The 4 best free keyword research tools in 2024

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There's no shortage of tools purpose-built for keyword research (literally hundreds of them), and they run the gamut from beginner-focused to highly advanced. They also range from totally basic and unhelpful to super valuable.

When done right, the best keyword research tools simplify and streamline your workflow—they make it easier to find the right keywords to target and give you the data you need to actually rank for them. But they shouldn't require you to empty out your bank account and sell your first-born child in order to access that data.

After years of working with multiple clients who use all different tools for keyword research and SEO content optimization, I've seen the best (and the worst) of them—and I know how important it is to choose the right keyword planner tool. To help, I considered over 80 tools with a free option for keyword research. After in-depth testing, here are the four best free keyword research tools, including the all-around greats and apps built for more specific use cases.

The best free keyword research tools

What makes the best keyword research tool, how we evaluate and test apps.

The features that make for a great keyword research tool are pretty straightforward: you search for a given keyword, and the tool tells you about it. But there are so many different ways to use keyword data, so I wanted to find tools that could handle a variety of use cases, along with a few designed for some of the most popular uses for keyword research.

During testing, I looked primarily at the factors below to determine which apps made the initial list.

Keyword optimization guidance. You shouldn't have to be a 10-year SEO industry veteran to use keyword research tools—the best tools offer simple, straightforward suggestions to optimize for your keywords. There are tools (like Ahrefs, Semrush, and Moz) that do complete SEO analysis on your site, checking for everything from site speed and technical details to domain authority and topic clusters. That's not what we're looking for here. We're looking for tools that any business owner or marketer can use to quickly understand their target keyword and optimize their site to rank for it.

Free plan allowances and upgrades. Some tools include super limited results for free and call it a "free plan." Or they put time limits on the free plan, effectively making it more of a trial. I only included tools with evergreen free plans generous enough to actually be useful—and they won't break the bank when it's time to upgrade, either. One of my favorite tools from last year, Ahrefs, didn't make the cut this year because its keyword research tools are no longer free.

To find the best of the best, I put each tool that checked those boxes to the test by running through an in-depth protocol. Here's what my testing workflow looked like:

If needed, I created an account and went through any provided onboarding or guided tutorials (many of these free apps don't require account creation or provide any onboarding).

I checked which related keywords, metrics, and other data were offered. I also made note of the source, whether information was pulled from Google, included non-search engine websites (like social media or forums), or was drawn from the tool's own native data.

I verified allowances for the free plan—whether limited by time, number of results, metrics included, searches per day or month, or something else—and the cost to upgrade to a paid plan if needed.

Where available, I tested out additional keyword research tools like competitive gap analysis, content optimization features, and more.

After spending over a dozen hours with these apps this year, I landed on the four best keyword research tools—each with a manageable free version—below.

The best free keyword research tools at a glance

An all-around solution

Keyword prioritization metrics

10 queries per tool per month, with 1,000 keyword suggestions and 10 SERP analyses per query

Researching paid keywords

Forecasting features and budget planning

Completely free (but you get more out of it if you use Google Ads)

Advanced SEO professionals

Granular keyword data

10 Analytics reports per day, 10 tracked keywords

Basic, simple keyword research

Suggested content angles

Completely free

The best free keyword research tool overall

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Moz, our pick for the best keyword research tool overall

More approachable data presentation than many other tools

Straightforward prioritization metrics

Broad set of tools available for free

Less data than more robust tools

Free plan only includes 10 queries per tool per month

With the Keyword Explorer tool, you can search any keyword you choose and see its monthly volume, difficulty, and organic clickthrough rate (CTR). Scroll down from there to see an analysis of current results ranking for it and suggestions for similar keywords.

Metrics like straightforward keyword difficulty and minimum domain authority make it easy to prioritize the keywords you have the best chance to rank for—and avoid wasting your time on out-of-reach queries.

Plus, with the Keyword Gap feature (part of the Competitive Research tool), you can find all the keywords your competitors rank for that you don't.

The best free keyword research tool for paid keywords

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Google Keyword Planner, our pick for the best free keyword research tool for paid keywords

Google Keyword Planner pros:

Completely free forever, even if you don't use Google Ads

Helpful forecasting features for budgeting if you do use Google Ads

Can pull keyword suggestions from just your website

Google Keyword Planner cons:

Not helpful for organic keyword research

Google Keyword Planner includes two main features: one for exploratory keyword research and discovery and another for more in-depth research on search volume and forecasting.

The "Keyword ideas" feature is similar to many of the tools on this list: you search for a seed term, and it generates other keyword ideas, along with details on monthly search volume, change over time, competition, ad impression share, and bid ranges. You can refine your keyword list by brand or non-brand keywords, source website, and more. If you're also using Google Ads, the "Forecast" feature makes it easier to plan ahead for your paid ads and budget in advance.

Keyword Planner can inform your organic strategy, too, by showing you where ranking organically may help you save on PPC costs.

Google Keyword Planner pricing: Free

The best free keyword research tool for advanced SEO

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Semrush, our pick for the best free keyword research tool for advanced SEOs

Semrush pros:

Tons of granular keyword data

Wide range of specialized keyword research tools

Pretty generous free plan

Semrush cons:

Can be overwhelming for those less experienced with keyword research

Most expensive upgrade

If you're looking for something more advanced, Semrush shares a ton of keyword data and makes it easy to dig into the details, like SERP features (featured snippet, reviews, site links, image pack, and so on) and granular analysis of current results. Semrush offers a broad range of keyword research tools, too, from the standard traffic and search volume data to content-driven keyword research and competitive keyword gap analysis.

That range is what really sets Semrush apart, 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, which—when connected with your Google Analytics or Search Console account—can uncover those famously tricky "not provided" keywords.

As an added bonus, the SEO Content Template tool lets you automatically create a content brief and optimize content as you write by grading your content in real-time for readability, originality, tone of voice, and SEO: it uses a handy bullseye graphic to help you strike the right balance. Plus, the tool visually checks off SEO recommendations (like using your target and related keywords and adding relevant links and images) as you go.

All of this means that upgrading will cost you a pretty penny—but you can use it for free at low volumes to start.

