You know Keyword Research is a must for any kind of SEO campaign and it is one of the most important SEO tasks. In this article, I’ll discuss the best Keyword Research tools, including free and paid options for you.
Keyword research tools are unfortunately a must-have for small businesses and bloggers. This is sad not because they aren’t worth it, but they really are. Also, leading keyword research tools can be quite expensive. As a result, many bloggers have blog posts that never make it to the surface and fail terribly.
On the other hand, there are websites that have the funds but don’t invest in these kinds of tools. I can’t tell you how many bloggers have failed because they ignored the most basic aspects of keyword research.
They have the following:
- Necessary knowledge to cover their niche’s topic in great detail
- The consistency that’s sufficient to “deserve” repeated visitors
- A desire to keep showing up even if their audience isn’t growing
- The ability to put money into their blog
But, they don’t do it.
They don’t realize that if they invested in a good (and affordable) keyword research tool like the ones I’m about to show you, they could produce content in half the time and receive a much better result.
If you don’t want to be vulnerable to algorithm changes from popular referral traffic sources like Pinterest or Facebook, it’s important to make sure that every word you write is viewed by the largest potential audience.
So, after a lot of research and a ton of trial and error, I came up with the 7 Best Keyword Research Tools that will be worth your time.
So, without further ado, let’s get started!
1. SEMrush
SEMrush is currently the best Keyword Research tool, in my opinion. It’s not only an all-in-one SEO software but also a very powerful competitor research tool that can work for all kinds of SEO campaigns.
SEMrush keyword tool is the most complete out of all the ones listed in this article. In fact, I’ll go as far as saying it’s the best out of all of them.
It has tons of data points for each keyword, including the following:
- Related Keywords
- Keyword Search Volume
- Global Search Volume
- Keyword Difficulty Index
- Related Questions
- Keyword Intent and Trend
- Keyword Variations
- SERP Analysis
- Keyword CPC rates
So, if you are looking to compare keywords or track your competitors’ progress, SEMrush is the best choice for you.
In my opinion, it’s the best out of all of them.
Get a free trial of SEMrush
SEMrush Pricing
SEMrush comes with 3 plans:
- Pro plan – $119/mo
- Guru plan – $229/mo
- Business plan – $449/mo
SEMrush‘s cheapest Pro plan allows you to receive up to 10000 results per keyword entered. If you were to compare this to a tool like Mangools, you’d probably start thinking if the colorful competitor even has a chance.
The Pro plan also lets you track up to 500 keywords with daily updates.
Remember, it all comes down to personal preferences, and although some of you might require a tool like SEMrush, others may not.
As you can see that the plans are expensive for most people. However, I personally feel that the Pro plan is more than enough for most people.
Some important SEMrush’s Pro plan features:
- 3000 reports per day, described by SEMrush as “The maximum number of requests made to the Analytics reports per day”
- 250 monthly keyword metric updates
- 10000 suggestions and downloadable keywords per search
- 500 simultaneous keyword tracking with daily updates
- SEO content templates and On-page SEO checker
Is SEMrush Worth It?
SEMrush is a powerful tool that provides a wealth of information for your personal SEO-related projects. Its main problem is its cost, which can be pretty expensive for newbie bloggers or digital marketers with a limited budget.
If you make a few hundred or maybe a thousand dollars each month, investing in professional tools like SEMrush should be your top priority.
The best part?
You can get a free trial of SEMrush, and if you don’t want to commit, you can pay for a month and cancel it later. You will have to create a free account and add your billing info, but they won’t charge you anything.
Go here for a SEMrush free trial
2. Ahrefs
Ahrefs is another great Keyword Research tool with tons of useful features for any SEO campaign. It’s my next favorite after SEMrush.
It comes with a Keyword Explorer which allows you to find amazing keywords that will be easy to rank for. It would take hours for you to collect this data manually, but with Ahrefs, it only takes a few minutes.
The main features of Keyword Explorer are:
- Related Questions
- Related Keywords
- Keyword Difficulty
- SERP Analysis
- Search Volume
- Keyword Opportunities
- Parent Topic
In short, Ahrefs is an amazing tool for keyword research.
