Free Keyword Research Tools Looking for keyword research tools and not sure where to start? Have a look at our top 10
Are Free Keyword Tools worth Considering?
Whether you’re looking to launch a new site or want to boost your rankings on existing webpages, free keyword research tools often form an essential part of an SEO strategy designed to increase your site’s organic traffic.
While it’s tempting to jump straight in with pricey monthly subscriptions to powerful SEO tools, it’s usually better to try out a few free tools first and then see if you want to upgrade your digital marketing tools.
The key to successful keyword research is to use a variety of different tools and harness each of their strengths to help boost traffic to your site.
Here are 10 of the best free keyword research tools that provide plenty of bang for your buck.
Top Free Keyword Research Tools
1. Wordtracker Scout
Sometimes the best way to work out what you’re missing in your keyword strategy is to take a look at what your top competitors are getting right.
Enter Wordtracker Scout – a platform that promises to show you how the competition can provide you with the best keyword data.
You can of course always scroll through your competitors’ blogs and sites to get a better idea of what keywords they’re successfully implementing but this is generally a time consuming and tedious task.
The beauty of Wordtracker Scout is that it functions as a Google Chrome extension so when you’re next on a competing webpage, hover over the content and click the W button which generates a cloud summary of the page’s keywords and insights.
| Pros | Cons |
|---|---|
| Easy to use, even with limited SEO knowledge the keyword data is easy to understand. | Only available for Google Chrome – if you use another browser, you’d have to install Google Chrome to access the extension. |
| Attract your target audience by sourcing the keywords they’re already searching for. | Focus is on keywords used by competitors, no original keyword searches provided. |
| View solid performance metrics to narrow down your keyword research. | Doesn’t generate lists of possibly high ranking keywords |
| Analyze your competitors’ sites for keywords. | High-performing keywords used by competitors are likely to be difficult for your site to rank for. |
| Simple extension download to Chrome. | Aside from Wordtracker Scout competitor analysis, other keyword research tools provided by Wordtracker come with a monthly subscription. |
Best for: Businesses launching a new website and wanting to figure out what the competitors have got right to achieve high rankings.
2. AnswerThePublic
AnswerThePublic offers a hard to resist prospect – knowledge of what topics and questions users are actually plugging into Google and Bing.
Start by entering a keyword, click get questions, and receive a free report on what keywords people are searching for which can help you decide what topics to include and which questions to answer in your content.
With unlimited ideas on producing relevant and helpful content, AnswerThePublic should be a key component of your marketing toolkit.
| Pros | Cons |
|---|---|
| Easy to use format. | Search volume metrics aren’t displayed. |
| Up to 150 keyword suggestions with just one search. | Can feel more like a consumer insight tool as opposed to pure keyword research. |
| Keyword suggestions are presented as a visual search cloud, similar to a mind map display. | Focuses more on performing search queries as opposed to specific keywords or keyword rankings. |
| Optimize for long-tail key phrases – once you know what questions your audience is asking you can include them in your content as subheadings. | Doesn’t account for other search engines that aren’t Google or Bing. |
| Conduct up to 3 searches a day using the free version. | Unlimited searches and data are only available with a $99 monthly pro package. |
Best for: Small businesses with limited budget and time for performing keyword research who want to quickly know which keywords and topics are most relevant to their users.
3. Keyword Tool Dominator
Instead of focusing on just search engines like Google, Keyword Tool Dominator quickly identifies the top 10 searched for keywords on Amazon, eBay, Etsy, Google, Walmart, and YouTube.
The platform is ideal for writing fully optimized product descriptions for your e-commerce site, blog, or videos. Trusted by 300,000 users, it’s a great option for gaining a competitive edge.
Discover what your target audience is actually searching for and, implement it into your SEO and content strategy.
