Top 11 SEO Keyword Research Tools for Bloggers

For bloggers aiming to boost their organic traffic, choosing the right SEO keyword research tools is crucial.

These tools help identify the best keywords to target, making it easier to create content that ranks well on search engines.

In this article, we'll explore the top SEO keyword research tools available for bloggers today.

Key Takeaways

• Ahrefs is a powerful tool for comprehensive keyword research and competitor analysis.
• SEMrush provides an all-in-one suite for SEO, including keyword research and rank tracking.
• Moz Keyword Explorer is user-friendly and offers insightful keyword metrics.
• Google Keyword Planner is a free tool that helps find related keywords and their search volumes.
• Ubersuggest offers a simple interface and useful long-tail keyword suggestions.

1. Ahrefs

Ahrefs is a powerhouse when it comes to SEO tools, and it's especially great for keyword research. If you're serious about SEO, Ahrefs should be on your radar.

Why Ahrefs?

• Comprehensive Keyword Data: Ahrefs' Keywords Explorer provides a ton of keyword suggestions. You can find keywords for Google, YouTube, Amazon, and even some foreign search engines.
• User-Friendly Interface: The card-based layout makes it easy to read and find the information you need.
• Detailed Metrics: You get insights like keyword difficulty, search volume, and more.

How to Use Ahrefs for Keyword Research

1. Open Keywords Explorer: Start by entering a seed keyword.
2. Analyze Suggestions: Look at the different categories like "Having same terms," "Questions," "Also rank for," and "Newly discovered."
3. Check SERP Data: Scroll down to see how pages rank over time and what it takes to compete.
4. Filter and Export: Use the filter options to narrow down your list and export your keywords for further analysis.

Ahrefs is not just for Google. It can help you find keywords for other search engines too, making it a versatile tool for any blogger.

Pros and Cons

Pros:

• Extensive keyword database
• Easy-to-use interface
• Detailed metrics and filters

Cons:

• Requires a subscription
• Can be overwhelming for beginners

In summary, Ahrefs is a robust tool that offers a lot of value, especially if you're looking to dive deep into keyword research. Give it a try and see how it can help you optimize your content and improve your rankings.

2. SEMrush

SEMrush is a powerhouse when it comes to SEO blogging tools. It's packed with features that can help you boost your search traffic and improve your search engine optimization efforts.

Why SEMrush?

• Keyword Magic Tool: This tool is a goldmine. Enter a seed keyword, and you'll get tons of keyword suggestions. You can filter these by search volume, keyword difficulty, and more.
• Organic Research: Enter a competitor's domain to see the keywords they rank for. This can give you some outside-the-box keywords you might not have thought of.
• Keyword Gap Tool: Compare your site to up to four competitors to find keyword opportunities you're missing out on.
• SEO Content Template: This tool helps you create content that's optimized for SEO. It grades your content in real-time for readability, originality, and tone of voice.

Pros and Cons

Pros:

• Tons of granular keyword data
• Wide range of specialized keyword research tools
• Generous free plan

Cons:

• Can be overwhelming for beginners
• Expensive upgrades

Pricing

SEMrush offers a limited free plan. Paid plans start at $129.95/month. You can save up to 17% with annual billing.

If you're serious about SEO, SEMrush is worth the investment. It offers a comprehensive suite of tools that can help you dominate the search engine results page.

Final Thoughts

SEMrush is one of the best SEO tools out there. Whether you're a beginner or a pro, it has something to offer. From keyword research to content optimization, it covers all the bases. Give it a try and see how it can help you improve your search engine results.

3. Moz Keyword Explorer

Moz Keyword Explorer is a fantastic tool for bloggers looking to dive deep into keyword research for SEO. It's user-friendly and offers a range of features that make it stand out.

Why Use Moz Keyword Explorer?

• Easy to Use: The interface is straightforward, making it perfect for beginners.
• Detailed Metrics: Get insights like monthly search volume, keyword difficulty, and organic clickthrough rate (CTR).
• Unique Features: Metrics like Organic CTR and Priority help you understand the potential of a keyword.
• Competitor Analysis: Use the Keyword Gap feature to find keywords your competitors rank for that you don't.

How to Get Started

1. Sign Up: Create a Moz account. You can start with the free plan, which offers up to 10 queries per tool per month.
2. Enter a Keyword: Type in a keyword or phrase you're interested in. Moz will provide a list of suggestions along with useful metrics.
3. Analyze the Data: Look at the search volume, difficulty, and CTR to decide which keywords to target.
4. Use the Priority Score: This combines various metrics to give you an overall score, helping you prioritize your efforts.

Moz Keyword Explorer is particularly impressive, providing detailed keyword suggestions along with useful metrics like search volume and keyword difficulty. It's a great alternative to a tool like Ahrefs’ Keywords Explorer.