Create new Asana tasks from SEMrush's new site audit campaign tasks

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The best simple and free keyword research tool

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Ryan Robinson's Free Keyword Research Tool, our pick for the best simple and free keyword research tool

Free Keyword Research Tool pros:

Simple, straightforward report

Unique suggested content angles

Free Keyword Research Tool cons:

Very basic data

No built-in way to save your research

If you're looking for a straightforward tool to give you basic data on keywords, Ryan Robinson's Free Keyword Research Tool is a super simple option.

The Explorer tab pulls up related queries for any keyword you search, along with ballpark search volume numbers and a keyword difficulty characterization from "low" to "very high." My favorite feature here is the suggested angles you can use to build content. Tab over to the Ideas tab (or click the lightbulb icon on any of the related keywords) to see suggested long-form versions of the keyword that can help inform your content angle.

That's… pretty much all there is here. You can't get a ton of data from this tool—and there's no upgrade option for when you're ready to financially invest in your search strategy. But if basic keyword research is all you really need, it's worth a look.

Free Keyword Research Tool pricing: 100% free

Can you use AI chatbots for keyword research?

The main benefit of going the AI route is simplicity. You can ask for straightforward, simplified results and get a simple, streamlined answer.

Here's Gemini, for example.

Gemini showing search volume, difficulty, and competitor articles

And here's ChatGPT.

ChatGPT showing monthly search volume, keyword difficulty, and competitor articles

ChatGPT was more upfront about the sources it used (in the screenshot above, for example, you could click on "Searched 7 sites" to see the specific websites the chatbot referenced). But it also offered search volume numbers—which seems impressive, if it weren't for the fact that I know it's making it up. ChatGPT isn't able to read real-time data (it'll even admit this itself if you ask). Gemini was more transparent: it told me it couldn't pull precise monthly search volume numbers (it's not even connected to Google Keyword Planner), and it only told me the type of content it expects to rank for that keyword—not the actual content that's currently ranking.

I'll admit, both ChatGPT and Gemini have improved a lot since last year, especially when it comes to more complex prompts. That said, the information they provided still falls short of the utility you get from a tool that's actually designed for keyword research. For now, at least.

If you're in a bind and need simplified, bottom line-style information on a keyword quickly, an AI chatbot may be of some help. But as of today, I wouldn't recommend using AI chatbot as your primary keyword research tool—especially given the number of truly helpful dedicated free keyword research tools you can use instead.

Of course, lots of dedicated SEO tools (though usually not the free ones), will have AI built in—that's the best of both worlds.

When should you upgrade from a free keyword research tool?

The short answer is: only when you need to. If you can get all the data you need without going over the allowances of one of the free plans above, there's no reason to upgrade to a paid plan (or switch to a fully paid tool).

With that said, here are a few signs it may be time to consider upgrading:

You're regularly hitting the monthly or daily search limits of your current solution.

You're missing out on features you can't get for free, like content optimization guidance or the ability to track your site's keywords and rankings over time.

You need additional SEO features that an upgraded all-in-one tool can provide (like technical SEO, site auditing, etc).

When the time comes, some of the tools on this list can grow right along with you. Moz Pro is a super robust tool, for example, as is Semrush. There are also a number of popular tools with affordable starting plans, including GetKeywords, KWFinder, and Topic Ranker.

Here are Zapier's lists of helpful SEO tools to get you started:

Related reading:

This article was originally published in June 2021. The most recent update was in May 2024.

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Kiera Abbamonte

Kiera’s a content writer who helps SaaS and eCommerce companies connect with customers and reach new audiences. Located in Boston, MA, she loves cinnamon coffee and a good baseball game. Catch up with her on Twitter @Kieraabbamonte.

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Find Great Long Tail Keywords With The Best Free SEO Tool

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What is Google Keyword Planner?

There are many ways to drive more traffic to your website, and using an SEO tool is one of them.

If you are looking to optimize your page or website and improve overall keyword rankings, you should use a reliable SEO tool for Google. Since the majority of searchers are done on Google - the largest search engine in the world - it is best to focus your effort on that platform.

By using an SEO tool for Google, you will be able to perform keyword research easier and more efficiently. You will find relevant and highly searched keywords to include in your page's meta tags and improve your website ranking for better SEO marketing.

research keyword tool

What are SEO Tools?

An SEO tool can be used for many things - keyword research, keyword analysis , improving website ranking, search engine marketing, and many more. Among all its function, the most important is its ability to generate relevant keywords.

Keywords are the most important part of SEO optimization and the first step towards improving a website's ranking to attract more traffic. In order to find the most relevant search terms - be it highly searched focus keywords or long tail keywords with high conversion rate potential - you will need a reliable SEO tool.

There are many product types of SEO tools - some are expensive, while others can be used for free like Keyword Tool. For additional functionality and more keyword data, there is also an option to purchase Keyword Tool Pro.

You may have come across SEO tools group buy offers. Try to avoid those services as they obtain accounts and login information from various SEO products in a questionable manner. It is also unreliable and often has limited usage.

SEO is hard work but it pays off well in the end. It is best to go with a reputable SEO brand to ensure you get the most out of the product and maximize the output for your work.

Improve Your Google SEO and Increase Website Ranking with Keyword Tool

An SEO tool for Google is, in essence, a keyword tool. It allows you to perform keyword research, which is the foundation of SEO, and the first step towards optimizing a page or website by using relevant keywords.

To do that, you can use a free SEO tool like Keyword Tool. A quick search can generate thousands of focus keywords and long tail keywords.

The paid version Keyword Tool Pro provides a lot of useful and valuable information, like search volume, trends, cost-per-click, and competition level. It is only by knowing these key data that you will be able to properly optimize your page or website to improve its SEO.

Keyword research can often be tedious and time-consuming, which is why having a good SEO tool like Keyword Tool can help you gain an advantage over your competitors. It is no surprise then that thousands of internet marketing professionals use Keyword Tool in their daily workflow.

research keyword tool

Find Long Tail Keywords with an SEO Tool

Will you get more traffic to your website when you use high-volume focus keywords? If done right, most likely you will. But what about long tail keywords?

