SEMRush is one of the most popular keyword research tools today. What makes this tool unique is that it gives you not only search volume but also keyword competition. The data it provides allows for informed decision making. Some people, however, are always skeptical about whether they are getting accurate information or not.
Here is a list of free tools I use to generate keyword ideas, improve keyword research and uncover new keywords. These free keyword research tools make keyword research faster and easier.
Zutrix
Zutrix is one of the finest tools for rank tracking that offers a complete set of features to take care of all your requirements. Unlike other tools, Zutrix provides a simple solution that can help you track your keyword rankings accurately using its AI-powered engine. Zutrix also has a real-time notification feature that allows you to track the changes in your rankings instantly through Telegram, Slack, and email.
Key Features:
- Geo-targeted results
- AI-powered accuracy
- Real-time notification
- Tracking competitors
- Live sharing for reports
- Keyword lab for ideas
- White-label reports
Pros
- High accuracy
- Fast search results
- White-label customization for reports
- Telegram notifications
- Keyword analysis like CTR, search volume, and competition level
Cons
- API is not available yet
Tool/Platform/Software Level
Beginner, Zutrix is designed for everyone.
Pricing
- Basic 28 – 250 Keywords Tracked/Daily
- Standard 54 – 500 Keywords Tracked/Daily
- Advanced 99 – 1000 Keywords Tracked/Daily
Pro Tip: When you’ve optimized your posts, you can leverage the real-time notifications to see their impact on the rankings.https://aaf7667ef91525d0a9a3b3fd3e9e7d5a.safeframe.googlesyndication.com/safeframe/1-0-38/html/container.html
Traffic Travis
Want a rigorous SEO health checkup for your website?
Traffic Travis can do this and more. This robust rank tracking tool detects technical gaps in your on-page and off-page SEO that may be impacting your ranking. It analyzes your backlinks and keeps a tab on your Adwords competitors.
The best part?
You also get a link finder that identifies authoritative websites and domains that you should target for boosting your backlink profile.
Image via Traffic Travis
Pricing
The tool is free for download. You have to provide your email address to get the download link.
Keyword Surfer
Keyword Surfer is a newer tool that plugs right into the Chrome web browser. When it’s on, results automatically display on the right side of your results page each time you enter a search term.
The data delivered by Keyword Surfer includes:
- Keyword ideas with their volume
- Cost per click (CPC) for each search term
- Pages that rank for the term you entered
- Traffic to pages ranked 1 through 10 for that term
It’s a highly efficient keyword research tool and delivers results as you use your web browser. As a new tool, there may be some kinks to work out. Data delivered by the plugin can sometimes differ from data supplied by other Google search tools. However, it’s a fast and easy way to get content ideas.
AnswerThePublic
AnswerThePublic is a great place to see raw search insights. After you enter your search term(s), it displays the questions people are asking related to that topic. The results are shown in a graphic display with all the who, what, where, when, why and other questions users ask.
It’s a powerful way to generate keyword ideas and see what your potential customers actually want to know. You can download the data as a graph or a list.
There is one con for this tool: With a limit of 3 free searches a day, you have to be thoughtful about each phrase you search.
Keyword Sheeter
Keyword Sheeter pulls autocomplete results from Google. It delivers real-time data on what people are typing into the search engine.
If you want to generate a long list of keyword ideas fast, Keyword Sheeter is an excellent choice. It pulls about 1,000 ideas per minute, and exporting your list is free.
It’s a simple and powerful resource to identify ideas for blog topics. However, the free features of Keyword Sheeter do not include search volume or data on how competitive it is to rank for a phrase.
Keyworddit
Keyworddit mines Reddit for keywords. To use it, enter a specific subreddit with at least 10,000 subscribers and specify a timeframe. The tool searches through the titles and comments to extract up to 500 keywords with search volumes.
Due to the variety of answers within each subreddit, the relevance of the results may vary. There is an option to specify high relevance, which slows down the tool somewhat.
Keyworddit is not designed to replace other keyword research tools, but it can be an interesting complement to your existing strategy. Reddit is a popular site where people with specific interests take deep dives into a topic. It may reveal keyword phrases and blog topics you wouldn’t find using other search tools.
The free account limits you to 50 results per query.
