Are you struggling to find the right keyword research tool for your needs? With so many options available, it can be overwhelming to navigate the sea of different features, and specialties.
From PPC keyword tools to SEO keyword tools, long-tail keywords to broad, social media keywords to questions and prepositions, there’s no shortage of options. And with varying pricing structures that can range from free to costly, it can be difficult to know where to start.
But fear not, as we’ve done the heavy lifting for you. In this comprehensive guide, we’ll walk you through the 18 best keyword research tools on the market, and help you determine which one is the perfect fit for your goals, experience level, and budget. Whether you’re a seasoned SEO pro or just starting out, there’s a tool on this list that’s sure to take your keyword research game to the next level.
Best Keyword Research Tools
Keyword research tools are essential for anyone looking to improve their SEO strategy and increase their website’s visibility on search engines.
These tools offer a range of features and capabilities for conducting keyword research, such as analyzing search volume, competition, CPC, and long-tail variations, as well as providing insights into keyword trends, popular topics, and search intent. The choice of tool will depend on the specific needs and goals of the user, as well as their level of experience and budget.
Here are some of the best keyword research tools mentioned below that can help you to improve your SEO strategy and increase your website’s visibility on search engines.
Ahrefs Keyword Explorer
Ahrefs Keyword Explorer is a powerful keyword research tool that helps content creators and SEO professionals find high-potential keywords for their campaigns. It is an all-in-one platform that provides valuable insights into keywords and phrases that can improve your website’s ranking and drive traffic to your pages.
Features
Keyword suggestions: The tool provides relevant keyword ideas based on your search query, along with search volume, keyword difficulty, and other metrics.
Keyword difficulty score: Ahrefs has its own proprietary keyword difficulty score that helps users assess the competitiveness of a keyword.
Search volume: Users can easily see the estimated monthly search volume for a given keyword.
Clicks and impressions data: Ahrefs provides information on how many clicks and impressions a keyword is getting, as well as the percentage of clicks that go to paid results.
SERP analysis: Users can see which pages are ranking for their target keywords, which can help them create more effective content.
Content analysis: Ahrefs allows users to analyze the top-ranking pages for their target keywords and see what content is working best.
Pricing
Ahrefs offers different pricing plans, ranging from $99/month to $999/month.
The Lite plan, which costs $99/month, allows users to access the keyword research tool, along with other features like backlink analysis and rank tracking.
The Standard plan, which costs $179/month, includes additional features like content exploration and site audit.
The Advanced and Agency plans, which cost $399/month and $999/month respectively, provide even more features and higher limits for each feature.
SEMrush Keyword Magic Tool
SEMrushis a popular all-in-one digital marketing suite that provides a wide range of tools for SEO, PPC, social media, content marketing, and more. One of their most powerful and popular tools is the Keyword Magic Tool, which is designed to help marketers and SEO professionals to research and find the right keywords for their content, campaigns, and websites.
Features
Keyword research:
With the Keyword Magic Tool, you can enter a keyword or phrase and get a list of related keywords and phrases, along with metrics such as search volume, keyword difficulty, CPC, and more. This feature is essential for finding the best keywords for your content or campaigns and optimizing your SEO efforts.
Keyword filtering:
You can filter the keyword results by various parameters such as search volume, keyword difficulty, CPC, and more, to narrow down the results and find the most relevant and valuable keywords.
Keyword grouping:
The tool groups the keywords into different clusters based on their relevance and similarity, making it easier for you to organize and manage your keyword research.
Competitive analysis:
You can also use the Keyword Magic Tool to analyze your competitors’ keywords and get insights into their SEO and PPC strategies. This feature helps you to stay ahead of the competition and identify new opportunities for growth.
Pricing
SEMrush offers a range of pricing plans for its users, depending on their needs and budget. The Keyword Magic Tool is included in all plans, but the features and limits may vary. Here are the pricing plans for SEMrush:
- Pro: $119.95/month
- Guru: $229.95/month
- Business: $449.95/month
- Enterprise: Custom pricing
The Pro plan is suitable for freelancers, startups, and small businesses, while the Guru plan is ideal for growing businesses and agencies. The Business plan is designed for larger organizations and agencies, while the Enterprise plan offers custom solutions and advanced features for large-scale operations.