Keyword Tool Dominator helps you identify newly trending keywords before the competition starts incorporating them into their content.
| Pros | Cons |
|---|---|
| Identify long-tail keywords by using Keyword Tool Dominator to leverage the autocomplete databases from search engines allowing you to find hundreds of long-tail keyword phrases from just one search term. | Free users are limited to 2 daily keyword searches per keyword tool without an upgrade to a premium paid for subscription. |
| Generate an up to date relevant product keyword list by searching for keywords across 16 different Amazon marketplaces. | Website’s appearance could do with an improvement for a clearer layout. |
| Easy and useful for anyone to use – both seasoned SEO pros and beginners. | If opting for a paid version of the tool there are no monthly payment plans only lifetime subscriptions. |
| Reflects what users are searching for, making keywords highly relevant for your target audience. | Browser extension plug-in is just limited to Google Chrome. You have to install the browser for it to work. |
| Works with the most updated data from each marketplace in real-time. | Search volume metrics for the keywords aren’t included. |
Best for: Businesses looking for ultra specific keyword searches based on each different search engine to help build effective product descriptions or optimize a blog or web page.
4. Ahrefs Keyword Generator
One of SEO’s biggest names, Ahrefs, developed Keyword Generator to offer a data-driven and user-friendly program that combines thorough keyword research and user-generated questions, making it far easier to effectively streamline and plan your site’s content.
Begin by entering a seed keyword and the platform will generate up to 150 related keywords as well as 50 question-related searches.
Next to the first 10 keywords, see a keyword difficulty metric that estimates ranking difficulty on a scale of 1-100. The higher the number, the more backlinks you’ll need to rank highly on Google.
| Pros | Cons |
|---|---|
| Discover keyword suggestions for Google, Bing, Amazon, and YouTube. | Viewing all keyword suggestions requires a pricey monthly subscription to Ahrefs. |
| View keywords relative to 170+ different countries – keep in mind the U.S. is the default option. | Access to filters isn’t available for free users. |
| Search volume and keyword difficulty metrics are included for each keyword. | Competitor analysis of keywords isn’t included in the free version. |
| Access a database with over 8 billion queries. | Dashboard doesn’t always feel very user friendly. |
| Create lists of your best keywords. | Free version of the tool feels like an intro to paying for a full version of Ahrefs. |
Best for: Businesses and agencies considering paying for a monthly plan with Ahrefs who want to test out the Keyword Generator Tool first.
6. Questiondb
Questiondb is another keyword tool that identifies the questions real users are asking search engines about specific topics. Currently, the platform uses Reddit to source these questions.
Filter questions by popularity or topic which groups them together, streamlining your keyword research efforts.
Analyzing what users are asking Reddit is particularly useful if you want to write blog posts since you can gear each piece of content to answer users’ requests and questions with each piece of content you publish.
| Pros | Cons |
|---|---|
| Easily export the data as CSV so you can upload to content calendars etc. | Data source is limited to Reddit and doesn’t pull data from other sources. |
| Make your content ultra-relevant to your target audience by knowing what questions they want answers to. | More of a topic finder as opposed to a pure keyword research tool. |
| Access a database of over 48 million questions. | Suggestions for some more niche topics can be limited. |
| Discover unique angles to your content and long-tail keywords by not sourcing data from Google or other popular search engines. | Free version is limited to 10 results per search – access to unlimited search results is $10/month. |
| View an intuitive and clear interface with features easily clickable. | Limited dataset makes Questiondb not optimal for thorough keyword research – you’ll probably find you want to use it in combination with other tools. |
Best for: Bloggers or businesses looking to fill in content gaps on their site and create relevant content that users will find interesting and useful.
7. Bulk Keyword Generator
Bulk Keyword Generator is best used for local geographical SEO, it focuses on generating keywords based on your industry type.
First, select your industry as well as your exact location and the platform will generate a list of local keywords related to the services or products your industry deals with.
If you’re unsure about how to properly optimize your business’s site, this is a great tool to help you pick out the finer details of each individual page.
Use Bulk Keyword Generator to ensure you’re consistently using the correct keywords to describe your products/services throughout your site and not damaging your SEO efforts with inconsistency.
| Pros | Cons |
|---|---|
| Export keywords as a CSV document so you include it in reports or a content calendar. | Designed for local businesses, so won’t really work for larger or online businesses. |
| Beat local competitors with locally optimized keywords. | No other SEO features included within the platform. |
| Rank higher for local search results and rank higher in Google’s local search results. | User interface is very simplistic. |
| Create unlimited lists of keywords. | Keyword lists can be quite limited for each business type. |
| Rapidly pulls long lists of keywords making it quicker and easier to find results. | Doesn’t provide other metrics like keyword difficulty or search volume. |
Best for: Small businesses with localized services like personal training or plumbing companies for example.
