McCarty DavidDo you want to automate the keyword searching process, save dozens (if not hundreds) of hours and speed up optimization? Then you need a keyword research tool.
Without the right tool, keyword searching remains one of the most difficult, time-consuming, but essential parts of SEO.
The only question is: If there are hundreds of different tools on the market, how do you choose the one that’s perfect for your business? Weigh their pros and cons!
- GOOGLE ADS KEYWORD PLANNER
The biggest advantage of this Google Ads tool is that you get your information straight from the search engine. You can be sure that all the information about search volume, competitors and maximum bids are accurate and reliable.
Free
Google Keyword Planner is the only free tool on this list. It may not have subscription-based trickery or a one-time fee, but it’s hard to beat.
Convenient features:
You can always access data from the past 12 months
You can save keywords and easily add them to an upcoming Google Ads campaign
You can add search parameters to filter keywords that fit your goals.
No competitive analysis
Google Keyword Planner is the only tool on this list that doesn’t find your competitors’ keywords or do competitor keyword analysis.
- SEMRUSH.
SEMrush is a cloud-based system, which gives it great versatility, and it boasts the largest keyword database of over 450 million domains and over 9.4 billion keywords.
When doing a global keyword search, you can select a specific country for initial analysis and get multiple keyword choices with data on search volume, keyword complexity, and more.
Intuitive interface
While not everyone agrees, SEMrush has one of the most user-friendly UX of all keyword search tools. It’s an intuitive tool that makes it easy to apply filters to refine results.
Competition Analysis
One of the best things about SEMrush is that it’s different from any other tool. Instead of giving you a list of keywords, SEMrush shows you what your competitors have already ranked. This makes it easy to plug in, start optimizing, and find search terms you might have missed.
- AHREFS KEYWORDS EXPLORER
Enter a keyword and Ahrefs will give you a ton of information on each result, including:
Competitor breakdown on the first page (including country)
Search volume
More ideas for keywords with the same terms.
This will help you assess the real traffic potential of each keyword.
Assessing Keyword Complexity
Almost every keyword search tool assigns a keyword difficulty score, but Ahrefs offers something special.
It’s the only tool that tells you exactly how many backlinks you need for Google’s first page results, as well as a more standard difficulty score.
- KEYWORD TOOL.
A good starting point for global SEO
The keyword search tool generates keyword suggestions from multiple Google language interfaces, making selections by country and language you are targeting. This makes it a useful tool for building a list of international keyword bases.
Available
You can use the tool for free. In the free version, you can get more than 700 keyword suggestions. But if you need more in-depth analysis, you’ll have to pay for a monthly subscription, which is quite affordable compared to the other cloud-based tools on this list.
- RANK TRACKER.
Rank Tracker is designed to help companies of all sizes create lists of tens of thousands of keywords and collect detailed information about keyword positioning.
More robust international research
Rank Tracker has one of the largest keyword databases, and it grows at a rate of 4,000 words per minute. It includes 23 keyword research tools, including Google Keyword Planner, Search Console, Google Analytics, and international tools.
