Fahim Ahmed
If you are new to SEO or blogging sometimes you might find it a bit overwhelming. With all the latest SEO tools and ever-changing Google algorithm and ranking factors, it can get very confusing even for SEO pros.
Back in the 2000s, you could easily rank for terms that are nearly impossible to rank today. People had no idea what SEO was and yet they were ranking on Google and other search engines. But with time things have changed for good.
Now, you might have to wait for 3 months before you get any organic traffic to your blog. It is not just your content that has to be good but your overall website optimization strategy for search engines has to be spot on if you want to drive traffic to your website and rank on Google.
Having said that, SEO is a lot more complicated than you might think. “Optimizing your website” doesn’t just mean improving your web page speed and compressing your image. It also refers to optimizing your content with winning keywords that have the potential to drive thousands of traffic to your site.
While other components of SEO might be a little complicated, doing keyword research is the easiest. You don’t have to be an SEO guru to do keyword research. All you need is a good keyword research tool and a good understanding of these tools.
If you are new to SEO or blogging my suggestion would be to invest in free keyword research tools. Don’t worry I’m not asking you to empty your pockets and spend all your fortune on keyword research. I’m asking you to invest your time in free keyword research tools and explore all the metrics and functions.
Why Do You Need Keyword Research Tools?
Thousands of content in your niche are published every day and most content creators in your niche are probably trying to rank for the keywords you are targeting. But Google can only show a few search results on the first page and there is no point in ranking on the second page of Google.
There is a very interesting saying in the SEO community…
The best place to hide a dead body is page two of Google
So how do you make space for yourself on the first page of Google search results?
Well, the easiest way to outperform your competitor is by sneaking into your competitor’s SEO strategy and finding out the things they are doing right and wrong. You can use it to your advantage and improve in areas that your competitors are ignoring. The competition in any niche is fierce right now and frankly, it’s hard to start from scratch. But if you are persistent and focus on quality over quantity it won’t be difficult for you to drive traffic to your website.
Keyword research tools have become an indispensable part of SEO. It makes your life easier and helps you in moments when you feel like pulling your hair out because you don’t have any topics to write about.
Keyword research is not just about finding a “relevant keyword”. Keyword research is more about finding search phrases and words that people use when they are looking for a product or service or just need to find an answer to a question. It is about understanding your audience and curating content that your audience wants. Keyword research tools are critical in any marketing campaign.
If you want to compete and perform in your niche there is no alternative to keyword research tools.
Can Free Keyword Research Tools Be Effective?
If you’re worried about the effectiveness of free keyword research tools, you are not the only one. Free keyword research tools might not perform the way paid SEO tools does and might not offer you enough data, but it is better than having nothing at all. And some free keyword research tools are really amazing to work with.
If you are just starting out and not making any money from your blog or online business you should probably stick with free keyword research tools. Premium SEO tools are a bit complicated for newbies. It can be overwhelming because of all the data that you can get from paid keyword research tools.
Once you get a hold of it and understand all the metrics that you need for SEO, you can start to play with more sophisticated SEO tools. Some SEO experts might differ with this and would probably suggest you spend some money on SEO tools. But I don’t think it is necessary because your primary intent is to find keywords and search forecasts.
Data You Can Get Using Free Keyword Research Tools
Free Keyword research tools won’t barge you lots of data and metrics and some of them are really unnecessary for your SEO campaign. Some might consider it a perk and for some, it is a drawback. But even with the limited data and keyword suggestions you can improve and outperform your competitors. You just have to know the proper implementation and how to use these free data to your advantage.
Here are some of the metrics that you might get from most free keyword research tools:
- Audience research
- Click-through rate (CTR)
- Keyword performance
- Relevant searches
- Keyword opportunity
- Competitor’s keywords
- Keyword volume for specific keywords
- Cost Per Click (CPC)
- Search Forcast
- Keyword trends
The amount of data that you get from free keyword research tools should be enough to get thousands of organic traffic.
11 Free Keyword Research Tools To Help Your SEO
There are a lot of free keyword research tools out there that can help you with the list of data that we have mentioned above. But few of these tools are quite accurate and easy to use. You can extract valuable information using these free keyword research tools and implement it on your website to improve your site’s SEO and rank better. If you’re a content creator or a digital marketer, these metrics and data are what you need to grow your business and attract potential clients.
Here we have listed 11 of our favorite free keyword research tools that can get you started. Have a look and don’t be shy to use some of them.
