The 13 Best Keyword Research Tools to Find the Right Keywords for SEO

Let's get right down to it — the key to successful SEO is concentrating on long-tail keywords, which are associated with more qualified traffic that’s more likely to convert.

As for the key to finding — and choosing — the right long-tail keywords? I’ve found that it involves knowing how to use keyword research software effectively. In doing so, you can find specific, relevant search terms that can attract users who are further down their search intent than those using generic terms.

In this post, I’m highlighting the thirteen best tools out there for performing keyword research for your website content. Before we go any further, though, I want to touch on two important things to consider as you do your research: relevance and (if applicable) location.

Table of Contents

• Keyword Relevance
• Location-Based Keywords
• Choosing the Right Keywords for Your Business
• Free Keyword Research Tools
• Paid Best Keyword Research Tools

Keyword Relevance

Relevance is the most important factor to consider when choosing the right keywords for SEO. Why? Because the more specific you are, the better.

For instance, if you own a company that installs swimming pools, it‘s likely that you’d attract more qualified prospects by targeting a keyword such as “fiberglass in-ground pool installation,” rather than “swimming pools.”

That‘s because there’s a good chance that someone searching for “fiberglass in-ground pool installation” is looking for information on installation or someone to perform the installation ... and that could be you.

Sure, optimizing for “swimming pools” has its place. But there's no doubt that this keyword will attract a much more generic audience that may not be looking for what you have to offer. Go for the relevant, long-tail keywords instead.

Location-Based Keywords

Another major factor to consider when optimizing for the right keywords is location-based searches. When looking for contractors and services in their specific area, search engine users will usually include their location in the search. So, “fiberglass in-ground pool installation” becomes “fiberglass in-ground pool installation in Boston, MA.”

If you operate in one geo-location, you may want to consider adding location-based keywords to all of your pages, since traffic from other locations isn't going to be very much help to you.

If your business operates in several geo-locations, it is also a wise choice to create a separate web page dedicated to each location so you can make sure your brand is present when people are searching for individual locations.

Choosing the Right Keywords for Your Business

Now that you understand these two considerations, how do you choose the keywords most likely to drive the best leads to your business?

Guessing, for obvious reasons, is not a good strategy. While you might be spot on, the search terms people use to find you might surprise you.

With that in mind, it’s best to use a keyword research tool that will either confirm your guess (or blow it out of the water) and help you identify long-tail keywords that are right for your business.

There are tons of tools out there, and finding the best keyword research software can be overwhelming. To make your job easier, I’ve demoed these top thirteen tools — free and paid — so you can make a quick choice and start identifying strong long-tail keywords for your SEO campaign.

Free is always my favorite place to start, especially when you’re just dipping your toes into SEO.

1. Google Keyword Planner

Best for: Simple keyword research that taps right into Google Search algorithms.

Google has a few tools that make it easy to conduct keyword research, and their free AdWords tool called Keyword Planner is a great place to start — especially if you use AdWords for some of your campaigns.

Important note: You need to set up an AdWords account to use Keyword Planner, but that doesn't mean you have to create or spend money on an ad.

Google will try to funnel you into creating your first ad, providing step-by-step directions. You can bypass this by selecting “back” and “skip” until you are prompted to set up your account. After playing with it, I discovered that while you do need to put in a payment method, you do not need to spend money.

To get started, choose the “Discover new keywords option.”

Then, type in some basic information about your business and enter your URL.

When you input keywords and your website address into Keyword Planner, Google spits out a list of related keywords along with simple metrics to gauge how fierce the competition is around each one and how many searches it gets on both a global and local search level.

It‘ll also show you historical statistics and information on how a list of keywords might perform — and it’ll create a new keyword list by multiplying several lists of keywords together.

You can choose the ideas you like most, or that best fit your business, and then select “Add keywords” to save them so you can streamline what you’re looking for.

2. Google Trends

Best for: Comparing search terms against one another and doing quick searches.

Google Trends is another free tool from Google. It lets you enter multiple keywords and filter by location, search history, and category. Once you enter that information in, it'll give you results that show how much web interest there is around a particular keyword, what caused the interest (e.g., press coverage), and where the traffic is coming from — along with similar keywords.

The best part about Google Trends is its colorful, interactive graphs that you can play with, download, and even embed on your website.

One way to use Google Trends? If you're trying to decide between two keyword variations for your latest blog post title. Simply perform a quick comparison search in Google Trends to see which one is getting searched more often.

