Keyword research is the process of identifying the words and phrases people enter into search engines.
There are lots of keyword research tools on the market that can help you with this.
In this post, we’ve compiled 11 of these keyword research tools—both free and paid.
Let’s go through them one by one.
1. Keyword Magic Tool
Keyword Magic Tool lets you generate keyword ideas for your business so you can attract traffic from search engines like Google.
This Semrush tool has the largest keyword database on the market with over 26 billion keywords across 142 international databases.
So, it doesn't matter what industry or location your business is in. The tool will give you access to a vast pool of relevant keywords to support your SEO and content marketing efforts.
Which can directly impact your bottom line.
But how does this tool work?
- Enter your seed keyword (a broad term related to your business) into the tool
- Enter your domain name in the “AI-powered feature” box
- Select your preferred country
- And click “Search.”
Let’s say you’re in the fitness space. So let’s search for “workout.”
You’ll see a list of keyword ideas. In this case, the tool returned around 1.3 million potential keywords.
You can then work with various filters to narrow down the list to find exactly what you need:
- Questions: Shows keyword phrases in question format (who, what, where, when, why, how) related to your seed keyword. For example, "how to work out at home" or "what workout burns the most fat."
- Broad Match, Phrase Match, Exact Match, and Related: Shows different variations of your seed keyword that help you discover all possible ways in which people search
- Volume: See keywords that get a specific number of searches per month (e.g., from 100 or 101 to 1000). Search volume is the average number of monthly searches for the keyword in the selected location.
- Personal KD %: Find keywords based on how difficult it would be for your specific website to rank in the top 10 results for them. For example, a Personal KD of 80% means it would be very challenging, while a Personal KD of 30% suggests it's more achievable.
- Intent: See keywords that reflect a specific search intent, like “Informational,” “Navigational,” “Commercial,” or “Transactional.” Search intent is the purpose (or the “why?”) behind each search.
Select the filters you’re interested in and your results will automatically narrow according to the new criteria.
For example, if you want to create fitness-related content on your website, you could:
- Set the Intent filter to "Informational" to find keywords people use when seeking knowledge
- Set the Personal KD % to “Possible” to target keywords you have a realistic chance of ranking for
- Toggle the “Show ranking keywords” option to see keywords you’ve not yet targeted with your content. AKA new keywords.
This might show you keywords that are perfect for creating articles around.
If you're looking for an easy-to-use SEO keyword research tool powered by a massive global database, Semrush's Keyword Magic Tool is an excellent choice.
Pricing: A free, limited version is available. Paid plans start at $117.33 per month, charged annually.
2. Keyword Overview
Keyword Overview gives you relevant information about specific keywords so you can decide whether to target them or not.
To use this tool:
- Enter the keyword(s) you want to analyze
- Enter your domain name to get personalized insights
- Select the country
- Click “Search”
The tool will generate an overview report for your keyword.
The report consists of three main sections.
The first section gives you a quick snapshot of key metrics, like:
- Volume: A higher volume indicates more searches for the keyword, but it may also mean more competition
- Personal KD: A higher score means it’s difficult to rank for the term. If your website is new, it might be better to target keywords with lower keyword difficulty scores.
- Intent: If the intent is informational, you can say that the user is looking to learn something and you will need to create a blog post to rank for the term.
The second section will give you an overview of other relevant keywords. Which might be worth looking at if the main keyword is too hard to rank for.
You can click the “View all # keywords” buttons to see all the keyword ideas.
Next, the “SERP Analysis” section shows you the current top-ranking pages for the analyzed keyword in your chosen location.
If you plan to target your main keyword, check the top-ranking pages to understand what makes them successful.
Look at factors like content quality, number of backlinks (other websites linking to a domain), user experience, and optimize your own page accordingly. Read our SEO writing guide if you need help.
Keyword Overview provides you with valuable data about your keywords and offers actionable insights that can guide your SEO strategy. It’s one of the best keyword analysis tools on the market.
