The Best Keyword Tools For SEO, And What Each Does Well
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Key Takeaways
- Keyword research is the first step in SEO: finding the terms people search so content can be built around them and the site can rank on the first page.
- Google Keyword Planner is free with a Google Ads account and gives search volume as a range unless the account is spending on ads.
- Ubersuggest allows 3 searches a day on a free account; Keywordtool.io’s free tier lists keyword ideas but hides search volume; KWFinder offers a 10-day trial with no card.
- Ahrefs’ free Keyword Generator shows volume and keyword difficulty for a sample of results, and covers search engines beyond Google.
- Serious SEO work needs a budget for at least one paid tool, so the choice is a decision to plan for, not an afterthought.
The first thing SEO needs is effective keywords, to build new content around and push the site onto the first page of search results. Keyword research is where that starts, and the right keyword research tools make it faster and more accurate. To help you reach that goal, we have gathered the best keyword tools SEO teams rely on, some free for life, some needing an upgrade. Which of these SEO keyword tools suits your brand better? Read up before deciding.
Table of Contents
1. Google Keyword Planner
Most marketers start with Google Keyword Planner to find keywords for SEO, on the reasoning that data for advertising on a platform is most accurate when it comes from the platform’s owner. It is easy to use: enter the keywords you think relate to the brand, filter by time and location, and the system calculates search volume for each and suggests related keywords as well.
Google Keyword Planner is free. You need a website to set up the Google Ads account, but a beginner planning SEO with no site yet can still use Keyword Planner by signing up to Google Ads with a Gmail address and choosing to set up without a campaign. The limit is that search volume then shows as a range rather than an exact figure.
2. Ubersuggest
Among the SEO keyword tools that need no sign-up to start, Ubersuggest is the easiest and least complicated. Open the site, enter the keyword, choose the location, and the search volume appears at once. The free account allows 3 searches a day, so heavy keyword research means upgrading to a paid plan.
3. Keywordtool.io
Keywordtool.io’s strength is finding hundreds of related keywords at once, pulled from Google’s autocomplete. The free version shows the keyword ideas but not their search volume, competition or cost per click, which need a paid plan. So a common keyword research routine for people starting SEO is to find the main keyword and its related terms in Keywordtool.io, then put those keywords into Google Keyword Planner to estimate the volume.
4. KWFinder
KWFinder is one of the best keyword tools for long-tail terms, the longer and more specific searches that are easier to rank for. To try it, create an account with Mangools, its owner, for a 10-day free trial with no card required. Paying for the platform gives unlimited keywords and search volume, and keyword difficulty (KD), the difficulty of ranking for each term.
5. Keyword Generator
The last tool here is Keyword Generator, the free tool from Ahrefs. Enter a keyword and a location to see search volume and keyword difficulty, as KWFinder does, for a sample of the results. Keyword Generator also supports SEO on channels beyond Google, which helps plan SEO more broadly.
6. Summary
Once SEO is running systematically, every brand needs to budget for the tools the work requires, and quality keyword research tools are part of that. This article is a starting point for the decision, before trying the tools and committing budget to make SEO as effective as it can be.
For a brand that would rather hand the research and the ranking to specialists, Primal’s SEO service runs keyword research on the full toolset as standard. Our SEO agency team is ready to talk.
Frequently Asked Questions About Keyword Research Tools (FAQs)
| Question | Answer |
|---|---|
| What is the best free keyword research tool? | Google Keyword Planner, because its search volume comes from Google’s own advertising data and it costs nothing with a Google Ads account. Its limit is that volume shows as a range unless the account is spending. Ahrefs’ free Keyword Generator is the best free source for keyword difficulty. |
| How do I do keyword research for SEO step by step? | Start with a seed list of terms tied to the product or service, expand it with a tool that pulls related and autocomplete terms, then check each term’s search volume and keyword difficulty, and group the survivors by search intent. Choose terms where volume is worth having and difficulty is within the site’s reach. |
| Is Google Keyword Planner accurate for SEO? | It is accurate at the source, because the data is Google’s, but it is built for advertisers. Volume is shown as a range without ad spend, closely related terms are grouped into one figure, and it gives no keyword difficulty. Most SEO teams use it for volume and a dedicated SEO tool for difficulty. |
| What is keyword difficulty, and how is it calculated? | Keyword difficulty is a tool’s estimate, usually on a scale of 0 to 100, of how hard it is to rank on the first page for a term. Ahrefs bases it mainly on the number of referring domains pointing at the pages that currently rank. Mangools blends link and authority metrics. Scores differ between tools and are only comparable within one tool. |
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