8. Google Keyword Planner
A list of the best free keyword research tools probably wouldn’t be complete without the biggest powerhouse of them all – Google Keyword Planner.
Part of the Adwords PPC platform, although Google Keyword Planner can be used to identify keywords for paid campaigns it’s also a great allrounder option for optimizing your organic search results.
Totally free to use, it’s a pioneer in keyword research and has been around for the last twenty years.
| Pros | Cons |
|---|---|
| Data is 100% accurate since it’s all pulled from Google’s own servers with no interfering third party algorithms. | Only pulls its data from Google’s servers doesn’t consider other search engines at all. |
| View a clean layout that’s easy to read and interpret. | Fewer suggestions for keywords than some other platforms – around 300 per seed keyword. |
| Download and export your keyword results as a CSV. | Fewer keyword filters than other tools makes it harder to focus on the right specific keywords. |
| Perform unlimited searches. | Only enter three keywords when searching for other suggestions – some platforms will allow you to enter more keywords at the beginning. |
| See metrics like number of average monthly searches and competition for ranking. | Doesn’t provide a negative keyword list. |
Best for: Any business looking to perform highly accurate and totally free keyword research to boost their rankings in Google.
9. Ubersuggest
Like many keyword research tools on this list, Ubersuggest involves you entering a seed keyword, hitting enter, and viewing a ton of keyword suggestions along with search volume and SEO difficulty stats.
Ubersuggest packs a punch when it comes to keywords and has several features to make your life that much easier when it comes to figuring out a solid SEO and content strategy.
A comparison tab is ideal if you often write reviews as it shows you what versus articles you can write. The related keywords tab shows you demonstrated uses of your chosen keyword to help you identify keywords with less competition.
It’s also beautifully packaged in an intuitive easy to use dashboard. What’s not to love?
| Pros | Cons |
|---|---|
| Discover keywords that aren’t available through the Google Keyword Planner. | Uses Google Suggests for keyword research so you could essentially find the same keyword suggestions elsewhere just in a different layout. |
| Uses location-based data which is helpful if you have a local business. | Pay for a pro version at $29/month to access features like filters for keyword suggestions. |
| Search Images, Shopping, News, and YouTube as well as using a regular web search. | Lists of keyword suggestions tend to be quite short and probably won’t be enough for bigger sites. |
| Clear user interface with a word cloud helping you visualize keyword options. | Difficult to find keyword results for some niche markets. |
| Find out key SEO stats like your organic monthly traffic, backlinks, and top SEO pages. | No mobile app for finding keywords while you’re on the go. |
10. WordStream
Best for: Businesses looking to start detailed keyword research as well as use other technical SEO tools included by Ubersuggest.
WordStream’s powerful keyword research tools have access to an eye-wateringly huge database of 1 trillion keywords.
Despite pulling information from overwhelmingly large sources, WordStream manages to keep things simple and digestible for the user, presenting keywords in a clear visual format.
Sound too good to be true for a free keyword research tool? It’s not!
For a free platform, WordStream goes above and beyond to provide users with not one but four different tools.
| Pros | Cons |
|---|---|
| The Keyword Discovery Tool gives your keyword database access to instantly updated keywords from Google Analytics. | Have to provide email address for the full list of keywords otherwise just receive 25. |
| Download their Create SEO Content extension to your web browser and receive automatic suggestions for variations to your target keyword. | Few additional SEO features that other platforms may have like a site auditor, or competitor analysis. |
| Access support materials like PPC tips, articles on digital marketing, and webinars to boost your knowledge beyond keyword research. | Smaller or newer websites may find that they don’t have enough content for the keyword research tool to work effectively. |
| Discover lesser-known keywords with lower competition levels with the Niche Finder Tool. | No keyword research for video, shopping, or app ads. |
| Filter relevant keywords by industry and location. | System can run and load slowly, particularly on the dashboard. |
Best for: Businesses who already have an established web page with a substantial amount of content will benefit the most from WordStream’s free keyword research tools.
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