The Top 6 Keyword Research Tools
As marketers, we thrive on data that steers us in the right direction and drives results. To expand upon that statement, think about marketing as such: the holy grail of our efforts is yielding the maximum amount of ROI out of everyday tasks.
One of the major players in achieving this–yeah, you guessed it–keyword research.
If marketing is a dark hallway, then keywords can be considered a flashlight to tell us where to go. It tells us what our online personas are looking for, which phrases are trending, which are harder to rank for… the list goes on and on.
We’re here to shine a light on this dark corridor, and lead you to some of the best keyword research tools out there right now. We’ll also show you how you can use them to bolster your digital strategy.
Free Keyword Research Tools
We all like things that are free, right? No need to shield your eyes on the price tag–these are all 0 money dollars!
Google Keyword Planner - Although this requires an AdWords account, paid campaigns aren’t mandatory in order to research keywords. You can search by location; it’s a pretty handy tool! See the keywords section below:
Übersuggest - Do you want to get a crap-ton of suggestions for keyword ideas at once? Then Übersuggest is great: you can search alphabetically by suggestion, and even see Google Trends to search the interest rate of the keyword over time:
Keywood Tool.io - This is pretty nifty because it allows you to search by website and region. So if you wanted to see Google results in Belgium for this keyword, well, you’re in luck! It also allows you to type in 5 Negative Keywords, or “exclude unwanted keyword results.” However, keep in mind it does slap you in the face with “Buy our Keyword Tool Pro!”
Paid Keyword Research Tools
Now most things come at a price--after all, “there’s no such thing as a free lunch,” as your standard economics book would say.
SEMrush - If you haven’t heard of SEMrush, you must be living under a rock. This keyword tool is the ultimate competitor monitoring tool so you can see what they’re ranking for–and, as aptly put by HubSpot, allows you to “find opportunities to bump them out for a top position.” While it can be pricey, it’s well worth the Benjamins for the analytics and trends it offers:
Moz’s Keyword Difficulty Tool - The niche for this tool is the ability for you to see the difficulty of a keyword, and to uncover low-hanging fruit that we all love to find. Another added benefit? You can export the data and metrics at any time to be a CSV to analyze and do whatever you see fit with.
Long Tail Pro - Similar to SEMrush, Long Tail Pro has a fantastic competitor feature where you can track the number of other people/businesses that have specifically targeted that keyword to use. It’s fast, and gives you a definitive idea on how difficult a keyword is to rank for. Many experts note this tool pays for itself over time:
Keyword Research Away!
Are you pumped to search for the right keywords to drive ROI in your business (or your client’s business)? You should be! Case in point: there’s a lot of great resources out there that you’re not taking advantage of.
If you’re ready to maximize the impact you make on your business’s blog, then do so, and make sure to tell us all about your success!
Original Article