The 12 Most Effective Keyword Research Tools for Online Success

Want to get more visitors to your website or online store? Of course, you do! But it takes more than just having great products at great prices. You need to make sure customers can actually find you online.

The best way to get found is to rank higher in search engines like Google and Bing. The top search results are either paid ads or organic results. Organic results are free and based on having relevant content that matches what users are searching for.

So, what are people searching for that relates to your business? That's where keyword research comes in! Finding the right keywords that potential customers use lets you optimize your site content accordingly. This helps search engines understand your relevance for those terms.

In this post, we'll look at 12 excellent keyword research tools to help boost your search visibility. With the right keywords, you can drive more organic traffic to your site and grow your online presence. These tools make it easy to find and analyze keyword opportunities so you can start improving your SEO today!

What are keyword research tools?

Keyword research tools boost your search engine rankings and drive more traffic to your website or online store. But what exactly do they do?

These tools analyze the search queries people enter into Google, Bing, Amazon, and other search engines. They provide lists of the most popular “keywords” or phrases being searched for.

The tools also give you critical data like monthly search volume – how often each keyword is searched for. This allows you to see which terms people use most when looking for things related to your business.

With this keyword data, you can optimize your site content accordingly. For example, you can incorporate relevant keyword phrases into your page titles, product descriptions, blog posts, etc.

This boosts the chances that your pages will rank higher in search results for those terms. Ranking on the first page, especially in the top 3, is critical for driving organic traffic from search engines.

The 6 best free keyword research tools

1. Google Keyword Planner
2. Google Search Console
3. Keyword Surfer
4. Question DB
5. Moz
6. AnswerThePublic

Keyword research tools come in both free and paid versions. For those on a limited marketing budget, free tools can be a great way to get started with keyword research and SEO.

When starting out with keyword research, free tools can provide valuable data without the cost of paid platforms. Here are some top free options:

• Google Keyword Planner – Comes with a free Google Ads account. Shows monthly searches, trends, and phrase match data for keywords.
• Google Search Console – Provides insight on terms your site already ranks for and backlinks.
• Keyword Surfer – Chrome extension showing search volume, CPC data, and content outlines for keywords.
• Question DB – Focuses on user questions from Reddit, Quora and more. Free version has 50 results per search.
• Moz – User-friendly reports on keyword difficulty, volumes, CTRs. 10 free queries per month.
• AnswerThePublic – Draws autocomplete data from search engines. 3 free queries daily after registering.

The free versions of these tools can give you a solid starting point for researching and targeting relevant keywords.

The 6 best paid keyword research tools

1. Semrush
2. Long Tail Pro
3. Ahrefs
4. Surfer SEO
5. SEO Powersuite
6. Serpstat

For those with more extensive SEO budgets, paid keyword research tools unlock powerful functionality and data. Here are some top options to consider:

• Semrush – Robust keyword database with detailed volume, CPC, and competition data. Other SEO and content tools included.
• Ahrefs – Provides keyword difficulties, search volumes, CPCs, and other metrics. Also offers backlink analysis.
• Ubersuggest – Neil Patel's platform rapidly generates keyword ideas including long-tail variants. Free and paid plans.
• Keyword Tool – Graphical keyword data and search trend history. Integrates with other Moz tools.
• SERPstat – Tracks keyword rankings over time. Competitor monitoring and rank tracking features.
• SpyFu – Shows competitor keywords and analyzes their PPC and SEO strategies. Free and paid tiers.

The expanded features and data of paid tools can take your keyword targeting and SEO efforts to the next level.

In summary, keyword research tools help you discover the terms and phrases people search for, so you can tailor your content for search engines and attract more visitors. They are an invaluable resource for executing search engine optimization (SEO) strategies.