Pros and Cons

Pros:

• User-friendly interface
• Detailed and unique metrics
• Competitor analysis features

Cons:

• Limited data compared to more robust tools
• Free plan has limited queries

Pricing

• Free Plan: Up to 10 queries per tool per month
• Moz Pro: Starts at $99/month for 150 keyword queries per month

Moz Keyword Explorer is a solid choice for bloggers who want a comprehensive yet easy-to-use tool for keyword research.

4. Google Keyword Planner

Google Keyword Planner is a fantastic tool for bloggers looking to find the right keywords. It's free and comes straight from Google, so you know the data is reliable. However, it's primarily designed for advertisers, which means it has some quirks when used for SEO.

Why Use Google Keyword Planner?

• Free to Use: You don't have to spend a dime to access it.
• Reliable Data: The data comes directly from Google, making it trustworthy.
• Great for PPC: If you're running ads, this tool is a must-have.

How to Use Google Keyword Planner

1. Set Up a Google Ads Account: Unfortunately, you need to create a Google Ads account to access the tool. This can be a bit of a hassle, but it's worth it.
2. Discover New Keywords: Enter a seed keyword or a website URL to get a list of related keywords. You can also filter these keywords by location.
3. Analyze Search Volume: The tool provides a range for the monthly search volume, which can be a bit vague but still useful.
4. Forecast Performance: If you're planning a PPC campaign, you can get forecasts on how well your chosen keywords might perform.

While the monthly search volume ranges can be frustratingly broad, the tool's ability to group similar keywords is a nice touch.

Tips for Bloggers

• Use Google Search Console: Pair Google Keyword Planner with Google Search Console to find keywords you're already ranking for. This can help you optimize your existing content.
• Check Google Trends: For a more dynamic view of keyword popularity, use Google Trends alongside Keyword Planner.
• Focus on High Search Volume Keywords: Aim for keywords with a high search volume to attract more traffic.

Despite its limitations, Google Keyword Planner is a valuable tool for bloggers. It may not be perfect, but with a bit of patience, you can uncover some real keyword gems.

5. Ubersuggest

Ubersuggest is a fantastic free tool from Neil Patel that offers a lot of features for bloggers. You don't even need to create an account to use it, which is a huge plus. Just type in your keyword and you're good to go!

Key Features

• Search Volume Data: Get insights into how often a keyword is searched.
• Keyword Suggestions: Find related keywords to help expand your content.
• Keyword Difficulty: Understand how hard it will be to rank for a keyword.
• Content Ideas: Discover content related to your keyword, including estimated monthly visits, backlinks, and social shares.

Usability

Ubersuggest is super easy to use. The interface is intuitive, making it simple even for beginners to complete their research in minutes. You don’t even need to create an account to get started.

Reporting

While Ubersuggest provides essential metrics, it falls short in reporting. You can only export your data as a CSV file or copy it to your clipboard. There's no way to save your information on the cloud for later use.

Filters

The filter feature is adequate for most bloggers but lacks depth compared to other tools. It’s good enough to get the job done but don’t expect anything fancy.

My Favorite Feature

The Domain Keywords Checker is a standout. This feature lets you check the target keywords of any domain, helping you discover what keywords your competitors are using or what brings traffic to your site.

If you’re looking for a free keyword generator, Ubersuggest is surely worth checking out. It’s one of the few free keyword research tools I’d personally use to fuel my content marketing campaigns.

6. Keyword Tool

Keyword Tool is a simple yet powerful tool that uses autocomplete data to generate keyword ideas. It's perfect for bloggers looking to find the right keywords for their content.

Here's how it works:

1. Choose a Search Engine: Start by selecting the search engine you want to pull autocomplete suggestions from. Options include Google, Bing, Amazon, eBay, YouTube, and TikTok.
2. Enter a Seed Keyword: Input a broad keyword related to your niche. This is your starting point for generating keyword ideas.
3. Select Location: Choose the location you want to target. If you're not focusing on a specific region, select Global/Worldwide.
4. Hit Search: Keyword Tool will provide a long list of keywords related to your seed keyword, along with metrics like monthly search volume, trend data, average CPC, and competition score.
5. Sort and Filter: You can sort and filter the results by any of these metrics to find the most relevant keywords for your content.
6. Save Your Keywords: Add the keywords you want to target to your Keyword Basket. You can export your ideas to a CSV file or copy them to your clipboard.

Pros and Cons

Pros:

• Generate hundreds of keyword ideas in seconds
• Localized autocomplete suggestions
• Includes keyword search volume and competition metrics
• Easy to use

Cons:

• Relies solely on autocomplete data
• A bit expensive

Pricing

Plans start from $89/month, and you can save 20% with annual billing. Try it out for free.