For example, when you compare marketing metrics vs. marketing KPIs, you can see how they’ve trended over the past several years.

You’ll also be able to find related search terms that you can use to add more value to your content.

All in all, I love Google Trends for a quick confirmation of a keyword’s validity and a quick drill down to related, relevant terms.

3. Keyword Tool.io

Best for: Simple online keyword research.

Keyword Tool is a pretty rudimentary online keyword research tool, but if you're just looking for a list of long-tail keyword suggestions related to one you already have in mind, then it can be useful.

It‘s also totally free. To use the most basic version, you don’t even need to create an account.

Keyword Tool uses Google Autocomplete to generate a list of relevant long-tail keyword suggestions. The search terms suggested by Google Autocomplete are based on a few different factors, like how often users were searching for a particular term in the past.

This type of suggestion tool can help you understand what people are searching for around your topics. For example, bloggers might use a tool like this to brainstorm blog post titles that'll do well in search.

If all you want are keyword suggestions and ideas, then I think it’s a great option. The free version does exactly that. However, it doesn't tell you anything about search volume or cost-per-click (CPC).

To get that information, you'll have to upgrade to Keyword Tool Pro. The Pro version will also let you export the keywords and use them for content creation, search engine optimization, CPC/PPC, or other marketing activities.

Alternatively, you can get ideas from Keywords Tool and then confirm them in Google Trends.

4. Ahrefs Webmaster Tools

Best for: Staying on top of technical website performance.

You may have noticed that I’ve included Ahrefs in both free and paid. That’s because there are two versions available. Admittedly, the most robust version is the paid version. However, if you want to dip your toes in and get a sense of how Ahrefs works, you can easily start with the version for website owners.

The caveat is that you must own your site, and you must have Google Search Console set up. That’s how it verifies ownership.

Admittedly, the keyword research functionality isn’t the best here, but it will give you insights on the keywords that you are ranking for and some insights into how people are finding you. In turn, you can use that information to start identifying new content that can work for you. If you don’t have this set up, it’s worth taking a few minutes to do so.

It may not revolutionize your keyword research efforts, but I’ve found that it greatly helps to track performance.

5. UberSuggest

Price: $29/month for Individual; $49/month for Business; $99/month for Enterprise

Best for: A low-cost keyword research option to help you optimize current and future content.

No article on keyword research software is complete without an overview of UberSuggest. Now I pay for this tool — I locked in a one-time Lifetime Access deal which gives me more tools and insights without the monthly payment. However, the free version and its three free daily searches is great if you only need a few ideas at a time.

I typed in “parenting coach,” and it came up with these different types of keywords that you can drill down further. You can also get new content ideas to help you perform well on SEO.

With a paid version, you can go even deeper with a minimum of 150 searches per day and more based on the plan you select. What I love most about UberSuggest goes far beyond its ability to help me identify new search ideas. It identifies pages that could be performing better on my site and provides new long-tail keywords that will help me improve existing content.

6. Moz's Keyword Difficulty Tool

Price: $49/mo. for Starter; $99/mo. for Standard; $179/mo. for Medium; $299/mo. for Large

Best for: Getting in-depth keyword research and competitive analysis.

The keyword difficulty tool from Moz is one of the most useful components of their paid suite. It's a fantastic resource for analyzing the competitiveness of a keyword and for unearthing low-hanging fruit.

Note: Moz also has a free Keyword Explorer tool that gives you up to three searches a day. However, you only get about five ideas with information on the monthly volume, which means you’re better off with the paid option.

I played around with the trial mode a bit and got some insights about top-performing search terms for my site.

Then, I dove into keyword research. There’s so much Moz can do!

In a nutshell, this is how it works:

When you input a keyword into this tool, it'll find the top rankings for that keyword and group them by types of suggestions. From there, you can choose to group them by similarity to one another (or not). Finally, you can see the relevance and difficulty of each keyword.

Want to do some competitive keyword analysis? You can use the tool to see who else is ranking for your targeted keywords, along with information like each site's page authority and the number of root domains linking to their page.

You can also export all this data into a CSV for your own analysis.

7. SEMrush

Price: $139.95/mo. for Pro; $249.95/mo. for Guru; $499.95/mo. for Business

Best for: Well-organized, easy-to-understand keyword analysis.

