Keyword research is the most important part of any SEO strategy, and it’s something that you should never skip out on.
Keywords are the foundation of your content marketing efforts. They determine what people are searching for, and they help you understand what kind of content your audience is looking for. When you’re doing keyword research, you’re using tools to find out how people search for things on Google. Then, you can use that information to craft your content so that it’s more likely to rank high in search results.
There are many different tools available today for keyword research—some free and some paid—so it can be difficult to know which ones are best for your needs. In this article, we’ll take a look at some of our favorite tools for keyword research and show you how they work so that you can choose one that works best for you!
Seo Tools For Keyword Research
1. SEMrush
SEMrush is a complete SEO tool suite to carry out keyword research and improve your SEO rankings.
Using the Keyword Overview tool, you can type in a keyword and get a full picture of everything you need to know. This includes how many people search for the keyword (monthly search volume), whether it’s growing in popularity or becoming less popular (the Trend), and much more.
After scrolling down, you can also see a handy list of other similar keywords you might want to use, along with a list of organic search results, so you can find out where your competitors rank for the keyword. You can also check out Google Ads that use that keyword in PPC advertising (pay-per-click ads).
You can also type in any competitor’s website in the Domain Overview to see their organic search terms, keyword data, and other organic traffic metrics.
If you click on the Organic Research tab, you’ll be able to see relevant keywords, your competitor’s search engine ranking positions (serps), the traffic value (cpc), and more.
All the top marketers in the world rate SEMRush as the #1 keyword research tool. Their full suite of tools can help you with content marketing, digital marketing, social media, and more.
2. AnswerThePublic
AnswerThePublic works a bit differently from most other keyword research tools. They present keywords in a nice visual format although you can also see them in a list or download a .csv file of results.
If you’re just getting started with SEO and keyword research, then this is a great tool to try, because you don’t even need to create an account to use it. Just type in your keyword and take a look at what comes up.
The keyword results from AnswerThePublic are based on Google and Bing’s auto-suggest / autocomplete features. You can click on any of these keywords to search for it in Google, and it’ll open up in a new tab.
This will show what content is ranking for those terms and whether there’s a featured snip7777pet on it.
The free version of AnswerThePublic is a great resource for bloggers. However if you perform keyword search on a regular basis, then you’ll need their pro plan.
3. Ubersuggest
Ubersuggest is a free tool from Neil Patel that offers search volume data, keyword suggestions, an idea of how difficult your keyword will be to rank for (keyword difficulty), and more.
As well as seeing lots of suggestions for related keywords, you can view a table of the top 100 Google results for that keyword, with estimated visits, number of backlinks, a domain score, and a total number of social shares.
Under Content Ideas, it also shows content related to your keyword, listing estimated monthly visits, backlinks, and number of shares on Facebook and Pinterest.
If you sign into Ubersuggest with your Google account, then you’ll be able to get more keyword suggestions, daily rank tracking, and personalized SEO suggestions. UberSuggest also comes with a Chrome extension that can help you improve your workflow.
4. Ahrefs
Ahrefs is another popular keyword research tool that offers similar features to SEMrush. Using Ahrefs keyword explorer, you can come up with keyword ideas simply by typing a keyword into the search box. You’ll then see a whole list of keyword suggestions.
You can also use Ahrefs to see the keywords that your competitors are ranking for (but that you’re not), so you can create new content pieces targeting keywords related to those subjects.
Another nice competitive intelligence functionality that Ahrefs offer is the ability to see new keywords, and keyword movements in search queries.
Both SEMrush and Ahrefs offer a bunch of other useful tools too, like reports that find broken links on your site, ppc keywords for adwords, and more.
5. Google Keyword Planner
Google’s Keyword Planner is really designed for use by advertisers who want to run their ads on Google. However it’s still a useful tool for SEO, and unlike other paid tools, this is free to use.
To access it, you’ll need a Google Ads account. If you don’t already have one, then you’ll need to create one and enter your payment details, but you don’t need to run an active campaign or pay for anything.
Once you’ve got access to the Keyword Planner through your Google Ads account, you can type in any keyword and view data for (very approximately) how many monthly searches it has. You’ll also see a long list of related keywords ideas, which you scroll through or download.
6. Long Tail Pro
Like most premium keyword tools, Long Tail Pro shows an overview of data about your keyword, with a particular focus on how you rank against your competitors on the first page of Google.
You can use it to take a look at the top results in search engines for your keyword, so you can figure out where you rank against your competition.
You can also enter specific keywords that you want to track, so you can see how your content is ranking for those keywords changes over time.
7. Serpstat
Serpstat is another excellent keyword research tool.
With Serpstat, you can easily view the top Google results for your keyword. These results include the site that appears in the featured snippet (if any) as the first result, which is why the post from IsItWP is featured in both first and second place in the screenshot below.
You can also view lots of details about your competitors for that keyword, with an indication of how visible they are (the higher the number here, the more visitors they likely receive).
8. SpyFu
SpyFu is designed to let you learn from your competitors by digging into their most profitable keywords (and their ads too).
You can try it out for free, without even logging in. Just type the URL of the site you want to check into the search bar and you’ll see the results straight away. If you want to take a look at more than one site, then you’ll need to create a free account and log in.
SpyFu collects past data, so you can see how your own site or your competitor’s site has fallen or risen in the rankings for particular keywords. You can also compare your site against other sites in your industry. Here’s a look at Moz’s website versus some other sites on similar topics.
moz keyword explorer
Keyword research is the bedrock of SEO. With a research tool like Keyword Explorer you can figure out what keywords people are searching, what keywords you’re already ranking for, the demand for certain searches, and the strength of other sites competing for your target keywords.
Keyword Explorer is a time-saving keyword research tool that helps you find profitable keywords and organize your keywords into lists. Start by thinking about what your potential customers might search for. Enter these seed terms into Keyword Explorer tool to gather more suggestions, filter by metrics, and build lists to organize your keyword research.
What can I learn in this section of the Help Hub?
Within this section of the Help Hub, you can learn…
How to start your keyword research
How to see what keywords a site is already ranking for
How to find keyword suggestions
How to create a Keyword List
How to check a site’s rank for the keywords within a Keyword List
More about the metrics seen in Keyword Explorer and how to use them
How to add keywords to a Campaign from right within the tool
How to identify keyword cannibalization using Keyword Explorer
How to find your Difficulty benchmark
And so much more! You can use the left hand navigation to explore various articles related to Keyword Explorer or use the search bar to query a specific term. We’ve also outlined some common customer queries below to help you find the information you need!
Want to learn more about the Moz Tools?
If you’re looking to learn more about the tools, need a walkthrough of the platform, or have general questions about what you can do with Moz Pro, you can sign up for a free 1:1 session with our Onboarding Team! To get started, head to our walkthrough page to sign up.
Looking to expand your SEO knowledge?
Moz offers a wide variety of training courses via Moz Academy! The catalog includes courses touching on various SEO topics, from basic knowledge to how to perform keyword research and more. You can view the course catalog and get started on the Moz Academy page.
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