Many people often overlook the power of using long tail keywords. They usually have much lower search volumes. Though when compared to shorter focus keywords, long tail keywords have far better conversion rates.

When you include long tail keywords in your content, it will draw searchers who already have an intention to purchase a product or sign up in an email list. Longer keywords are more specific, hence it accurately reflects the search intent of users.

It is for this reason that long tail keywords often receive better click through rates compared to shorter focus keywords. By using a good SEO tool for Google, you will be able to find and generate long tail keywords for your content.

They are best used for user acquisition, be it for an e-commerce website, email subscription list, affiliate website, or others.

How Keyword Tool Can Help Improve SEO and Search Engine Marketing

Some might confuse between search engine optimization (SEO) and search engine marketing (SEM) - SEO is the exercise of optimizing a page or website to attract organic traffic, while SEM involves paid search campaigns like Google Ads or Bing Ads .

Keyword Tool can be incredibly useful to find highly searched keywords to improve SEO. At the same time, it can also be used to source for relevant search terms to optimize your search ads .

When a Google Ads campaign uses keywords that are highly searched and relevant to the brand or business, it will attract more clicks on the search ads. That will then result in a higher click-through-rate (CTR). With a CTR, it increases the potential of conversions and thus lowers the cost-per-click (CPC) or the cost of customer acquisition.

At the same time, a good keyword tool will be able to show the CPC for the generated keywords. With that data, SEM professionals or Google Ads campaign managers will be able to find more cost-efficient keywords to use for their search ad campaigns.

Why Keyword Tool is the Best SEO Tool You Can Find

For most SEO professionals or marketers, focusing on optimizing SEO for Google is a crucial part of the job. At the same time, SEO can also prove to be valuable for small business owners, affiliate marketers, content creators or e-commerce entrepreneurs. It is by far the most cost-effective marketing channel for lead generation and user acquisition.

Keyword Tool is an ideal tool for keyword research for Google, but it also has powerful keyword and hashtag search features for YouTube, Amazon, Instagram, eBay, App Store, and Twitter. By pulling real-time data from the different platform's Autocomplete and Google search engine, Keyword Tool is able to generate thousands of keywords and hashtags within seconds.

Whether you are a content creator looking for YouTube tags or an Amazon FBA seller sourcing for keywords to optimize product listings, you can find them all on Keyword Tool.

Frequently Asked Questions

⭐ why do i need seo tools, ⭐ what are the essential tools for seo, ⭐ where to find free seo tools, ⭐ can i trust the data provided by seo tools.

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15 Free Keyword Research Tools For 2023

There are a variety of free keyword research tools you can use if you don't have the budget for a premium paid keyword tool

15 Free Keyword Research Tools For 2023

One of the biggest opportunities of search engine optimization (SEO) is performing keyword research and designing a content plan supported by the results of your research.

Keyword research helps you to:

  • Understand your target audience’s search intent .
  • Gather information about related topics and questions searchers often ask.
  • Monitor the current competitive landscape for your topic.

All of these things can affect your resulting content quality.

Keyword research is crucial in shaping your article’s structure and creating something that meets your customers’ needs.

But not all website owners do it. Many think it requires complicated or paid keyword research tools — but that’s not necessarily true.

To show you don’t need to commit to premium plans to get used to these tools, we’ve listed the 15 best free keyword research tools below.

1. GetKeywords

Best free keyword research tools: GetKeywords.

GetKeywords is one of the best free keyword research tools for local SEO .

It supports keyword metrics for over 100,000 locations with filters that narrow down search results to countries, provinces, and cities.

It also has metrics that are usually unavailable in free keyword tools and supports up to 45 languages.

On top of that, GetKeywords shares real-time data, unlike many other keyword tools that use stored data.

Key Features :

  • Real-time data analysis.
  • Shares your audience’s preferred devices and competitors’ traffic sources.
  • Provides global search.

Best Keyword Research Tool For : Local SEO.

Pricing : Free plan with unlimited searches. Premium plans for advanced features like SEO difficulty and competitor keywords start at $24/month when billed annually.

Best free keyword research tools: Sonar.

If you need a basic keyword tool for Amazon keyword research , Sonar comes highly recommended.

Sonar has a database of over 180 million keywords in multiple languages, updated in real-time.

Its reverse Amazon Standard Identification Number (ASIN) lookup lets you identify and track competitors’ keywords.

Enter the competitor’s ASIN, and Sonar gives you the list of keywords the product is ranking for.

However, that’s the extent of its features.

  • 180+ million keywords in multiple languages.
  • Reverse ASIN lookup.
  • No need to create a user account.

Best Keyword Research Tool For : Amazon sellers.

Pricing : Free.

3. QuestionDB

Best free keyword research tools: QuestionDB.

Need new blog topic ideas? QuestionDB is one of the best free keyword research tools for that.

When you enter a seed keyword, QuestionDB generates common questions people ask on popular platforms such as Reddit, Stack Exchange, and Quora.

You gain insights into how customers think, generating relevant keywords based on what people are searching for.

  • Gain insights into questions people commonly ask about a topic.
  • Generate relevant content ideas based on what people search for.
  • Multiple data sources (Reddit, Stack Exchange, Quora).

Best Keyword Research Tool For : Creating informative blog posts.

Pricing : Free with limited features. Premium plans start at $12.50/month when billed annually.

4. Ryan Robinson’s Keyword Tool

Best free keyword research tools: Ryan Robinson’s Keyword Tool.

New or smaller websites should target keywords with medium search volume and low keyword difficulty.

Though many free keyword research tools don’t highlight this data, Ryan Robinson’s free AI-powered keyword research tool does.

Ryan Robinson is a professional blogger and as head of content at CRM provider Close, Ryan is familiar with content marketing pain points.

  • Focuses on essential metrics: estimated search volume and suggested blog topics.
  • Accompanied by a useful tutorial explaining the importance of keyword research to show you how to best use the tool.
  • Get country-specific search data.

Best Keyword Research Tool For : Finding untapped phrases surrounding a keyword.

5. Keyword Tool Dominator

Best free keyword research tools: Keyword Tool Dominator.

If you’re a multichannel marketer or work in the ecommerce space, Keyword Tool Dominator is the tool for you.