It allows you to find out what keywords other people are trying to rank for, and it even allows you to track your competitors. The Keyword Explorer feature is one of the top features that make Ahrefs a leader in the SEO industry.
Ahrefs offers a few features that SEMrush doesn’t, such as:
- Site Explorer – Quickly check your competitor’s backlinks and see what keywords they’re ranking for
- Content Explorer – Search any keyword, and Ahrefs will give you a detailed list of sites that rank on the first page for that keyword.
Is Ahrefs Worth It?
Being a paid tool, it might be out of your budget if you are a beginner. However, I would definitely recommend trying it out for $7.
Ahrefs does come with a free account for website owners.
Signing up grants you access to Ahrefs Webmaster Tools (AWT), the answer to Google Search Console’s limitations. It’s 100% free.
Go ahead and create your account
3. Mangools
Mangools is my personal favorite in terms of design, but it’s also one of the most comprehensive keyword research tools for bloggers on a budget. It is a relatively cheaper option than SEMrush, but it still has a ton of features.
Mangools is extremely easy to use with a sleek design, and it provides accurate results. You can use it to find keywords quickly and efficiently.
Apart from a Keyword research tool, Mangools also comes with:
- SERP Analysis Tool
- Rank Tracking Tool
- Backlink Analysis Tool
- Site Profiler for SEO metrics and insights
Mangools Keyword Research tool is known as KW Finder.
It has a user-friendly design that is also visually beautiful, which will help you in identifying those sneaky long-tail keywords. The cheapest plan costs just $29.90 per month and allows you to do the following:
- Do 100 keyword lookups every 24 hours
- Get 200 keyword suggestions for every keyword you enter
- Track SERP positions of 200 keywords daily
Mangools is really a fantastic tool.
And, I really enjoy how user-friendly and graphical it is.
The primary issue I see is that for website owners who have numerous profitable websites, it may not be enough.
For example, the agency plan can track up to 1500 keywords daily, which isn’t a bad quantity, but what if I told you that certain specialized website builders have over 200 websites and need to track each one of them?
Is Mangools Worth It?
Undoubtedly, Mangools is a powerful SEO tool. It’s a useful tool for people that work on a few personal projects and are just getting started with SEO responsibilities like keyword research, SERP checking, and backlink analysis.
Is the basic plan worth it?
It is indeed, but I would recommend Mangools premium plan. Because it quadruples the number of things you can do, can be utilized by three people at once (this is excellent for entrepreneurs looking to group buy between employees for company development), and only costs $10 more.
4. Ubersuggest
The free tool I’ve used the most in my blog writing journey is Ubersuggest by Neil Patel. It is one of the most popular free SEO tools out there.
Even though it used to be completely free (no hard feelings, Neil), it still includes several free features that, when combined with other free services, can be more than enough to improve the rankings of a tiny website.
I recall spending hours browsing the tool in the early days when it was launched, and then spending much more time looking for an Ubersuggest alternative once it became “freemium.” Well, it’s a comparatively cheaper option.
While it does not include task-specific tools like Mangools, Ubersuggest has plenty of other features that are only found in the best products on the market.
Ubersuggest vs. SEMrush or Ahrefs is still a one-sided battle, but listen to me: it may not be for much longer. Even at its low pricing, Ubersuggest has some features that make it a powerful competitor:
- The possibility to track 5 projects
- 500 daily keywords tracked and updated
- Possibility to extract unlimited data from cities and countries
- Unlimited reports per day (higher than SEMrush)
- 10.000 content ideas after you do a search
- Historical data
Ubersuggest is probably the most powerful keyword research tool at its price. It has a variety of features such as keyword research, link analysis, and site audit, all of which will help any blogger or business in achieving their goals.
Set up a free account, no credit card is needed.
5. Serpstat
SERP stat is an analysis tool with which I had a brief but enjoyable experience. It’s not because I didn’t like it, but I entirely forgot about the free trial.