SEMrush is a competitive research tool that lets you keep an eye on your competitors‘ keywords to find opportunities to bump them out for a top position in Google’s and Bing‘s organic search results. You can compare a number of domains against one another to evaluate the competitive landscape, including their common keywords and positions in Google’s organic, paid, and shopping search results.

Position tracking is kind of like a sophisticated version of Google Trends, letting you see a keyword's position in SERPs and analyze the history of rises and drops. Their colorful, visual charts are also super helpful for more quickly understanding trends and analyzing results.

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SEMrush offers keyword overview tools to help you go deep into performance, variations, and ideas for specific keywords.

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Additionally, they offer a keyword magic tool to identify new ideas for future content.

Before I even dove into keyword analysis or research, SEMrush did a quick analysis of my site and gave me some new “low-hanging fruit” search terms that could get me some good traffic. So, I absolutely love that.

Then I went into the Keyword Magic tool and typed in that search term and it gave me several ideas for long-tail keywords to work into that content.

There’s so much potential here!

8. Ahrefs

Price: $129/mo. for Lite; $249/mo. for Standard; $499/mo. for Advanced; $14,990/year for Enterprise

Best for: Those who take SEO seriously and want a comprehensive view of SEO performance.

I’ve already touched on the fact that Ahrefs Keywords Explorer is similar to SEMrush but with some extra bonuses and a much more intuitive design.

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For example, it’s able to estimate how many searches become real page visits. Not all of them do so, since Google gives instant answers for some queries. With Clicks and Clicks Per Search metrics, you’ll figure out traffic-generating keywords and skip dead-end options.

When it comes to the number of relevant keyword suggestions, Ahrefs goes the extra mile. It runs the biggest database — 28.7 billion keywords for over 200 countries — which means it can detect opportunities other tools could be missing.

You can get ideas in keyword clusters which can make it easier to write content that fits specific themes and aligns with your business goals.

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Ahrefs can also help you with competitive research. Their Site Explorer tool lifts the veil on competitors' keyword strategies, while Content Gap lets you compare competitor keywords with your own to identify your might-have-beens.

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Ahrefs will also email you about even the smallest ranking progress of your competitors. Backlinks have a direct impact on ranking, and backlink research is one of Ahrefs’ strongest muscles.

Brian Dean, founder of Backlinko, says that Ahrefs is his #1 go-to tool for backlink analysis: “I've tested over 25 link analysis tools, and none come close to Ahrefs in terms of index size, freshness, and overall usability.”

Ultimately, I find that the possibilities with Ahrefs are endless, and I make sure I work with SEO experts who use it.

9. SE Ranking

Price: $52.00/mo. for Essential, $95.20/mo. for Pro, $207.20/mo. for Business

Best for: SEO professionals who need comprehensive tools for their companies and clients.

Every time I look into SE Ranking, I’m thoroughly impressed by the depth of its insights and capabilities. There’s not an aspect of SEO that SE Ranking doesn’t cover.

Their aptly named Keyword Suggestion Tool is a comprehensive keyword analytics tool that lets you investigate organic and paid search competitors, monitor SEO and PPC campaigns, and generate thousands of suggestions to expand your keyword list.

To give you a sense of how it works, I typed in “coffee machines” and got the below analysis of that search term.

From there, I scrolled further down the page and got several categories of keyword ideas along with the top ranking sites.

SE Ranking puts a strong emphasis on the accuracy of keyword SEO data. The platform uses ungrouping techniques and a unique algorithm to provide users with accurate search volumes and keyword difficulty. For one seed term, you’ll get a list of similar, related, low search volume terms, long tail, and question-based keywords.

You can use convenient filters to select suggestions based on your target parameters and evaluate their efficiency by reviewing different metrics, including keyword relevance and more. This way, you can understand how well the suggestion fits into your content strategy.

10. GrowthBar

Price: 7-Day Free Trial, $36/mo. for Standard; $74.25/mo for Pro; $149.25/mo for Agency

Best for: People who want an all-in-one tool to identify search terms and write content.

GrowthBar is an SEO software tool for marketers and bloggers that helps perform keyword research, competitive analysis, rank tracking, and content generation.

I watched the demo video and learned that you connect it with your Google Search Console to help you ensure that your efforts are making an impact on your marketing efficiency and traffic.

Because it’s integrated with ChatGPT-4, it can identify ideas, subject lines, and content, allowing you to streamline content creation. I particularly love that aspect because while it’s quite easy to come up with ideas, the reality of acting on them is often quite different.

