4 Awesome and Free Keyword Research Tools
OK. You want to get more people peeking at your content. So you need to use the keywords that are most relevant to your content, most commonly used by your audiences, and ideally that have the least amount of competition vying for those coveted spots on the first page of search engine results.
What do you do?
Maybe you depend on the magic of Squarespace or the science of your Wordpress Yoast plug-in to promise you the best results.
Or...you can take matters into your own hands with these awesome and free keyword research tools.
The Google.
Google is the gold standard. And that means everyone goes to Google's Keyword Planner and Trends tools first. Yes, there's great value to be had here. In the Keyword Planner, you can enter in your URL to have Google suggest the keywords you should focus on, or search around for keywords and related keywords to optimize based on the topics you have in mind. You'll get great data like how many people are searching for these keywords each month, how hot the competition is to be high in the search results rankings, and even how much you might bid on the keyword were you to launch some paid efforts.
Soovle
Soovle describes itself as "a customizable engine that provides the suggestion services from all the major providers in one place" and "a way to look spiffy when performing a web search. Be sure to hit the right-arrow a couple of times while showing it off."
Enter your keyword into Soovle and it'll show you the top variations on your keyword as shown in searches on Wikipedia, Google, Amazon, Answers.com, YouTube, bing, and Yahoo. You can even download a CSV of your keywords to help with content planning. Yeah.
7Search
Yes, 7Search is an advertising platform so that part's not free. But, I have not misled you. You can use their keyword search tool for free. And it's a great way to find those long-tail keywords that generate the highest-quality traffic.
Ubersuggest
No, there is no ride-sharing plan here. Just a friendly and free keyword research tool. You know how when you Google something, Google will suggest keywords to search for? Like if you type in "keyword" it'll suggest additional words to pair with that first word, or if you type "keyword t," it'll suggest things like "keyword tool" or "keyword tool free" or... you get the idea. Well, Ubersuggest basically aggregates all that info for you in one place so you don't have to sit there searching for every letter of the alphabet to pair with your head term. Pretty smart! And you can easily download the suggestions, or click to see Google trend data on your favorite keyword options.
So, there you have it. Four awesome and free tools to help you research the right keywords to leverage in your fabulous content, attract more visitors, and build that brand.