Pricing: A free version is available. Paid plans start at $117.33 per month, charged annually.
3.Google Trends
Google Trends is a free keyword tool that lets you assess the popularity of keywords over time, which is helpful for anticipating trends and patterns in user behavior.
Open the tool, enter your keyword into the search bar, and click “Explore.”
Then, select the last 12-month timeframe. You’ll see whether the interest for that keyword is growing, declining, or remaining steady.
Steady or growing popularity for a particular keyword indicates that the keyword would be a good opportunity for you to create content around.
The tool will also show you related queries and topics. In other words, new keyword ideas.
You can also compare two or more keywords to see which keyword is the most popular.
For example, if we compare “keto diet” with “paleo diet,” we see more people are searching for “keto diet”
That doesn’t make “paleo diet” a bad keyword to target. It’s just something to take note of. You can target both keywords if they’re relevant to your business.
If you’re looking to understand the popularity of any keyword, find related queries, and make comparisons, Google Trends is a great option.
Pricing: Google Trends is free.
4. Google Keyword Planner
Google Keyword Planner is one of the best free keyword research tools. It’s primarily used by advertisers who invest in pay-per-click (PPC) advertising with Google Ads, but you can also use it to find keywords for SEO.
To access Keyword Planner, you need a Google Ads account. If you’re not sure how to set that up, follow the instructions in our guide to Google Keyword Planner.
You can use this tool to do two things:
- Find new keywords
- Find historical data about keywords
To find new keywords, click “Discover new keywords.” Then enter your seed keyword and click “Get results.”
You’ll see a bunch of keyword ideas in seconds.
To find monthly search volume data for a list of keywords, click “Get search volume and forecasts.” Then, you can type, copy and paste, or upload your list of keywords. And click “Get started.”
Analyzing search volume data is valuable for identifying trends. Whether a keyword's search volume is increasing, decreasing, or remaining steady over time.
Increasing search volume for a keyword indicates growing interest in that topic. If search volume is decreasing, the topic might be losing popularity. And a steady search volume suggests a consistent level of interest.
Based on these insights, you can figure out which keywords are going to be valuable for your business going forward.
Pricing: Google Keyword Planner is free.
5. AnswerThePublic
AnswerThePublic is keyword software that uses autocomplete suggestions from search engines like Google to find questions people are searching for.
In other words, question-based keywords.
You can use these keywords and address them in your content to rank for them.
Let’s say you’re creating an article on the “keto diet.” Use “keto diet” as your seed keyword and look at the search data.
The tool shows queries related to “keto diet,” grouped in a visual:
Search terms marked with a darker shade of orange are more popular.
You can also view the same data in table format:
All these questions help you understand what your audience wants to know.
Pricing: AnswerThePublic has a free version. Paid plans start at $6.42 per month, charged annually.
6. AlsoAsked
AlsoAsked aggregates questions from People Also Ask (PAA) boxes that Google shows in search engine results pages (SERPs).
When you search for a specific keyword in the tool, it shows all the question keywords using a branching diagram that illustrates the relationship between keywords.
For example, here are the questions related to “keto diet.”
As you can see, there are four primary questions:
- What can I eat on a keto diet?
- What are the basic rules of a keto diet
- What is not allowed in keto?
- Are keto diets healthy?
These questions have their own PAA results.
If you click on one of the branches, you’ll see even more questions
So the tool doesn’t just show questions you could cover in your content. It also shows you the relationships between these questions. Which can help you structure your articles.
This way, you’re covering the most important questions in the order they’re likely to get asked.
You can also export this data as a CSV file or image to use for analysis or presentations.
Pricing: AlsoAsked offers a free plan. Paid plans start at $9 per month, charged annually.
7. Keyword Surfer
Keyword Surfer is a keyword research tool available as a Chrome extension. It allows you to see keyword suggestions directly in the SERPs.
First, install the keyword suggestion tool from the Chrome Web Store. Then do a Google search.