It sources keywords from nine major retail databases (Amazon, Bing, eBay, Etsy, Google, Google Shopping, Home Depot, Walmart, and YouTube) for the best long-tail keywords .

However, the free plan limits you to two keyword searches daily and doesn’t offer keyword analysis.

  • Unlimited real-time keyword searches (premium plans only).
  • Unlimited keyword suggestions – including long-tail keywords.
  • Export reports.

Best Keyword Research Tool For : Multichannel marketers.

Pricing : Free with limited features. Lifetime unlimited access to tools starts at $49, a one-time payment for each tool. The bundle that includes 6 keyword tools starts at $99.

6. Google Autocomplete

Best free keyword research tools: Google Search data.

It depends on your level of awareness of the best free keyword research tools.

Google Search data may seem basic, but it offers a wealth of information you can use for keyword research, intent exploration, and content creation .

  • Autocomplete : Shares search suggestions that include various long-tail keyword phrases that are variations of your primary keyword.
  • People Also Ask : Shares questions that searchers ask related to your keyword. “People Also Ask” provides great opportunities for subheadings and featured snippets.
  • Related Searches : Displays searches that don’t necessarily involve the same exact words as the primary keyword you typed in but are semantically related. These searches represent related topics that may make sense to bring up in your article based on what users are interested in learning and suggestions for future related topics to write.

Screenshot of related searches section of search query “best free keyword research tools,” Google, February 2023.

  • Things To Know : Google has been testing a search engine results page (SERP) feature that displays and arranges information about a topic into different categories. Clicking on the category will show a featured snippet about the topic.

Screenshot of Google’s Things to know section for the search query “programmatic advertisement”, Google, February 2023.

Pricing: Free.

7. Keyword Tool

Best free keyword research tools: KeywordTool.io.

Keyword Tool is a great alternative to Google Keyword Planner as it focuses on sources other than Google.

It uses data from various search engines, ecommerce websites, and social media platforms, such as Bing, YouTube, Amazon, eBay, Instagram, and Pinterest, to generate long-tail keywords that aren’t visible on Google’s Keyword Planner.

Choose the website and country you want to view data from, and Keyword Tool will generate a list of suggestions and questions based on autocomplete data from those sources.

  • Generates up to 750+ long-tail keyword suggestions for every search term.
  • Multiple data source inputs.

Best Keyword Research Tool For : Multichannel keyword research.

Pricing : Free plan available. The premium version starts at $69/month when billed annually.

Best free keyword research tools: Glimpse.

Many SEOs use Google Trends to find new keywords they can rank for.

However, it’s only good for finding trends you’re already aware of – not predicting future trends.

Glimpse closes that gap by identifying upcoming search trends that are useful for people in the digital PR or ecommerce space.

Glimpse is a free Chrome extension with a limitation of 10 free credits a month.

  • Long-tail search data.
  • Set Google Trend alerts to alert you when a topic starts trending.
  • A database of thousands of trends. It checks for popular and high-growth topics from websites outside Google, including Pinterest, Amazon, TikTok, and YouTube, so you can find business ideas before they become mainstream.

Best Keyword Research Tool For : Finding keyword trends.

9. Keywords Everywhere

Best free keyword research tools: Keywords Everywhere.

Keywords Everywhere is a freemium browser add-on for Firefox and Chrome.

It gathers keyword suggestions from over 15 of the most popular keyword tools, such as AnswerThePublic, Google Search, and Ubersuggest.

From there, it displays related keywords, keyword trends, and terms your competitors are ranking for.

  • Collates data from popular keyword research tools like Ubersuggest, AnswerThePublic, Google Search, Google Analytics, Google Search Console, and Moz Open Site Explorer.
  • Displays YouTube and Google Trends from 2004 onwards.
  • Shares YouTube and Google traffic metrics (no volume data for the free version).
  • Find keywords your competitors rank for (no volume data for the free version).

Best Keyword Research Tool For : Keyword research within search.

Pricing : Free with limited features. The Premium version uses the pay-as-you-go model. You can buy 100,000 credits (one credit = research data for one keyword) for as low as $10.

10. AlsoAsked

Best free keyword research tools: AlsoAsked.

AlsoAsked is a freemium keyword research tool centered around Google’s “People Also Ask” (PAA) data.

When you enter a seed keyword, AlsoAsked suggests relationships between topics and illustrates them with a branching diagram that you can download as .CSV or .PNG files.

Screenshot of questions generated from the query “best free keyword research tools,” AlsoAsked, February 2023.

However, AnswerThePublic focuses specifically on autocomplete data.

  • Identify related keywords.
  • Visualize keyword relationships.
  • Export keyword data as .CSV or .PNG files.

Best Keyword Research Tool For : Content ideation and finding related questions people ask.

Pricing : Limited free trial available. Starts at $15/month.

11. Keyword Surfer

Best free keyword research tools: Keyword Surfer.

If you’re a digital marketer, Surfer’s free Chrome extension is one of the best free keyword research tools you can use.

Surfer’s free Chrome extension lets you see different keyword metrics without leaving the Google Search page. These metrics, which are tailored to each country, include the following:

  • Estimated monthly search volume.
  • Cost-per-click (CPC).
  • Number of times the keyword is used on the page.
  • Word count for competitors’ pages.
  • Related keywords and those keywords’ overlap score and search volume.

The features offered are very powerful for a free tool – it’s no wonder it’s so popular.

  • Dataset from 70 countries.
  • Monitor and keep keywords you don’t want to forget (using the Collections folder).
  • Export files using CSV.

Best Keyword Research Tool For : Finding overlapping keywords.

12. Keyworddit

Best free keyword research tools: Keyworddit.

Reddit is a goldmine for keyword ideas.

The website recognizes that and built Keyworddit – one of the best free keyword research tools to find keywords based on your target audience’s questions.

Keyworddit goes through subreddits (communities) representing your target audience’s characteristics.

With a specific niche in mind, run the subreddit names through Keyworddit. It will extract keywords that represent what engaged users frequently talk about.

Note that search volume is based on GrepWords (a keyword and SERP data platform), not Reddit search data.