If you're looking for a free keyword research tool, Keyword Tool offers a free version that can still provide valuable insights.

Keyword Tool is a great option for bloggers who want to streamline their keyword research process and find high search volume keywords quickly. Give it a try and see how it can help you improve your blog's SEO!

7. AnswerThePublic

If you're looking for a unique way to find keywords, AnswerThePublic is a fantastic tool to try out. It works by using autocomplete suggestions from search engines like Google to show you the questions people are asking. This can be super helpful for understanding what your audience wants to know.

How It Works

• No account needed: Just type in your keyword and hit search. No need to sign up.
• Visual format: Keywords are presented in a visual "search cloud," making it easy to see related questions and phrases.
• Data view: If you prefer, you can switch to a list or download the results as a CSV file.

Pros and Cons

Pros:

• Unique user interface
• Perfect for finding question keywords
• Easy-to-read visualizations

Cons:

• Limited to 3 free searches per day
• No keyword difficulty scoring

Pricing

• Free plan: 3 searches per day
• Paid plans: Start at $11/month for 100 daily searches

For bloggers in need of topic ideas, AnswerThePublic is a great starting point. However, it lacks important keyword metrics, so it's best used alongside another tool.

My Favorite Feature

The search cloud visualizations are incredibly useful. You just enter a seed keyword, and within seconds, you get a visual map of long-tail keyword ideas. This makes it super easy to find blog topics.

Worst Feature

The biggest downside is the lack of keyword metrics. You won't get search volume or competition data, which can be a deal-breaker for some.

Overall, AnswerThePublic is a handy tool for brainstorming content ideas, but you'll need another tool to get the full picture.

8. Long Tail Pro

Long Tail Pro is a fantastic tool for bloggers who want to find those hidden gem keywords that can drive traffic to their site. It's especially great for long tail keyword research, which can help you rank higher with less competition.

Why Use Long Tail Pro?

• User-Friendly Interface: It's super easy to navigate, even if you're new to SEO.
• Comprehensive Metrics: Get detailed insights like keyword competitiveness, search volume, and more.
• Free Option: While there are paid plans, you can start with a free trial to see if it fits your needs.

How to Get Started

1. Sign Up: Create an account on the Long Tail Pro website.
2. Enter Seed Keywords: Input a broad keyword related to your niche.
3. Analyze Results: Review the list of long tail keywords and their metrics.
4. Select Keywords: Choose the best keywords to target in your content.

Long Tail Pro was a decent basic keyword research tool for simple long tail keyword research. It's perfect for bloggers who want to focus on SEO keyword research – not paid ads keyword research.

Pros and Cons

Pros:

• Easy to use
• Detailed metrics
• Free trial available

Cons:

• Paid plans can be pricey
• Limited features in the free version

Overall, Long Tail Pro is a solid choice for bloggers looking to improve their SEO game. Give it a try and see how it can help you find those valuable long tail keywords!

9. SpyFu

SpyFu is a fantastic tool for spying on your competitors' keywords. Unlike other tools that expand on seed keywords, SpyFu focuses on grabbing the target keywords of your competitors. This makes it a unique and powerful addition to your SEO toolkit.

Key Features

• Competitor Analysis: Enter your competitor's domain to get a bird's-eye view of their keyword strategy.
• Keyword Data: Find out the distribution of their traffic between organic and paid channels.
• AdWords Insights: Get visibility over a competitor’s AdWords tactics.
• Backlink Profile: See your competitor’s backlink profile.

Usability

SpyFu is not the easiest tool to use, but it won't take you hours to figure out. Just be mindful that they use a traditional interface where menus are at the top of the page. This can make the overall experience slightly slower.

Suggestions

SpyFu excels in keyword suggestions. The volume of keyword suggestions you get depends on the website you're investigating. For big-name brands, SpyFu can provide tens of thousands of keywords if needed.

Reporting

SpyFu’s overview page is packed with keyword data and insights. You can even generate white-label reports, which is great if your blog is run by a team.

Filters

While SpyFu is incredible in terms of usability, keyword suggestions, and reports, the filters could be better. They can sometimes make the page look cluttered.

My Favorite Feature

The Most Valuable Keywords feature is a standout. It encourages you to spy on your competitors and leverage the keywords that already work for them. You can harvest keywords from categories like newly ranked keywords, page one keywords, “almost there” keywords, and most valuable keywords.

Worst Feature

SpyFu sometimes yields zero paid search keywords for some sites. This could be because they don’t have an active PPC campaign or they target a local audience.

If you’ve been trying to surpass a close competitor in SERPs, SpyFu can help you formulate a strategy using their own SEO keywords.

