4 Free SEO Keyword Research Tools
You could have the best SEO skills in the world, but if your keyword research is flawed, you’re doomed to fail. Imagine spending hours and hours of time building a solid link-building and on-page campaign only to find out that the keywords you’ve targeted aren’t going to make money for your business. Not only would you have wasted time and money, but just think about the wasted opportunity. Don’t let it happen to you. Use the following tools to help come up with a solid keyword strategy for your SEO campaign. Even with the best tools, it’s not easy work, but it’s necessary if you want to get ahead.
1. Google Keyword Tool
You may think you know which keywords people will use to find your product or services, but that’s usually not the case. Sure, some people might use the keywords you’re thinking about, but you want to know what the majority of people are searching for. That’s where the Google Adwords Keyword tool comes in handy. First, sign up for an Adwords account (whether you plan to run ads or not). Next, familiarize yourself with the tool. You can research keywords by entering your web address and letting Google decide which searches are relevant (this is actually a great exercise to see whether your site’s content is relevant enough). You can also enter the keywords you have in mind and select the box that returns results closely related to your searches. Just be sure to select “Exact Match” in the “Match types” option in the right sidebar to see the exact number of searches for any given keyword.
2. Rank Checker
This SEO tool is actually a Firefox extension that will show you which keywords your site is already ranking for. It may not be at number one, but it’s easier to start from 30 than it is to start at 5 million. The point here is that your site is already optimized for these keywords, so you won’t have to work as hard for a number one spot.
3. SEM Rush
Competitive analysis is so important when it comes to SEO. If you want to bump a site out of the top spot for any keyword, you must be better than they are. It’s that simple. This tool will give you a snapshot of any competitor’s site and the keywords they are ranking for. You may already know some of them, and others may give you ideas of keywords to add to your campaign.
4. Spyfu
Although this tool is primarily for paid-search tracking, it does offer some insight on which keywords are strongest for a given site organically and through paid search. If your competitor is paying for a specific keyword, you may want to consider it in your organic SEO campaign. And when you enter a keyword into the search bar (instead of a competitor’s url), you’ll be presented with a snapshot of just how competitive that keyword is in the paid search market, which mimics the organic search market.