Google Keyword Planner
Google Keyword Planneris designed to help users identify the right keywords for their PPC (pay-per-click) advertising campaigns. It allows users to create and manage campaigns, discover new keywords, and get insights into how well their keywords are performing.
Features
Keyword suggestions:
Google Keyword Planner provides users with keyword ideas that are relevant to their business, based on the terms and phrases they enter into the tool. The tool also provides estimated search volume data and historical statistics to help users choose the best keywords for their campaigns.
Search volume and competition data:
The tool provides users with data on search volume and competition for each keyword. This information can help users prioritize their keyword selection and optimize their campaigns for maximum impact.
Performance forecasts:
Google Keyword Planner can also provide users with performance forecasts for their campaigns, including estimated clicks, impressions, and costs. This data can be used to make informed decisions about campaign budgets and goals.
Ad group organization:
The tool allows users to organize their keywords into ad groups, which can help improve the relevance of their ads and increase click-through rates.
Pricing
Google Keyword Planner is a free tool that is available to anyone with a Google Ads account. However, users must have an active campaign in order to access certain features, such as search volume data and performance forecasts.
Moz Keyword Explorer
Moz Keyword Explorer is a powerful keyword research tool that helps website owners and marketers find the best keywords to optimize their content for search engines. This tool is designed to provide insights into keyword search volume, competition, and difficulty, making it easier to find the best keywords for your content.
Features
Keyword Suggestions:
Moz Keyword Explorer provides you with a list of relevant keyword suggestions based on your search query. This feature is useful for finding new keyword opportunities and expanding your keyword list.
Search Volume:
This tool shows you the monthly search volume for each keyword suggestion, giving you an idea of how popular each keyword is among search engine users.
Keyword Difficulty:
Moz Keyword Explorer provides you with an estimate of how difficult it would be to rank for each keyword suggestion. This feature helps you prioritize your keyword list and focus on the keywords that are most likely to drive traffic to your website.
SERP Analysis:
Moz Keyword Explorer provides you with a detailed analysis of the top search engine results for each keyword suggestion. This analysis includes information about the ranking domains, page authority, and domain authority, giving you an idea of the competition level for each keyword.
Keyword Lists:
Moz Keyword Explorer allows you to save your keyword lists and track your progress over time. This feature is useful for monitoring the performance of your keywords and making adjustments to your SEO strategy as needed.
Pricing
Moz Keyword Explorer offers a free trial, which allows you to perform up to 10 searches per month. After that, you can choose from three pricing plans:
Standard: This plan costs $99 per month and allows you to perform up to 150 keyword searches per month.
Medium: This plan costs $179 per month and allows you to perform up to 500 keyword searches per month.
Large: This plan costs $249 per month and allows you to perform up to 1,000 keyword searches per month.
Keyword Tool
Keyword Tool is a powerful online keyword research tool that allows you to find the right keywords for your content, advertising campaigns, or SEO strategy. It provides a comprehensive list of long-tail keyword suggestions based on the search queries entered by users across various search engines like Google, Bing, YouTube, Amazon, and more.
Features
Keyword suggestions:
Keyword Tool generates hundreds of long-tail keyword suggestions that are relevant to your search query. You can use these keywords to optimize your website content, ad campaigns, and SEO strategy.
Search volume and competition data:
Keyword Tool provides search volume data and competition level for each suggested keyword. You can use this data to identify high volume, low competition keywords that can improve your chances of ranking higher in search results.
Advanced filtering options:
Keyword Tool allows you to filter keywords by location, language, and device. This feature helps you to target specific geographic regions and languages and optimize your content accordingly.
Export and analysis:
You can export keyword data in various formats like CSV, Excel, and PDF for further analysis and optimization.
