My Top 10 Free, Tried, and Tested (by me) Keyword Research Tools.

If you’re ready to get stuck into some keyword research and supercharge your content writing with search engine-optimised keywords, you need the right tools.

But Keyword Research tools can be pricey and, unless you want to become a fully-fledged keyword research expert, quite overwhelming and complicated to use.

So, if you’d prefer to carry on doing the work you love AND create amazing keyword-optimised traffic that’s going to get your website more visitors, check out my curated list of free keyword tools you can get started with without breaking the bank. 

1. AHREFS KEYWORD GENERATOR

I'm an Ahrefs girl through and through, and I can't recommend these free tools highly enough.

I think Ahrefs is THE ultimate keyword research tool, and it's also amazing at finding backlinks, but that's not something we need to worry about today.

You can use the keyword generator for free to start with then there is a week-long trial for $7.

If you do your homework before you start your trial, so you know what you're looking for, you can get all your keyword research done for free, or $7 at the most!

Click on the link for the free tool.

Ahrefs keyword generator

2. ANSWER THE PUBLIC

I'm so glad they got rid of the smirking creepy guy who used to hang around on the homepage of this site. I used to avoid using it because I felt he was staring at me!

They’ve now got a lovely picture of Neil Patel, who recently bought the company.

But, whoever’s picture is on the home page, this is a brilliant keyword research tool.

Pop your subject into the search box, and it comes back with a graphical representation showing the questions people are asking, which are essentially the words and phrases you need to use as a starter for your keyword research.

I need to be researching keywords like "what is SEO" and "will SEO exist in 5 years".  

Enter your niche in the search box to find out what you need to be talking about. 

I think you get three free searches a day if you register with them.

Here's the link.

Answer The Public

3. UBERSUGGEST

Ah, Neil Patel again. Ubersuggest is his SEO and keyword research tool that I use alongside Ahrefs when I'm doing all my keyword research.

I suggest you try out Ahrefs and Ubersuggest to find your favourite.

You'll find that you get different results when using these two different tools, but that's because they use the source data in a different way.

I use Ahrefs because SEO is my bread and butter, and it has tonnes of functionality that I don't get with Ubersuggest. 

But I think Ubersuggest has better free search tools and is great if you're not planning on becoming an SEO strategist just yet.

Make your own mind up by clicking here.

Ubersuggest

4. MOZ

Another great free keyword research tool. You'll need to create a Moz account to access their free tools, but they are great.

And you'll get some great info and training from them too.

Again, play around with the free tools and decide on your favourite. Ahrefs, Ubersuggest, or Moz?

They are all great, but pick one and stick with it.

Moz

5. GOOGLE TRENDS

If you want your data straight from the horse's mouth, get yourself over to Google Trends.

Just click on the link I've given you below and enter your search term or topic into the box, and Google will show you what people are looking for.

If you put Halloween into the search box, you'll see that people in West Virginia love their Halloween celebrations.

People want to know about costume ideas and horror night, so this tells you what you need to be talking about if you're in the Halloween business - and you need to get yourself out to West Virginia!

Google Trends

6. BING WEBMASTER TOOLS

Bing's got lots of free tools you can use to understand what people in your target market are searching for, and the great news is, they're free.

Again, you'll have to create an account, but the tools are super easy to use once you're all set up.

Get going by clicking here.

Bing webmaster tools

7. ALSO ASKED

Also, Asked is great!

Have you ever noticed that box on the first page on Google's search results that says "People Also Asked"? Well, that is keyword research gold.

Say you're working in the travel industry and want to find out what your target market is searching for in terms of luxury beach holidays.

If you Google "luxury beach holidays", you'll get a bonus list of things people want to know about directly related to that search. 

Look, this is what comes up, 4 really helpful suggestions for you.

But, if you use Also Asked, you'll get lots more. Sixteen weeks of blog content?!!

You get three free searches a day, so plan out what you really want to know about and get asking.

Here's the link.

Also Asked

8. QUESTION DB

Let's be yoga teachers this time. Enter "Yoga Teachers" into Question DB, and you'll get 50 questions that people are searching for related to yoga teachers.

The results you get will give you amazing content ideas you can use straight away, or you can take these questions and do a bit more keyword research to make sure enough people are searching for these terms to make it worth your while writing about them. 

Either way, it's a great tool.

What are you going to find out more about?

QuestionDB 

9. KEYWORD SURFER

I love keyword surfer. It's a Chrome extension you add to your browser that gives you excellent keyword suggestions.

It's similar to a much more expensive Ahrefs extension that I use, but this free tool gives you great functionality, and unless you need the expensive bells and whistles, I'd stick with this.

So, install the Keyword Surfer extension and then Google something to do with your niche.

Let's try googling "Empowerment Coach." 

Not only that, but Keyword surfer also uses AI to create article outlines that include all the key topics you should cover in an article about Empowerment coaching. I've found the ordering of the plan isn't great, but it's excellent for content topic suggestions. 

10. SEMRUSH MAGIC KEYWORD TOOL

And last but not least, here's another keyword research tool. Semrush's Keyword Magic Tool.

It's a great tool that you might want to pop one of the keywords you've found in Keyword Surfer or Question DB to see if it would work for your business.

Let's take Life Coaching, the keyword suggested by Keyword Surfer as something you add to a blog you write about Empowerment Coaching.

This shows you that it might be quite hard to rank for Life Coaching, but there is lots you can take away from these results. KD means keyword difficulty, and the easiest term you could rank for here is "the benefits of life coaching."

The best thing about Semrush's tool is that it tells you what people want to do when searching for something. 

Searcher intent is a MASSIVE thing, and Semrush's intent column shows you exactly what information you need to give to satisfy it.

C - Commercial - Investigate brands or services.

T - Transaction - Wants to complete a transaction

I - Information - The searcher wants an answer to a question.

So, with this in mind, you'd write an article on Empowerment Coaching, with a section on the benefits of life coaching that gave answers to their questions on that subject. Don't know what those questions are...look them up using the tools you've found out about in this article!

Keyword Magic Tool

That's enough for you to be getting on with!

I've shared a LOT of free Keyword Research guides and resources with you, and the last thing I want to do is overwhelm you.

 My advice to you would be to click on the links, have a quick look around and see who you like the look of. Everyone here has a very different style of teaching and tools that satisfy different strokes for different folks!

Find your favourites, and stick with them. None of them is any "better" than the other; they're all great. 

And, if you do want to dig a bit deeper, why don't you read my blog all about how to get started with keyword research using AI?

But, let me know, what's your favourite keyword research tool?