The tool will automatically show keyword ideas in a panel on the right side of the SERP. Along with the search volume of each keyword. And the amount of overlap the suggested keyword has with your original query.
Besides keyword ideas, Keyword Surfer also shows useful information about every search result.
Namely:
- Estimated monthly traffic
- The number of words on the page
- How many times the exact search phrase appears on a page
- A “TITLE CHANGED” badge in case Google has changed the original title tag
Pricing: Keyword Surfer is a freemium tool. Paid plans start at $79 per month, charged annually.
8. Keyword Gap
Keyword Gap presents you with your competitors’ keyword profiles and shows you how many keywords you share with your competitors (i.e., common keywords). It also shows you keywords they rank for, but you don’t (i.e., missing keywords).
The missing keywords are basically new keyword opportunities for your website.
To find those keywords, open the tool, enter your domain and up to four competitors, and click “Compare.”
The tool will generate a comprehensive report.
In the “Keyword Overlap” section, you’ll see the relative size of each domain’s keyword profile and how much they overlap.
If you scroll down, you can analyze your current keyword profile against your competition.
Focus on the “Missing” and “Weak” tabs to find keywords you haven’t targeted yet. Or those you could perform better for.
Pricing: A free option with limited functionality is available. Paid plans start at $117.33 per month, charged annually.
9. Keyword Tool
Keyword Tool uses autocomplete data from various search engines and platforms, including Google, Bing, YouTube, Amazon, Instagram, eBay, and Play Store, to help you find keyword ideas and popular hashtags.
First, select the search engine and country you want to view data for. Then, enter your seed keyword and hit the search icon.
The tool will generate a list of autocomplete suggestions, questions, and prepositions from your selected source (which is Google in the example below).
Select all the keywords you want to target and click the export icon to download them as a CSV or Excel file.
Pricing: A free version is available. Paid plans start at $69 per month, charged annually.
10. TubeBuddy
TubeBuddy is a browser extension that helps you perform YouTube-specific keyword research to optimize and grow your YouTube channel.
After you install the browser extension, the TubeBuddy logo and menu will appear in the top right corner of any YouTube page.
To use the tool, click on the logo. And then click on “Keyword Explorer” in the menu that appears.
Then, enter a keyword in the search bar provided.
In the “Summary” tab, you’ll find the keyword’s “Overall Score.” Which is calculated based on how much competition that keyword has and how many people search for it every month.
The “Summary” tab also contains other information. Like how popular the keyword has been over time on YouTube and Google. And related searches.
Click the “Results” tab for a snapshot of the current YouTube results for that keyword. Including both videos and channels.
You can use this information for competitive research.
If you click through to watch one of those videos, you’ll find a “Videolytics” panel. It shows performance data, SEO, best practices, and even video tags:
TubeBuddy is the all-in-one solution for YouTube keyword research, competitor analysis, and optimizing your own video content for improved visibility.
Pricing: A free option is available. Paid plans start at $3.75 per month, charged annually.
11. Exploding Topics
Exploding Topics helps you discover trending topics and keywords before they become mainstream.
If you can spot and create content around these trends early, you'll have less competition and better chances of ranking well in search results.
To get started, open the tool, select the category relevant to your business, and set your desired time range. For example, here are some trending topics in the fitness industry:
If a particular topic catches your eye, click on it. You'll see the keyword's search volume, growth rate, and a trend graph:
The tool also shows the other related topics that are gaining traction:
Exploding Topics is an invaluable resource for staying ahead of industry trends and finding emerging topics you can create content around
Pricing: A free, limited version is available. The pricing starts from $39 per month (billed annually).
Try Free Keyword Research Tools with Semrush
Semrush has a suite of keyword research tools that help you find and analyze keywords for your business.
Want to test them out before committing to a paid plan?
No problem! You can sign up for a free trial.
And if you want to learn more about keyword research in general, here’s what you should read next: