8 Keyword Research Tools that Will Revolutionize the Way You Look at SEO
Keyword research tools play a vital role in content marketing when it comes to trending searches and topics as well as user intent. These 8 keyword research tools should be in your toolbox.
Have you ever wondered what lies at the core of every successful SEO strategy and content marketing campaign?
Well, it’s nothing more than smartly selected keywords. Keyword research is not rocket science, but at the same time, you cannot choose your keywords at random. Some leading companies spend thousands of dollars each year for keyword research. A few of these companies even have dedicated teams for conducting keyword research. This can seem very baffling and all too expensive for new start-ups and small businesses, but the secret to good keyword research is well chosen tools.
Just a note: This post was originally published on Nov. 21, 2016 but has been updated to reflect newer and awesomer keyword research tools.
Why should you be using keyword research tools?
- Hummingbird update from Google: Hummingbird swooped in with major changes in the way Google perceived keywords. All subsequent updates have laid more emphasis on the meaning and context of the keywords rather than isolated phrases or words. This has made it challenging for websites to achieve traffic by stuffing keywords, as was the norm a few years ago.
- What determines SRL ranking?
There is no standardized method that gives you an absolute understanding of what determines the rank of your website in the SERPs. Google no longer provides any information on ranking factors. Only a few third-party websites step in with “useful” info, but that is simply not enough to explain all the personalization at the users’ end.
What happens when keywords become your ultimate goal?
Well, successful content marketing and high ranking should be your goal, and the selection of the right keywords should be the path. Putting all your focus on keyword research can compromise the quality of your content.
A combination of all of these factors and the forever evolving nature of search word preferences from the users’ end make it extremely necessary for all website admins to use stellar keyword research tools that give an idea of trending search words.
1. Google’s Keyword Planner
Google’s Keyword Planner surely deserves the top spot. This is a must-have for more than one reason. First, it’s free and that is simply reason enough for most of us to install it and use it at least once before taking the oath of never using any other keyword tool ever again. Secondly, it is designed to give you accurate information on the choice of keywords. All you have to do is insert a few phrases including your keyword of choice (relevant to your brand and rest of the content), and Google’s Keyword Planner will give you a detailed report on search volume and the relative competition you may face while using them. The only disadvantage of using Google’s Keyword Planner is that it is designed for paid advertising campaigns, but worry not, you can easily work around this limitation.
2. Ubersuggest
Ubersuggest is a super cool keyword search tool that not only helps you understand the status of the keyword you may have chosen, it also goes on to incept keyword ideas in your head. You can bounce off keyword ideas all day with Ubersuggest, and this tool will actively participate in building new phrases, giving you new suggestions and helping you understand the potential of your chosen keyword. If your campaign is taking baby steps, Ubersuggest is the tool for you!
3. LINKIO
Linkio is a fairly new and pretty awesome keyword research tool. I personally get tired of bouncing back and forth between different tools during the keyword research phase of my projects, but Linkio has enabled me to manage multiple keyword campaigns from a single platform. I can’t stress how important and time saving this is to me. This tool will allow you to plan, track, automate, and report on link building campaigns quickly and efficiently. This keyword research tool will have a definitive impact on your campaigns moving forward and at the very minimum you should check out their demo video and FREE trial here.
4. Soovle
What happens when Ubersuggest is mashed up with Google’s Keyword Planner? Well, that’s when you get Soovle. It employs auto-suggest features of several popular engines at a time. This includes Google, YouTube, Amazon, Bing, yahoo, Wikipedia and Answers. The list of suggested keywords may not be as populated as Ubersuggest, but the diversity is beyond your wildest imagination. From listing your products on Amazon to opening your own YouTube channel, you can make use of Soovle to get to the top of any SRL within a few days.
5. KeywordInspector
The Amazon keyword trends tool from keywordinspector.com in an amazing addition to any website owner’s tool suite. You can search through the repository of the day’s top trending keywords, week’s top keywords and search on amazon.com for keyword ideas. You can check up on the search volume in the last 7 days, one month or even an overall average. You can search according to categories and sort by a number of preferences offered by this keyword research tool. KeywordInspector is a suite of a number of keyword research tools that helps you get to the top of every SRL on all search engines.
6. SEOCockpit
SEOCockpit is one of the most well known tools that SEO experts and content managers look for when they need reliable reports on keyword trends, organic competition and traffic approximations. This must-have tool often includes results by including Google suggest and synonyms from Google Adwords. The results are an exact duplicate of Google’s Keyword Planner, but you can get a detailed overview of all the competitions your chosen keyword will face by simply clicking on the keyword.SEOCockpit is especially recommended if you want your product to be a raging success on Amazon, Alibaba, eBay and other popular ecommerce stores.
7. SEMRush
This is a must-have in all SEO and Keyword research tool list. SEMRush may be a paid tool, but it is highly recommended for ecommerce websites, retailer sites and content-rich sites that are looking for a spot on the first page of SERPs. To pull up all information about your website, all you need to do is input your website domain. The info includes website ranking, competitor ranking and keyword selection options based on your ranking factors.
8. MozKeyword Explorer
You can call this Google Keyword Planner’s younger sibling. Moz’sKeyword Explorer is an exceptional keyword research tool. This one can give you a more detailed result with keyword analysis and rating of your competitor sites. It will give you the chance to explore the realm of successful keywords with much detailed recommendations, and the value of each keyword suggestion.
The factors that govern SEO and rankings aren’t written down in stone. This makes optimizing websites both easy as well as confusing at times. It always pays off to have a friend by your side when you are off to unveiling the mysteries of SEO, and what can be better than any of the keyword research tools that can give you a bunch of untapped and low-competition keywords in a few seconds?