  • Identify the most popular topics on Reddit.
  • Understand the specific topics that engage your audience.
  • Includes a “Context” link that opens a Google search of the subreddit and keyword to see how people are using it on Reddit.

Best Keyword Research Tool For : Brands that want to market on Reddit.

Best free keyword research tools: Jaaxy.

Jaaxy is one of the best free SEO keyword research tools for affiliate marketers.

Like other tools, it shows:

  • Related keywords.
  • The average number of monthly searches for each keyword.
  • Estimated traffic to your website if you rank on page one for that keyword.
  • The number of competing websites for that specific keyword.

What makes it different is that it shows affiliate programs you can join.

Jaaxy also has a keyword quality indicator, which tells you whether your keyword is great (green), normal (orange), or poor (red).

  • Lists relevant affiliate programs to join based on your search input (sourced from Commission Junction, LinkShare, Digital River, and ClickBank).
  • Track keywords and determine where they rank using the built-in SiteRank analysis tool.
  • Results are exportable in CSV format.

Best Keyword Research Tool For : Affiliate marketers.

Pricing : Free with limited features. The Premium version starts at $49/month.

14. TagCrowd

Best free keyword research tools: TagCrowd.

TagCrowd helps you visualize keyword frequency – or the number of times a keyword appears on a page – by creating word/text/tag clouds.

You can use it to determine a topic’s optimum keyword frequency or check which keywords competitors use in their content.

Note that you can get more detailed data with premium SEO tools like Semrush and Ahrefs Keywords Explorer .

  • Simple user interface.
  • Customized HTML clouds for embedding.
  • Multi-language support.
  • Upload a file.
  • Enter the webpage URL.
  • Paste page text.

Best Keyword Research Tool For : Visualizing keyword frequency.

Best free keyword research tools: Soovle.

Soovle functions as both a keyword generator and research tool, helping users find keywords across multiple popular websites such as YouTube, eBay, Amazon, and Wikipedia.

Users can toggle between different search engines to tailor their output.

  • Generates suggestions relevant to each platform.
  • Unlimited searches.
  • Idea generator.

Best Keyword Research Tool For : Finding keyword ideas on search engines besides Google.

Final Thoughts: 15 Best Free Keyword Research Tools For 2023

An effective SEO strategy begins with keyword research. It helps you:

  • Find the right keywords that align with your website’s objectives and intent.
  • Determine topics your searchers are interested in.
  • Gather information about competitors.

The best free keyword research tools on this list will make these tasks (and more) easier.

Did we miss any of the best free keyword research tools you think should be a part of this list?

Tweet your thoughts at @sejournal !

Featured Image: Paulo Bobita/Search Engine Journal

Maddy Osman is the author of “Writing for Humans and Robots: The New Rules of Content Style” (learn more: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B09X4NJ9H8). ...

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Free Keyword Research Tool: (AI-Powered) SEO Keyword Research & Ideas

Researching the best keyword ideas for your blog? This free keyword research tool will help you find blog ideas, identify low competition keywords, find monthly search volume, see the ranking difficulty, and much more! Simply type your keywords below to get started.

research keyword tool

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Rank Faster in Search Engines with this Free Keyword Tool (to Get More SEO Traffic)

Like it or not, if you want to start a blog and get traffic from search engines (like Google & Bing), you’ll need to research the right keywords to try and rank for. The best keyword ideas for most bloggers will have medium search volume and low keyword difficulty. That’s exactly why I wanted to build this free keyword research tool. To show you those keyword suggestions (with metrics) for free with just a quick keyword search.

Here’s why keyword research is important: If you start out by competing right away with entrenched websites who’ve been covering similar keywords for over a decade & working on their SEO, it’s highly unlikely your blog posts will outrank theirs. They’ve been doing it for much longer and likely have a lot of resources fueling their business.

How to Choose Which Keywords to Write About (Diagram) Full Size Blue

Of course, your blog content must not only be well-optimized for on-page SEO , but you’ll also have to invest time & effort into promoting your content in ways that’ll attract backlinks, build the authority and trustworthiness of your website in the eyes of search engines like Google . More on that later 😊

What is a Keyword Research Tool?

A keyword research tool is a tool that helps you identify the right topics & opportunities you should write about, by analyzing keywords for search engine optimization (SEO) purposes. It’s the backbone of a proper keyword research process .

This free keyword research tool functions by typing in a main keyword or phrase, then it generates a list of related keywords and their search volumes, competition levels and (soon) a rankability score. This data will help you identify the most effective keywords to use in your content & guide in optimizing your blog posts for search engines. Use the list of keywords to see how much estimated organic traffic you can expect to generate from relevant Google searches on the topics you plug into the tool.

Example of Using a Free Keyword Tool (Search Results with Monthly Search Volume and Difficulty Score)

The best keyword research tools will show you these kinds of metrics:

  • Estimated Monthly Search Volume : Estimated monthly search volume is a metric that shows the approximate number of times a keyword or phrase is searched for on a search engine per month. This is useful for identifying the popularity and potential traffic of a keyword and determining its competitiveness.
  • Keyword Difficulty : How difficult will it be to rank on the first page of Google search results for this keyword? This is useful for identifying the feasibility and potential success of ranking for a keyword in search engine results.
  • CPC (Cost-Per-Click) : Cost per click is a pricing model used in online advertising like Google AdSense, where the advertiser pays each time a searcher clicks on an ad (called PPC from the advertiser’s perspective). This pricing model is used on Google’s search engine results pages and the CPC for a particular ad is determined by factors like the keywords, targeting, & competition. Advertisers can use CPC data to determine the potential cost and return on investment of their ads over time.
  • Country-Specific Results: Search volume and difficulty for just about every keyword phrase will vary by country (where the searcher is located). By default, all results from a search with this keyword tool will show US (United States) monthly search volume and keyword difficulty. However, there’s a dropdown menu near the search bar, where you can select to see country-level data for any nation in the world, to help with your local SEO strategy.

The free keyword research tool we’ve built is designed to not only show you exactly how much estimated monthly search volume there is for a particular keyword, keyword phrase or topic—but to also show you how difficult it’ll be to rank on the first search engine results page (SERP) for that keyword. You can see these data points for any country in the world. After feedback from my readers, we decided to hide the CPC metrics that show you cost-per-click to run Google ads and be competitive in top placements for these keywords—mostly because bloggers don’t really care about CPC.