- Google Keyword Planner
- SEMrush
- Google Trends
- Answer The Public
- QuestionDB
- Keyword Tool Dominator
- SEO Review Tools
- Google AutoComplete
- Soovle
- YouTube AutoComplete
- Also Asked
Google Keyword Planner
We have a whole article dedicated to Google keyword planner. It is undeniably one of the best free keyword research tools for SEO. Google keyword planner can help you understand your audience and create a more actionable marketing campaign or SEO strategy.
This tool was created for advertisers to help them choose the perfect keyword to promote their product to a targeted audience. But it is mostly used by SEOs and content creators.
You can use google keyword planner to increase your traffic and conversion rate. Furthermore, using the right keywords can also help you decrease the bounce rate of your website.
Google keyword planner can help you find
- Exact search volume data of each keyword
- Location-based keyword search volume
- Bidding competition of keywords
- Competitiveness of keywords
- How much are advertisers willing to pay for a specific keyword
- Related keywords that you can use in your content
SEMrush
The Semrush Keyword Magic Tool is another great tool for keyword research. If you want a simple interface with all the important data you should probably try it out. You can use the free version of this keyword research tool. Even though it restricts free users to do 10 queries per day, it is probably enough if you know what to look for.
You can enter your target keyword and find broad match keywords, phrase match, exact match, related, and questions about the keywords.
Google Trends
Google trend is another easy way to look for keywords and topics and explore how they are performing in real-time. You can get raw data from Google and understand how and when each keyword is performing in a different region. You can get a keyword forecast using Google trends and understand how they perform each month. Furthermore, you can see which keywords are trending in a region and find search volume for these keywords.
The information that you get from the Google trend is useful since it will help you avoid following a trend that has already passed and will show you what Google users care about right now.
You can also use this tool to compare between keywords and see how they are performing and people’s interest in these keywords over time.
Answer The Public
Long-tail keywords are easy to rank when compared to other keywords. Mostly because searchers use precise queries to look for certain things.
If you are looking for long-tail keywords Answer The Public is probably the best keyword research tool for you.
Using the free version of this tool you can explore questions, prepositions, comparisons, alphabetical and relevant keyword searches. All you have to do is enter a particular root keyword and find search queries containing who, what, why, where, how, which, when, are, and is.
QuestionDB
Reddit has a huge active user base that uses the site for conversations, newsgathering, and online content rating on a regular basis. Users on Reddit can submit links, documents, pictures, and videos, which are then upvoted or downvoted by other users. It’s a very interesting site where people spend a lot of time.
QuestionDB is based on Reddit users’ questions and inquiries, which are sorted by keyword and then by category.
Keyword Tool Dominator
This is another interesting keyword research tool that is used by many SEOs and digital marketers. You can see keyword data from multiple search engines like Amazon, eBay, Etsy, Walmart, Google, Google Shopping, YouTube, and Bing. If you have an e-commerce business this keyword research tool can be very helpful for understanding your audience and what they want.
However, there is a drawback to using this keyword tool. Every day, you are limited to three free searches. You may use this tool to see what items people are looking for the most in terms of trends.
SEO Review Tools
If you want the elements and data of paid SEO tools without paying for them, the SEO review tool is the one you must try. You can get access to all the SEO tools for free and explore real-time data and keyword stats. This is genuinely a great tool for SEO consultants, copywriters, webmasters, and online marketers.
There is a total of 58 SEO tools and each of them is very useful for content writing and SEO. If you want all your SEO tools in one place this is website is for you. I know a lot of SEO experts who are using these tools and getting amazing results from them.
Google AutoComplete
If you are having a brain freeze and can’t think of topics to write about Google autocomplete can help you find new ideas. Google autocomplete is one of the simplest methods to uncover keywords and phrases to write about. It’s a feature of the Google search engine that makes it easier for consumers to locate the answers to their questions. It speeds up the search process by automatically finishing searches that are begin typed.
Soovle
Soovle is a well-known keyword research tool that is used by many in the SEO community. It has a very minimalistic interface but can provide amazing results we used properly. Just by typing a root keyword, you can find hundreds of relevant keywords within a second. Soovle can make your keyword research process faster and help you design an effective marketing campaign. This keyword research tool curates search queries from different platforms and brings them into one place.
YouTube Autocomplete
Just like Google autocomplete, Youtube also helps users by completing their search queries with automated results. When you type your keyword on YouTube, they provide autocomplete options that are related to your query and searched for by users. You can review each of the provided queries and look for keywords that are relevant to the users. You will also see what users are searching for, which gives you direction for marketing strategies.
Also Asked
AlsoAsked is a fantastic resource for generating content ideas and detecting major content gaps in a relational manner. A simple approach for users to see how subjects integrate into a bigger piece of material. One of the first resources I turn to when starting any content-related endeavor, no matter how big or little. Using this tool you can fast track your keyword research and bring in traffic to your website in no time.