By coming up with an AI-supported draft, you can shortcut content creation, cutting out the time staring at a blank screen so you can go straight to the editing and personalization phase.

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GrowthBar also enables you to explore your competitors’ backlink data, their paid Google ads, organic keyword rankings, and even their Facebook Ads. It also unlocks critical data points and gives recommendations through a simple and easy-to-use dashboard.

Finally, the last standout feature of GrowthBar, in my opinion, is its ability to help you repurpose and reshare your new content to social channels to streamline your marketing efforts and get more eyes on what you create. And, after all — that’s the whole point.

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11. Accuranker

Price: 14-day free trial; starts at $116/month for up to 1000 keywords

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Best for: Professionals who want detailed reporting and insights to show their impact.

AccuRanker is a keyword rank tracking tool with a key differentiator — it‘s lightning fast while being extremely precise. So, if you’re used to spending hours monitoring the rank progression of your keywords, this might just end up saving you a ton of time. Drawing from over 24 billion keywords worldwide, I feel confident that I’m getting the best possible keyword suggestions.

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Other advantages of this tool? It has built-in proxies to get a quick glance at whose ranking within the SERPs for any given keyword. If you plan to report keyword metrics to your manager or your team, you'll like how it updates every 24 hours with the latest performance data.

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It‘s also one of the best rank trackers out there that offers highly localized search engine rankings for your keywords. So, if you’re marketing your business to an international audience, everything that I’m seeing makes it a great tool for analyzing which pages are ranking in different countries.

Finally, I’m impressed by all of its integrations, which include Google Looker Studio, Google Analytics, Google Search Console, Google Sheets, and Adobe Analytics, among others, giving you a way to keep an eye on statistics and estimated search traffic for your keywords straight from your AccuRanker dashboard.

12. HubSpot

Price: $15/mo/seat for Marketing Hub Starter; $800/month for Marketing Hub Professional; $3600/month for Marketing Hub Enterprise

Best for: Users of HubSpot or those considering HubSpot.

HubSpot also has its very own Content Strategy tool within the Marketing Hub. The Content Strategy tool helps you identify and research topics, find keywords or subtopics to go after, and ultimately help grow your content presence to generate more organic traffic over time.

If you're a HubSpot customer or are considering making the switch to HubSpot’s marketing ecosystem, this is a must. You can access the Content Strategy tool and click on Content > Strategy.

From there, you can add different topics and get insights on search volume as well as additional recommended topics and search terms to consider.

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In addition to integrating fully with our Content Management tools, you can also get detailed performance reporting so you can identify where you can improve and optimize.

13. Serpstat

Price: 7-day free trial; $50/mo. for Individual; $100/mo. for Team; $410/mo. for Agency

Best for: Small businesses looking for an easy-to-use, highly intuitive platform.

Serpstat hit me with a super positive first impression by making it easy to take a peek under the hood. With a no-credit card free trial, it allowed me to dive right in with a simple Google login. That alone wins brownie points with me. I selected “Freemium,” but paid goes way further.

Right off the bat, I did a search for “how to market my business” and got 10 related keywords.

Each search term is clickable and allows me to go deeper down the rabbit hole of search ideas based on historically profitable keywords. Serpstat’s algorithm also figures the value of your keywords using different factors, like number of search results and cost-per-click.

I also love the ability to stay on top of how your competitors are performing — and what they are doing.

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Serpstat could be extremely useful to you if you want full analyses of keywords that work well for competitors. It's also a great tool for making sure your page has a lower chance of losing a favorable ranking on SERPs.

Start Your Keyword Research

As I mentioned, it takes considerable time to weigh the differences between these platforms. And now, you don’t have to. I’ve shown you the details of what each platform does and how to use their interfaces. Now, it’s your turn.

Before you start, think about what you truly want from your SEO and keyword research tools. Are you looking for quick ideas and brainstorming? Want in-depth insights on performance and how to optimize existing content? Looking for something that can help you create content as well as identify your strategy?

With that in mind, take a spin through the post again and pay attention to how each tool can help you achieve those goals. Then, take the tool or tools that stand out to you and set up free trials to get a feel for how they work — and if each tool works with your brain and workflows.

Then, go forth and conquer!

Editor's note: This post was originally published in August 2011 and has been updated for comprehensiveness.