How to Optimize Your Blog Posts for Google Search (SEO) with this Keyword Planner

Now that we’ve covered the basics of keyword research & what this keyword planner tool can help you accomplish, let’s dive into the exact strategies that’ll help optimize your blog content to rank for new keywords & rank higher in organic search queries today.

1. Do Keyword Research to Be Sure You’re Pursuing the Best Keywords

The best keywords to pursue for your blog (especially if you’re relatively early on in your blogging journey), are going to be as close to the intersection of medium to high search volume and low keyword difficulty .

The Best Keywords to Rank for SEO Traffic (Keyword Tool Example Diagram Overlap)

As a professional blogger of more than a decade, I’ll be the first to tell you that finding the right keywords that fit in that often narrow gap of medium search volume and low competition, can be a bit of a challenge. This means that many of the best keywords you’ll pursue are going to be what’s considered long-tail keywords.

Long-tail keywords are great, because there are almost always a significantly lower number of search results on a particular SERP (Search Engine Results Page). If you’ve done your homework and have a blog strategy —or content strategy—that you’re executing on to grow your content marketing ROI, then keyword data is going to be incredibly important for you to keep an eye on.

2. Look for Medium Search Volume & Low-Competition Keyword Ideas

The real usefulness of a keyword tool, is in showing you the right keyword phrases to target for your blog content. Sure, it makes sense to pursue the most popular blog post ideas millions (even billions) of people search for answers about, but unless your blog is very well-established & highly authoritative, it’s going to take years of dedicated effort promoting that content in order to see the organic search traffic you’re hoping for.

Very High Competition Keyword Phrases (Difficulty Level Very High) Keyword Tool Example Optimized

My blogging philosophy is all about balance. Yes, plant those seeds for longer-term traffic growth on extremely competitive phrases in your blog’s niche , but don’t have the expectation that they’ll rank high in Google search in the short-term.

Focus most of your time on pursuing keyword phrases at the intersection of medium search volume and low competition wherever possible. That’s the sweet spot for actually getting traffic quickly. Because if you want to build momentum (and motivation), you need real people visiting your blog soon. You won’t ever get to a place of being able to compete with entrenched websites who’ve been in your niche for 10+ years, until you lay the foundation for early traffic growth with realistic keywords you can rank for soon.

Here are the traffic ranges we (usually) use to define low, medium, high and very high search volume with my free keyword tool:

  • Low Search Volume: 0 to 1,000 monthly searches
  • Medium Search Volume: 1,000 to 5,000 monthly searches
  • High Search Volume: 5,000 to 10,000 monthly searches
  • Very High Search Volume: 10,000+ monthly searches

Understand where your blog is at in the grand scheme of its development—if you’re relatively new or in the middle of your journey, the majority of your organic search traffic will come from these low & medium search volume keywords. Invest in your blog’s future with more competitive (higher volume) keywords, but know that it’ll take months—or in most cases, years, to start ranking for High & Very High competition keyword phrases.

3. Evaluate the Metrics to Find Relevant Keywords

When you type in a search term with this free keyword tool, you’ll immediately see dozens of related keywords and recommendations for other keywords you should consider writing about.

Example of Keyword Research Using ryrob Keyword Tool (Sales CRM)

The best keyword research tool is more than just another part of your free SEO tool stack . It’s the foundation of making sure you’re blogging about the right keyword ideas in the first place. Taking the example above of a search for “Sales CRM,” an extremely competitive keyword phrase, you’re instantly shown dozens of options for related keyword phrases—many of which are less competitive than just these top results.

Search Volume: Number of Monthly Google Searches for a Keyword

As we touched on above, the Search Volume metric in this free keyword tool displays the number of estimated monthly searches on Google for the corresponding keyword phrase. It’s your proxy for how popular a given keyword phrase is (or not).

Keyword Difficulty: How Hard it Will Be to Rank for this Keyword

Keyword Difficulty gives you an estimate of how challenging it’ll be to rank for the corresponding keyword phrase. With this free keyword research tool, you’ll be presented keywords with these difficulty scores:

  • Low : Most blogs (even relatively new sites) should be able to quickly compete on this keyword phrase
  • Medium : Well-established blogs will compete quickly on these keywords, but newer blogs will need to put a meaningful amount of effort into promoting their content & naturally building backlinks with strategies like guest blogging & writing for publications to increase your organic search rankings.
  • High : This should be your stretch goal level of difficulty to aim at ranking for within the next 6 to 12 months if you’re investing a lot of time and effort into growing your blog . It’ll be a challenge to rank for these terms, no doubt. But if you’re consistently promoting your blog content for months, you can expect to see some movement and first page of organic Google search result rankings on high difficulty terms, depending upon your how authoritative your blog is in the eyes of search engines.
  • Very High : There’s no way around it, you’ll be competing with extremely well-established websites & businesses that have a vested interest in defending their search rankings for these keywords. Often, you’ll be going up against companies that generate millions (or billions) in annual revenue. It’s not impossible to rank for very high difficulty keyword phrases—my blog ranks for many of them—but it’ll take A LOT of time, effort and high quality backlinks from very high authority websites in order to get there. Think years of investing time, effort and resources.

In most cases, the difficulty level can be boiled down to how many backlinks your blog post can attract from other authoritative blogs, website & publications. One of the primary ways Google’s search algorithm determines which content pieces should rank at the top of search results, is authority . And authority is largely defined by the number and quality of links your content has from other authoritative (trustworthy) websites.

Country: How Does Your Local SEO Competition Stack Up?

We built this keyword research tool to showcase country-specific monthly search volume & keyword difficulty, because not everyone is based in the United States—or targeting readers based in the country.

Country Selection Dropdown Option for Country-Specific Keyword Tool (Monthly Search Volume)

For that (obvious) reason, there’s a handy dropdown menu near the search bar that allows you to select & filter your keyword data for any country in the world. By default, our keyword tool shows search data for the United States (US), but you’re always just one click away from seeing results for search activity in any other nation.