Competitor analysis:
With Keyword Tool, you can analyze the keywords used by your competitors and identify new opportunities for your business.
Pricing
Keyword Tool offers both free and paid plans.
The free plan provides up to 750 keyword suggestions for each search query and limited access to advanced features.
The paid plans start at $79 per month and offer more advanced features, including unlimited keyword suggestions, search volume data, and competition level analysis.
Serpstat
Serpstat is an all-in-one SEO platform that offers a wide range of tools to help businesses optimize their online presence. One of the key features of Serpstat is its keyword research tool, which provides businesses with insights into the most popular keywords and phrases in their industry.
Lets take a closer look at Serpstat’s keyword research tool and explore its features and pricing.
Keyword Research Features
Serpstat’s keyword research tool is designed to help businesses identify the most relevant and effective keywords for their target audience. With this tool, users can:
Find related keywords:
By entering a seed keyword, businesses can get a list of related keywords that can be used to optimize their content.
Analyze competitors:
Serpstat’s keyword research tool allows businesses to analyze their competitors’ websites and identify the keywords they’re targeting.
Identify long-tail keywords:
With Serpstat, businesses can also identify long-tail keywords that are less competitive and may be easier to rank for.
Search volume and CPC analysis:
The platform provides data on search volume and cost-per-click (CPC) for each keyword, giving businesses a better idea of the potential value of each keyword.
Keyword grouping and filtering:
Serpstat allows users to group and filter keywords based on specific criteria, such as search volume or competition level.
Pricing:
Serpstat offers a variety of pricing plans to suit businesses of all sizes and budgets. The plans range from the Lite plan, which is priced at $69/month and includes 4,000 queries per day, to the Enterprise plan, which is priced at $499/month and includes 30,000 queries per day. There are also custom plans available for businesses with specific needs.
KWFinder
KWFinder helps you find the best keywords for your content, SEO, and PPC campaigns. It is designed to help you find long-tail keywords with low competition, so you can rank higher on search engine results pages (SERPs) and drive more traffic to your website.
Features
Keyword Research:
With KWFinder, you can quickly find long-tail keywords that are relevant to your business, and analyze their search volume, difficulty, and CPC.
SERP Analysis:
The tool provides you with detailed SERP analysis of each keyword, so you can see the top results, their domain authority, backlinks, and social shares.
Keyword Difficulty Score:
KWFinder provides a difficulty score for each keyword, so you can see how hard it is to rank for that keyword. This score is based on the strength of the top-ranking pages, and it ranges from 0 to 100.
Competitor Analysis:
You can use KWFinder to spy on your competitors and see what keywords they are ranking for. This feature helps you to identify new opportunities for your own content and PPC campaigns.
Location-Based Search:
KWFinder allows you to search for keywords by location, so you can find keywords that are relevant to your target audience in a specific country, region, or city.
Pricing
KWFinder offers three pricing plans:
Basic: $49/month (or $29/month if paid annually)
Premium: $69/month (or $39/month if paid annually)
Agency: $129/month (or $79/month if paid annually)
The Basic plan allows you to do 100 keyword lookups per 24 hours, while the Premium and Agency plans offer more lookups, as well as additional features like competitor research and backlink analysis.
Ubersuggest
Ubersuggest is a keyword research tool that helps you find profitable keywords for your website. It was originally created by Neil Patel as a free tool and was later acquired by his company. It offers a variety of features for both SEO and PPC campaigns.
Features
Keyword Suggestions:
Ubersuggest provides keyword suggestions based on your query. It offers an extensive list of long-tail keywords that you can use to optimize your content.
Keyword Difficulty:
This feature shows how difficult it is to rank for a particular keyword. It takes into account factors like domain authority, page authority, and backlinks.
Content Ideas:
Ubersuggest also provides content ideas based on your keyword query. You can use this feature to get ideas for blog posts, articles, and other types of content.
Site Audit:
Ubersuggest offers a site audit feature that analyzes your website and provides suggestions for improving your on-page SEO. It checks for issues like broken links, missing meta tags, and other technical SEO issues.