It has a powerful keyword research tool that includes features like:
- Providing 4000 queries per day
- 10000 results per report
- Missing keyword analysis
- 500000 export rows per month
- Keyword clustering
- Competition tool
What makes Serpstat such a powerful tool is its SERP analysis tool.
Linkbuilding, competitor analysis, and keyword tracking are all included in a complete and very accurate report that will reveal to you the errors that are stifling your growth right away.
One of the most important things that make it stand out from the crowd is its price, which is much quite cheaper than other expensive SEO tools. You can also set up a free account, no credit card is needed.
Is it the most cost-effective keyword research tool?
Not necessarily, however, if you have an old project that hasn’t seen decent organic growth despite months of work, Serpstat is a good option to try.
6. Keysearch
Keysearch is a keyword research tool that deserves a place in this list. It has some key features that make it a great alternative to the best options on the market. It offers almost everything you’d expect from a keyword research tool:
- Data on the amount of money one click will earn you
- Surprisingly accurate keyword difficulty calculator
- Monthly search volume results
- Keyword tracking
- Competitor analysis
The newest version has some great new features, including search trends and a domain extension checker. You’ll also want to take advantage of YouTube research and don’t forget all the other cool stuff it does!
With a simple, intuitive interface you can quickly find what you’re looking for without any previous SEO knowledge.
Keysearch is mainly advertised as a tool that lets you find long-tail keywords for your site. It can be perfect if: – You don’t have much money but want to do some research on what words might bring in traffic.
… or, if you’re still not sure whether these tools are necessary.
They are, trust me.
With the starter version only costing $14 per month when paid annually, you’ll be able to do up to 200 daily searches.
The other features are just as impressive!
The free account allows you to see how powerful this small tool is.
You can do up to 5 searches for free every day (indefinitely) without incurring any charges or restrictions! That’s cool, right?
7. Keyword Revealer
This keyword checker is the reason why the “I don’t have any money” excuse can be used to avoid keyword research. In terms of value for money, it’s the tool that has shocked me the most.
The free version allows you to do 3 daily searches and receive 50 keyword ideas, which might be useful for determining the popularity of a keyword you wish to write about. However, for just $7.50 per month, you’ll be able to secure:
- 50 daily searches – enough unless you are writing 3 articles a day
- Unlimited keyword suggestions
- Possibility to track 25 keywords
- Keyword brainstorming feature which gives you long term variations of your entered keyword
In the sense that they both focus on affordable keyword research, I’d compare this software to Keysearch as well as Ubersuggest.
Keep in mind that you won’t be able to use competitor analysis features on the cheapest plan, which some of you may consider essential.
Still, keyword revealer is a strong tool that is worth every penny spent.
Final Thoughts
The best keyword research tool will be highly tailored to your personal needs, that’s a statement I said in the beginning and that I’d stick to. I hope I presented to you enough reasons to either buy or skip a certain tool.
I’ll give you a small bonus and recommend each tool to you once more, but this time based on the positions you could be in:
- SEMrush – Best if you are ready to start driving massive amounts of traffic and are willing to invest in what it takes to achieve it.
- Mangools – If you are looking for an SEO suite with different tools completely focused on a certain SEO-related task (and that can also be potentially shared with your coworkers or others)
- Keyword revealer – On a tight budget and want to do keyword research
- Keysearch – On a tight budget, but want to check your competitors
- Ubersuggest – The best budget tool in the market for multiple tasks.
- Serpstat – Keyword research is a necessity, but you are more focused on seeing how your current projects are doing and their flaws.
So, what is the best keyword research tool for most people?
Before I answer that question, let me ask you:
- Do you really want to be successful in the near future?
- Do you want to get your blog off the ground and understand what keywords are going to bring thousands of visitors a day, every month?
If yes, I strongly recommend that you try out SEMrush.
It is the best keyword research tool for people who are new to SEO. It shows you pretty much everything you need to know about a website’s SEO.
You can use it on a free trial for 7 days.
Even if you are looking for a free option, SEMrush is a great fit.
I hope this article helps you make the best decision possible! And, if you enjoyed it, please share this article on social media. Thanks! 🙂