Bonus: Use My Free SEO Checklist Alongside this Keyword Planner Tool

Once you’ve used my keyword research tool to decide what to cover for your blog, you’ll need to actually to write the blog post . Then, it’s time to optimize your articles for maximum organic search ranking ability (also known as search engine optimization, or blog SEO ).

Here’s my step-by-step SEO checklist to use before hitting publish on a new blog post:

  • Be sure to install and use the Yoast plugin for WordPress
  • Double check you’re writing about a useful keyword phrase for your readers
  • Optimize your headers to encourage rich snippets and quicker indexing
  • Make sure you only have an H1 header once (your post title at the top)
  • Follow proper header hierarchy (H2 sub-header sections with H3 subtopics within)
  • Use your primary keyword phrase naturally in-text (keyword density)
  • Include a healthy mix of internal and external links (at least 3-5 external links)
  • Write an enticing, keyword-rich meta description that’ll attract readers
  • Use image alt descriptions to your advantage (with keyword rich descriptions)
  • Decide on an appropriate length for your blog post (usually at least 1,500+ words)
  • Write an SEO (meta) title that’s designed to rank (use my blog title generator tool )
  • Place your keywords in the slug / URL / permalink (see my permalinks guide )

Incorporating these foundational SEO best practices into your writing process will help immensely when it comes to optimizing your content & ranking high in Google search over time. And the more you apply these strategies to long-tail keywords, the quicker you’ll see more traffic from relevant keywords in your niche.

The Features of This Free Keyword Tool for Bloggers

We’ve explored a lot already, but let’s quickly touch on the features of my free keyword tool.

Keyword Explorer (Estimated Search Volume)

The purpose of the Explorer tab of this free keyword research tool (the default tab you’ll land on) is to show you the two most important SEO metrics when deciding which keywords to pursue in your blog content strategy :

  • Monthly Search Volume
  • Keyword Difficulty

With these two metrics, you can make an informed decision about which keyword phrases to pursue for your blog. As we’ve covered, I always recommend a strategy of focusing primarily on medium search volume and low competition keywords—with a smaller proportion of more competitive terms that offer longer-term traffic value as your blog grows & becomes more authoritative.

Keyword Ideas (Suggested Blog Topics & Ideas)

Rather than just typing in popular keywords and hoping to compete against a sea of well-established sites, we built this keyword generator to show you less competitive keywords to write about—while still giving you the opportunity to generate meaningful organic traffic.

Keyword Ideas Tab (Screenshot of Free Keyword Research Tool) Business Ideas Search

In the future, we’re hoping to add features like autocomplete keyword suggestions, incorporate YouTube keywords & Amazon keywords, csv keyword list download functionality, provide click-through rate (CTR) estimates for top-ranking content & a way to show you a rankability score that quantifies how likely your site will be to rank for each particular keyword phrase. I recommend you always double check this data with Google Search Console once your blog content starts to rank & get traffic, to make sure you’re optimizing for the right search terms.

Keyword Tool FAQs & SEO Tips

Here are just a few of the most frequently asked questions I get from readers (on social media, in my blogging courses and in the comments across my blog) when it comes to doing keyword research , using this keyword tool & how to optimize content for organic search.

Is this a Good Answer the Public Alternative Keyword Tool?

Yes, absolutely. We built this free keyword tool, in part, to be a great alternative to Answer the Public—a longtime free keyword research tool that recently changed ownership and now limits searches dramatically. This Answer the Public alternative has no search limits and provides you with not only valuable insights like monthly search volume & a difficulty score, but we take it a step further by offering you dozens of free blog topic ideas for inspiration on how to best approach a particular keyword (just click on the light bulb icon next to your keyword of choice).

While this keyword research tool is designed to be great for beginners to get actionable insights & ideas, it shouldn’t be directly compared to in-depth (paid) SEO tools like the Ahrefs Keyword Explorer, Moz Keyword Explorer and SEMRush. There will also always be a robust free version of this tool—which almost no company offers. We don’t (yet) have a Google Chrome extension either, but that’s a feature request we’re considering, to help make sure this stays one of the best free keyword research tools.

How do I Interpret the Keyword Metrics in this Tool?

The Monthly Search Volume metric gives you an estimate of how many people search this exact seed keyword phrase in Google search each month. While the estimates aren’t perfect for all specific keywords, this free keyword tool uses a technology (API) that connects to a Google search insights product. The Difficulty rating functions on a scale from Low to Medium, High and Very High, which denotes just how challenging it’ll be for your blog to rank on the first page of organic Google search results for the particular keyword phrase.

Why do the Best Free Keyword Research Tools Have So Many Limits?

The short answer is that these keyword tools cost money to operate. My free keyword generator is 100% free without restrictions or limits to readers of my blog today, because it isn’t yet being used by millions of people every day.

There may come a day in the future when this free keyword research tool is so popular that I’ll need to either charge for usage beyond a certain number of keywords searched each day—or offer paid plans with additional features to help make this tool more valuable to a wider audience. Costs for running this tool include things like the API for the database & software that analyzes Google’s billions of search queries, then synthesizes all that data into actionable insights you can hit the ground running with.

Google Keyword Planner is another 100% free to use keyword research tool worth considering, and you don’t have to spend any budget in Google AdWords campaigns in order access it either. You just need a Google account—like with Google Analytics and Google Search Console.

How is this Free Keyword Research Tool Different than Google Keyword Planner?

I’m a little biased, but I’d like to think this keyword tool we’ve built, presents digestible information to you in a way that strips out unnecessary metrics (that very few people care about and aren’t necessary to creating top-ranking blog content). Google Trends is another Google product that can present directionally useful data to fuel your keyword research, but I like to think our tool packages that information in a more actionable format.

We’ve also connected the keyword research process to a blog idea generation feature with the “Ideas” tab of this tool, so that you can quickly click on a keyword phrase that looks interesting, and get hundreds of ideas & ways to write about that particular topic. I wanted to build this tool to function the way I think about keyword research—remove the b.s. and focus on what matters most: creating useful content for your (future) audience.

Does this Keyword Tool Take Search Trends into Account?