Backlink Analysis:
This feature shows you the backlinks pointing to your website and your competitors’ websites. You can use this information to identify link building opportunities and improve your link profile.
Pricing
Ubersuggest offers a free version with limited features. The paid version, Ubersuggest Pro, offers more features and starts at $12 per month. The pricing depends on the number of features you want to use and the size of your website.
Long Tail Pro
Long Tail Pro is a powerful and user-friendly keyword research tool that helps businesses and individuals find profitable long-tail keywords to target for their SEO and PPC campaigns. It provides deep insights into keyword competition, search volume, and other key metrics to help users make data-driven decisions.
Features
Keyword Research:
With Long Tail Pro, you can enter your seed keyword and quickly generate a list of long-tail keywords with low competition. It also provides search volume and ranking data, giving you an idea of how difficult it will be to rank for a particular keyword.
Keyword Competitiveness:
Long Tail Pro analyzes the top 10 search results for each keyword, and calculates a Keyword Competitiveness score from 0 to 100. This score tells you how difficult it will be to rank for a particular keyword, and helps you identify low-hanging fruit.
Rank Tracker:
Long Tail Pro also has a built-in rank tracker, allowing you to track your website’s rankings for your target keywords over time. This can help you identify areas for improvement and track your progress.
Domain Analysis:
With Long Tail Pro, you can also analyze your competitors’ websites to see what keywords they are ranking for, and get insights into their backlink profiles.
Pricing
Long Tail Pro offers three pricing plans: Starter, Pro, and Agency.
The Starter plan starts at $37 per month, and allows you to track up to 30 keywords,
The Pro plan starts at $67 per month and allows you to track up to 200 keywords.
The Agency plan starts at $147 per month and allows you to track up to 1000 keywords.
SpyFu
SpyFu is a powerful keyword research and competitive analysis tool that helps businesses to identify profitable keywords, track competitors’ advertising strategies, and improve their own search engine rankings.
With SpyFu, you can easily analyze the performance of any website, uncover their top organic and paid search keywords, and even see the ad copy and landing pages that they are using.
Features
Competitor Research:
SpyFu allows users to view their competitor’s top organic and paid keywords, ad copy, and estimated ad spend. This information can be used to create a more effective SEO and PPC strategy.
Keyword Research:
Users can search for a keyword and view metrics such as search volume, CPC, and competition. The tool also provides related keywords and suggestions for long-tail variations.
Rank Tracking:
SpyFu tracks keyword rankings for both organic and paid search. Users can view their own rankings and those of their competitors.
Backlink Analysis:
Users can view their own backlinks and those of their competitors. SpyFu also provides metrics such as domain strength and page strength.
Custom Reporting:
The tool allows users to create custom reports and schedule them for regular delivery.
Pricing
SpyFu offers three pricing plans: Basic, Professional, and Team.
The Basic plan costs $39 per month, the Professional plan costs $78 per month, and the Team plan costs $299 per month. Each plan comes with a different set of features and limitations.
Seed Keywords
Seed Keywords is a unique keyword research tool that allows users to generate relevant and creative keyword ideas based on real-life scenarios. It works by having users create a search scenario and then inviting friends or colleagues to suggest search terms that they would use to find a solution to that scenario.
Features
Real-life scenarios:
Seed Keywords allows users to create scenarios based on real-life situations, which can help generate more relevant and creative keyword ideas.
Collaborative:
The tool is collaborative, allowing users to invite friends or colleagues to suggest search terms based on the scenario. This helps to generate a wider range of ideas and perspectives.
Customizable:
Users can customize the search scenario by specifying the location, language, device, and more.
Instant results:
Seed Keywords generates keyword ideas instantly, saving time and effort.
Pricing
Seed Keywords offers a free version with limited features, including the ability to create up to 3 scenarios and invite up to 10 friends or colleagues to participate. T
he paid version starts at $20 per month and offers unlimited scenarios and invites, as well as additional features like the ability to export results and view historical data.