Ahrefs Keyword Generator
Ahrefs Keyword Generator is one of the free tools offered by Ahrefs, which is a popular paid service. Enter any target keyword or phrase, and it will pull the top 100 keyword ideas from its database of over 8 billion keywords from more than 170 countries.
For each keyword phrase, the Keyword Generator displays:
- Search volume
- Keyword difficulty from 1 to 100
- How recently this result was updated
- A list of questions related to your search term
You can use this keyword research tool to identify long-tail keywords, target less competitive phrases, and isolate your search using geographic location or search engine.
It allows you to export your data by downloading your list of results. In addition to the Keyword Generator that pulls from Google, Ahrefs also has free Bing, YouTube, and Amazon tools.
While some freemium services include the SERP results inside the keyword search tool, Ahrefs provides their free SERP service on a separate page.
Ahrefs Keyword Generator is an efficient and valuable free tool that allows you to do unlimited searches without creating an account. However, unlike other tools, it does not allow you to download your results. And, because you don’t create an account with the free service, you have to prove you’re not a robot with every new search.
Ubersuggest
Ubersuggest provides a wealth of information with its free version. When you enter a search term, it displays the search volume, SEO difficulty, paid difficulty, and CPC.
Immediately beneath that display, it identifies the number of backlinks you would need to rank on the first page of Google for that keyword phrase.
As you scroll down, you can view lists of keyword ideas and page content ideas.
The list of page content ideas displays related blog titles. At a glance, you can see how many people click on and share each article. You can export most of your data reports to CSV to save and sort. Ubersuggest provides a free Chrome extension to see data right on the SERP easily.
The free version limits your use to a single website and 3 keyword searches per day.
Google Trends
Google Trends will help you see the relative popularity of keywords, provide valuable data on regional variations, and is a great source for evaluating seasonality and trends in changes with search engine volume for specific keywords over time.
This data is valuable because it will help you avoid jumping on a trend that has passed and will let you see what matters to Google users now.
Comparisons:
You can compare multiple keywords to help you determine audience interests over time.
Semrush Free Option — Keyword Magic Tool
The Semrush Keyword Magic Tool is a simple tool to use for keyword research, and it provides a good deal of information. Free users can perform 10 requests per day, but keep in mind that each query in this tool counts towards your daily limit of 10 queries in Domain and Keyword Analytics.
Semrush Keyword Magic Tool is one of several free tools offered by SEO giant Semrush. To access their free tools, create an account and select Skip Trial. You can always sign up for the paid service down the road if you’d like.
The Keyword Magic Tool gives you access to more than 20 billion keywords from over 120 geographical databases.
Free reports include:
- Monthly search volume
- Competitive density (competition among paid advertisers)
- Keyword difficulty (how difficult it would be to rank in Google’s top 20)
The Keyword Magic Tool also has some helpful sorting and organizing features. It allows you to sort keywords into topic-specific subgroups, apply smart filters to narrow or expand your search, and quickly export your findings. You can see related keywords by topic and semantically related keywords or by keywords with similar phrasing.
The free account limits you to 10 searches a day across all the complementary tools provided by Semrush.
Each query allows you to see broad match keywords, phrase match, exact match, related, and questions about the keywords.
For more information on what information you get with a free Semrush account, check out this article.
QuestionDB
Reddit is a massive platform utilized by millions daily to discuss issues they are having, find answers, or to find solutions they need. QuestionDB has created a massive database based on questions asked on Reddit that assesses relevance by a keyword also by the category.
QuestionDB is an excellent blog topic idea generator. It pulls from several question-and-answer websites, including Reddit and Quora, to give you questions people are actively asking related to your keywords .
The free version of the tool allows unlimited searches without registering for an account. You can download your results with a single click.
You have the option to display the source link for each question. This allows you to review additional details about how people are framing their questions. You can also review the answers. QuestionDB also displays related topics mentioned in the questions.
The tool recommends using a broad keyword term. Here is a short set of questions people asked for related to the term “BBQ”:
Note: I tested a question, “How to cook brisket”, and only got one result; one or two words is how to get the best results.
Conclusion
Keyword research is the backbone of your SEO efforts. That’s why many successful websites invest considerable time into their keyword research process. The data surrounding keywords helps you determine which ones are most profitable, while also helping to direct your other online marketing efforts.