Yes, we’ve built this free keyword tool to use an API that tracks up-to-date data on how many searches are being done for a particular keyword phrase at a given time.

So if you search for “board games for kids” today and see that it has 1,300 in estimated monthly search volume, you could come back during the holiday season and see that this search query all of a sudden has 20,000+ monthly searches happening because the Christmas season is right around the corner. Consider the searches you do here as up-to-date.

If your blog is already established and you’ve been seeing traffic & results from your digital marketing efforts, be sure to double check the keyword data here and compare it with what you’re seeing in your Google Search Console dashboard. Estimates here can vary from real world results.

Should I Look at United States (US) Keyword Data or Focus on My Country?

There’s no definitive answer on this one—it’s a personal choice based on your overall blog strategy . If you want to attract the (most often) largest possible audience on broadly understood topics, then use this keyword research tool on its default settings, which will show you search data for the United States.

If on the other hand, you’re pursuing a strategy that involves speaking to a more country-specific or localized audience of readers, then you should definitely filter the search data to see results for your own country. For example, if you’re hoping to attract a local audience that’s interested in fun things to do in your area—without concern for tourism—then filtering down to your country-level search data will give you the most accurate picture of which topics are most searched by the people around you.

Can I Use this Tool for Youtube Keyword Research?

Right now, the data this keyword tool uses is based on Google search results. We’re working on adding a tab that offers a YouTube-specific data set to factor into your video keyword research, so stay tuned soon.

Can I Use this Tool for Amazon Keyword Research?

Right now, the data this free keyword tool uses is based on Google search results. We’re working on adding a tab that offers an Amazon-specific data set to factor into your eCommerce-focused keyword research, so stay tuned soon.

Why I’m so glad you asked! In addition to the free blog title generator, we’ve also put together several more free AI tools —specifically AI writing tools —here on my blog (based on their full, unlimited versions inside RightBlogger ), including an AI article writer , AI paragraph rewriter , domain name generator and many more coming soon.

Tool built by the incredibly talented @Sup .

IMAGES

  1. 10 Useful Keyword Research Tools You Need To Know

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  2. 10+ Best Keyword Research Tools in 2023 (Including Free Options)

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  3. Free Keyword Research Tool from Seobility

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  4. 15 BEST Keyword Research Tools for SEO [2022 Reviews] (2023)

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  5. The 9 Best Free Keyword Research Tools

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  6. 6 Best Keyword Research Tools for SEO

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VIDEO

  1. How to Do Keyword Research for SEO: The Ultimate Guide

  2. Industry Evolution Embracing Change

  3. आओ हम आप को दिखाते है नया जगह #blog #youtube #video #viral blog #Nahid Nisha

  4. The Future of Work Navigating Generational Differences in the Workplace

  5. Top Keywords at Your Fingertips: Discover the Writesonic Keyword Research Tool

  6. Best Keyword Research Tool Keysearch

COMMENTS

  1. Keyword Tool ⚠️ Google Keyword Planner【Search FREE】

    Keyword Tool is a free online tool that generates long-tail keywords from Google autocomplete suggestions. You can use it for content creation, SEO, PPC and other marketing activities in 192 Google domains and 83 languages.

  2. Ubersuggest: Free Keyword Research Tool

    Ubersuggest: Free Keyword Research Tool

  3. Free Keyword Generator Tool: Find 100+ Keyword Ideas in Seconds

    Free Keyword Generator Tool: Find 100+ Keyword Ideas in ...

  4. Find Your Campaign Keywords with Keyword Planner

    Use Keyword Planner to search for relevant keywords, estimate their performance, and create your campaign. Learn how to get started, create a keyword plan, and explore more tools and campaigns.

  5. Free Keyword Research Tool

    Free Keyword Research Tool

  6. Free Keyword Research Tool by Backlinko

    Free Keyword Research Tool by Backlinko

  7. 17 BEST Keyword Research Tools for SEO [2024 Reviews]

    17 BEST Keyword Research Tools for SEO [2024 Reviews]

  8. The 4 best free keyword research tools in 2024

    The best free keyword research tools at a glance. Best for. Standout feature. Free plan. Moz Keyword Explorer. An all-around solution. Keyword prioritization metrics. 10 queries per tool per month, with 1,000 keyword suggestions and 10 SERP analyses per query. Google Keyword Planner.

  9. Free Keyword Tool

    Free Keyword Tool | WordStream

  10. The 10 Best Free Keyword Research Tools in 2024

    The 10 Best Free Keyword Research Tools in 2024

  11. Keywords Explorer

    Keywords Explorer

  12. SEO Keyword Research Tool #1 ⚠️【100% FREE】

    Find Great Long Tail Keywords With The Best Free SEO Tool

  13. 16 Best Keyword Research Tools For SEO

    Another tool from the biggest name in search, Google Trends is a free-to-use keyword research tool that lets you search by specific words and phrases, or related queries. Screenshot from Google ...

  14. Keyword Research for SEO: The Definitive Guide + Template

    Keyword Research for SEO: The Definitive Guide + Template

  15. Free Keyword Research Tool from Wordtracker

    Free Keyword Research Tool from Wordtracker

  16. 15 Free Keyword Research Tools For 2023

    Best Keyword Research Tool For: Finding keyword ideas on search engines besides Google. Pricing: Free. Final Thoughts: 15 Best Free Keyword Research Tools For 2023.

  17. Find Your Campaign Keywords with Keyword Planner

    Our keyword research tool gives you insight into how often people search for certain terms - and how those searches have changed over time. Keyword Planner will give you suggested bid estimates for each keyword to help you determine your advertising budget. Once you've found the keywords that you like, you can add them to your advertising plan.

  18. Free Keyword Research Tool (AI-Powered) SEO Keyword Ideas

    Free Keyword Research Tool (AI-Powered) SEO ...

  19. Free keyword research tool

    Free keyword research tool - Find longtail and related keywords

  20. Keyword Research: The Beginner's Guide by Ahrefs

    How to Do Keyword Research for SEO

  21. Does generative AI save time, money and resources in SEO?

    Keyword research has traditionally required SEOs to: ... AI tools like Keyword Insights have revolutionized this process by automating keyword clustering and prioritization while delivering ...