AnswerThePublic
AnswerThePublic is a popular keyword research tool that helps users find relevant search queries that people are typing into search engines. It’s a fantastic resource for content creators, marketers, and SEO professionals looking to improve their search engine rankings and create content that resonates with their audience.
Features
Visualize search queries:
AnswerThePublic takes the search query results and displays them in a visually compelling way, using a wheel-shaped graph with different themes.
Find long-tail keywords:
One of the biggest advantages of AnswerThePublic is that it helps you discover long-tail keywords related to your primary keywords. You can then use these keywords to create more targeted content that better aligns with your target audience’s needs.
Understand user intent:
With AnswerThePublic, you can get an idea of the questions people are asking related to your keyword. This helps you understand user intent and create content that addresses their questions and concerns.
Get fresh content ideas:
AnswerThePublic helps you discover fresh and unique content ideas by providing related searches and questions people are asking related to your keyword. This ensures that your content stays relevant and up-to-date with your audience’s interests and needs.
Pricing
AnswerThePublic offers a free version of the tool that provides limited functionality, including only 3 searches per day.
There’s also a pro version that comes with more advanced features, including unlimited searches, CSV downloads, and language and location targeting. The pro version is priced at $99 per month or $948 per year.
Soovle
Soovle is a free online keyword research tool that helps users find the most popular and relevant keywords across multiple search engines and websites. It is a powerful and user-friendly tool that simplifies the process of keyword research for content creators, marketers, and SEO professionals. Soovle allows users to generate a list of keywords that are related to their search term by pulling data from various search engines and websites.
Features
Multi-Search Engine:
Soovle is a unique keyword research tool that allows you to search for keywords across multiple search engines at the same time. It pulls data from various search engines like Google, Bing, Yahoo, Amazon, Wikipedia, and YouTube to provide you with a comprehensive list of keywords.
Customizable Interface:
Soovle’s interface is fully customizable, allowing you to choose which search engines and websites you want to include in your search. You can easily add or remove search engines and websites to tailor your search results to your specific needs.
Real-Time Suggestions:
Soovle provides real-time keyword suggestions as you type, making it easy to discover new and relevant keywords.
Export Results:
Once you have generated a list of keywords, you can easily export them to a CSV file for further analysis or use.
Pricing
Soovle is a free keyword research tool and does not require any payment or subscription to use.
Google Trends
Google Trends is a free online tool that provides users with real-time insights into search query trends on Google. It allows users to see how frequently specific keywords or phrases have been searched for over a period of time and in different regions or languages. This information can be used to identify and understand emerging trends, consumer interests, and popular topics in various industries.
Features
Explore:
It allows users to enter a keyword or topic and see its popularity over time, related topics and queries, and interest by subregion.
Compare:
It allows users to compare the popularity of up to five search terms over time and by location.
Top Charts:
It shows the top searches in various categories, including actors, athletes, movies, and more.
Data filtering:
Users can filter data by location, time range, category, and type of search (web search, image search, news search, etc.)
Real-time data:
Google Trends is updated in real-time, allowing users to track current events and breaking news.
Pricing
Google Trends is a completely free tool for all users.
WordStream’s Free Keyword Tool
The tool allows users to enter a keyword or a URL and generates a list of relevant keyword suggestions. The tool provides important metrics such as search volume, competition level, and estimated cost per click (CPC). The tool also provides related and long-tail keyword variations that are often overlooked but can be valuable for improving campaign performance.
Features
Relevant keyword suggestions:
Users can enter a keyword or URL and receive a list of relevant keyword suggestions, including related and long-tail variations, search volume, competition, and CPC.
Long-tail variations:
In addition to primary keywords, the tool also suggests long-tail variations that can help you rank for more specific search queries.
Location and industry filtering:
The tool also allows users to filter keyword results by location, which is particularly useful for targeting local audiences. You can filter for over 23 countries, and by industry for 24 different verticals making it easier to find the right keywords for your specific location.
