exchange.

Why we like it: QuestionDB is an excellent tool for content ideation. Its extensive database of questions provides specific insights into what your audience genuinely wants to know. This information enables you to create highly useful content that effectively addresses their questions.

How it works: QuestionDB provides crucial context regarding how your target audience engages with your chosen keywords and the information they seek. To utilize this tool effectively, follow these steps:

1. Develop a list of related seed keywords you intend to target.
2. Enter one of the seed keywords into QuestionDB. Ensure the keywords are relatively broad, as the tool will generate a list of more specific questions related to the overall topic.

Repeat this process for the remaining keywords on your list to generate even more content ideas for your blog. If you wish to explore a particular question further, clicking on it will direct you to the original conversation source, potentially generating additional ideas.

At the top of your results, you can find related topics, providing further inspiration:

Pricing: Free users can view the first 50 search results. The Pro plan, priced at $15 per month, offers unlimited searches with unlimited results.

4. AlsoAsked

AlsoAsked is a tool that aggregates Google’s “People Also Ask” (PAA) data, enabling you to analyze and inform your strategy based on related topics and questions surrounding your chosen keyword.

How it works: AlsoAsked displays the PAA questions triggered by your seed keyword and presents them in a branching diagram that illustrates the relationship between these related questions. Here’s an example of the questions generated by searching “content creation” in the United States:

Searching for “content creation” reveals four primary questions:

• What are examples of content creation and content services?
• What does a content creator do?
• How do I start content creating?
• What skills are needed for content creation?

These questions, in turn, generate additional PAA results, branching out into more questions. Clicking on any question reveals a new diagram starting from that point.

The tool not only presents numerous topics you can cover but also highlights the relationships between these questions. This helps you structure your articles effectively, ensuring you address all the essential questions in the order they are likely to be asked.

Additionally, you have the option to export this data as a CSV or image for further analysis or use in presentations.

Pricing: The free account allows for 10 searches per month. Paid plans start at $15 a month.

Overall

Your keyword research strategy should fit the unique requirements of your business and target audience. There is no one-size-fits-all approach, so it’s important to discover what works best for your company and monitor the impact of each action on your overall success.

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