Recap

SpyFu is a powerful tool for bloggers looking to gain an edge over their competitors. It offers a range of features that can help you understand and leverage your competitors' keyword strategies. However, it does have some limitations, especially in terms of filters and paid keyword results.

10. Serpstat

Serpstat is a fantastic all-in-one SEO platform that offers a variety of tools to help you with keyword research, competitor analysis, and more. It's a great choice for bloggers who want to get serious about their SEO game.

Why Serpstat?

• Combined Filters: Serpstat's filters are top-notch. You can combine multiple filters to get a refined set of keywords. For example, you can filter keywords by search volume, CPC, and even misspellings.
• Competitor Analysis: Just enter your competitor's domain or top post URL, and Serpstat will show you the keywords they're ranking for. This is a great way to find new keyword opportunities.
• PPC Insights: If you're into PPC advertising, Serpstat can give you a list of your competitors for your seed keyword and even show you a preview of their ads.
• Daily SERP Updates: Add keywords to Serpstat's rank tracker to get daily updates on how your content is performing in the SERPs.
• Additional Tools: Besides keyword research, Serpstat offers domain analysis, backlink analysis, site auditing, and an AI content generator.

Serpstat is our main tool for all things SEO. We use Majestic for backlink analysis and Moz Pro occasionally, but all keyword research & tracking is done with Serpstat.

Pros and Cons

Pros

• Generate thousands of keyword ideas in seconds
• Analyze multiple keywords at once
• View important keyword metrics and historical trend data
• Access other SEO tools like rank tracking and backlink analysis

Cons

• Daily query limits
• Too many features can make the UI confusing for new users

Pricing

Plans start at $59/month, with discounts available for yearly billing. You can also get started with a 7-day free trial. Give Serpstat a try and see how it can boost your SEO efforts!

11. LowFruits

LowFruits is a fantastic tool for finding those low-competition keywords that you can actually rank for. It's perfect for bloggers who are just starting out or anyone looking to boost their SEO game without going up against the big players.

Why Use LowFruits?

• Low-Competition Keywords: This tool helps you find keywords that aren't too competitive, making it easier for you to rank.
• SERP Analyzer: It shows you the top 10 Google search results for your keyword and highlights weak spots in the SERPs.
• Keyword Clustering: Group similar keywords together to target them on a single page, increasing your visibility.

Key Features

1. Keyword Finder: Type in a keyword and get a list of valuable, long-tail keyword suggestions.
2. SERP Clusters: View similar keywords by search intent.
3. Semantic Clusters: Group keywords based on their word structure.
4. Rank Tracker: Monitor your keyword rankings over time.
5. Domain Explorer: Identify backlink opportunities.
6. Sitemap Extractor: See the content structure of your competitors' websites.

If you're looking for a tool that can help you find those hidden gem keywords, LowFruits is definitely worth a try.

How to Get Started

1. Sign up for an account on LowFruits.
2. Use the Keyword Finder to type in a keyword you're interested in.
3. Analyze the SERP results to find weak spots and low domain authority sites.
4. Use the Keyword Clustering feature to group similar keywords.
5. Track your rankings over time with the Rank Tracker.

LowFruits is a great addition to your SEO toolkit, especially if you're looking to find those easy-to-rank keywords. Give it a shot and see how it can help you improve your search engine rankings!

Conclusion

In the end, choosing the right SEO keyword research tool can make a huge difference for your blog. These tools help you find the best keywords to target, making it easier to rank higher on search engines and attract more readers.

Whether you go for a free option like Google Search Console or invest in a comprehensive tool like Semrush, the key is to find one that fits your needs and budget. Remember, the right tool can save you time and effort, allowing you to focus on creating great content.

So, explore your options, try out a few tools, and see which one works best for you.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is keyword research?

Keyword research is the process of finding and analyzing search terms that people enter into search engines. This helps bloggers and website owners understand what topics their audience is interested in.

Why is keyword research important for bloggers?

Keyword research helps bloggers discover what topics are popular and what their audience is searching for. This can help them create content that drives more traffic to their blog.

Are there free keyword research tools available?

Yes, there are several free keyword research tools available, such as Google Keyword Planner and Ubersuggest. These tools can help you find keywords without spending any money.

How often should I do keyword research?

It's a good idea to do keyword research regularly, especially before writing new content. This ensures that you are targeting the most relevant and current keywords.

Can keyword research tools help with SEO?

Absolutely! Keyword research tools can help you find the best keywords to target, which can improve your SEO and help your blog rank higher in search engine results.

What is the difference between short-tail and long-tail keywords?

Short-tail keywords are short and general search terms, while long-tail keywords are longer and more specific phrases. Long-tail keywords often have less competition and can be easier to rank for.