Popular keywords database:
WordStream’s keyword research is used to create a database of the most popular keywords for 60 different verticals. Users can head to the Popular Keywords page, click on their vertical, and receive the top 25 keywords for that vertical. This feature is great for identifying seed keywords and starting points for campaigns.
Strategic advice:
The tool provides strategic advice on using high-volume keywords and tips for marketing in specific verticals.
Pricing
Free for the first 25 results.
Free for the rest of the results via email. (If you want to get the full list of keyword suggestions, you just need to enter your email address and the tool will send it to you for free).
WordStream also offers paid plans that include more advanced features, such as the ability to track keyword performance and optimize your campaigns for maximum ROI.
Keyword Eye
Keyword Eye is a versatile keyword research tool that helps marketers find profitable and relevant keywords for their campaigns. With Keyword Eye, you can explore new keyword opportunities, understand your competition, and optimize your content for better search engine rankings.
Features
Keyword Research:
With Keyword Eye, you can easily discover new and profitable keywords for your campaigns. The tool provides a range of keyword suggestions based on your seed keywords and lets you filter the results by language, country, and search volume.
Competitor Analysis:
Keyword Eye also allows you to spy on your competitors and see what keywords they’re targeting. This information can help you uncover new keyword opportunities and optimize your campaigns for better results.
Content Optimization:
Keyword Eye’s content optimization feature helps you optimize your website content for better search engine rankings. The tool analyzes your content and suggests relevant keywords and phrases to include in your copy.
Keyword Tracking:
With Keyword Eye, you can track your keyword rankings and monitor your progress over time. The tool provides detailed reports on your keyword performance and lets you see how you’re ranking compared to your competitors.
Pricing
Keyword Eye offers a range of pricing plans to suit different needs and budgets.
The basic plan starts at $18/month and includes access to all of the tool’s features, up to 10 projects, and 1,000 keyword searches per month.
The pro plan starts at $48/month and includes more projects and keyword searches, as well as advanced features like competitor tracking and content optimization.
Keyword Sheeter
Keyword Sheeter is a powerful keyword research tool that helps users generate massive lists of potential keywords in seconds. It is a great tool for marketers, SEO professionals, and bloggers who are looking to find new and relevant keywords to target in their content.
Features
Massive Keyword Lists:
Keyword Sheeter generates massive keyword lists by taking a seed keyword and using it to generate hundreds or even thousands of related keywords.
Customization:
You can customize your search by adding negative keywords, setting minimum and maximum search volumes, and even choosing to include or exclude specific words.
Exporting:
Once you have your list of keywords, you can easily export it to a CSV file for use in other tools.
Pricing
Keyword Sheeter is a completely free tool that doesn’t require any sign-up or subscription. You can simply visit the website, enter your seed keyword, and get a massive list of related keywords for free.
Keyworddit
Keyworddit is a free keyword research tool that is based on one of the most popular websites on the internet – Reddit. This tool extracts keywords from the most popular subreddits and presents them in an organized way for the user to analyze and utilize. It’s a great way to find long-tail keywords that you might not have otherwise thought of.
Features
Extracts keywords from subreddits:
Keyworddit extracts keywords from the titles and comments of the most popular posts in subreddits.
Filters and sorts results:
The tool allows users to filter and sort the results based on various criteria such as relevance, search volume, and competition.
Provides keyword insights:
It also shows the number of monthly searches for each keyword, the estimated cost-per-click (CPC), and the competition level.
Improves content strategy:
Using this tool, you can create a content strategy around the keywords that are most relevant to your target audience.
Pricing
Keyworddit is a free tool that does not require any payment or registration. All of its features are accessible to anyone who visits the website.
How to Use Keyworddit
- Visit the Keyworddit website and enter a subreddit name related to your industry or niche.
- Select a country or region to get more accurate search volume and CPC data.
- Click “Get Keywords” and wait for the tool to extract and analyze the most popular keywords from the subreddit.
- Filter and sort the results based on your preferences and select the keywords that best suit your content strategy.
