The Best Keyword Research Tools

At Bird, we’ve been loyal users of Ahrefs for its extensive suite of tools. Ahrefs offers a comprehensive solution for keyword research, available in both free and paid versions. The “Ahrefs Keyword Explorer” is a standout feature, offering detailed keyword insights, competitor analysis, and market exploration. For those looking for cost-free alternatives, the “Ahrefs Keyword Generator” provides valuable suggestions and fundamental insights, perfect for enhancing SEO and PPC strategies on a budget.

Advantages and Features:

• Core Focus: Offers extensive keyword research and competitor analysis.
• Ideal For: SEO professionals and marketers who require thorough research and competitive data.
• Services: Keyword generation, SEO metrics, and competitive keyword analysis.
• Unique Perks: Part of a robust SEO tool suite, though the free version has limited features.

We at Bird also leverage SEMrush alongside Ahrefs for comprehensive keyword research. The free version of SEMrush, “Keyword Magic Tool,” offers essential keyword data and trends, suitable for the early stages of research. For those needing more in-depth insights, the paid version delivers extensive keyword analytics, competitive intelligence, and deeper SEO insights, enhancing our digital marketing strategies.

Advantages and Features:

• Core Focus: Provides a detailed keyword research tool with extensive search data.
• Ideal For: Digital marketing professionals and agencies seeking a broad keyword database.
• Services: Keyword discovery, seasonality insights, and performance metrics.
• Unique Perks: Includes advanced features like keyword grouping and filtering, aiding targeted campaigns.

Moz offers a selection of SEO tools, including both free and premium versions of their Moz Keyword Explorer. This tool is known for delivering keyword suggestions and SERP analysis with actionable insights. While we at Bird previously used Moz, we eventually switched to other tools that better aligned with our needs for reliability and data accuracy.

Advantages and Features:

• Core Focus: Specialises in keyword discovery and SEO strategy enhancement.
• Ideal For: SEO specialists and content managers looking to improve search rankings.
• Services: Keyword research, SERP analysis, and organic click-through rate data.
• Unique Perks: Renowned for its user-friendly interface and high-quality data.

Serpstat serves as a comprehensive SEO platform offering a range of services, including keyword research, SERP analysis, site audits, and competitor tracking.

Advantages and Features:

• Core Focus: Offers a complete suite of SEO tools to boost search rankings and content marketing.
• Ideal For: SEO agencies, marketers, and businesses seeking a multi-faceted approach to SEO.
• Services: Keyword research, website analysis, and backlink tracking.
• Unique Perks: Provides a holistic approach to SEO with tools designed to enhance all aspects of your strategy.

Keyword Tool Dominator focuses on niche keyword tools tailored for platforms like Amazon, eBay, and Google, offering unique keyword suggestions.

Advantages and Features:

• Core Focus: Specialises in uncovering long-tail keyword opportunities across various platforms.
• Ideal For: E-commerce marketers and sellers using platforms such as Amazon, eBay, and YouTube.
• Services: Niche keyword research for specific online marketplaces and search engines.
• Unique Perks: Helps users discover less competitive, untapped keyword niches.

Known for its speed and depth, SECockpit is often favoured by SEO professionals for detailed project management and rapid keyword research.

Advantages and Features:

• Core Focus: Excels in fast, detailed keyword research and analysis.
• Ideal For: SEO consultants and agencies requiring rapid and extensive data analysis.
• Services: Advanced keyword research with filtering and sorting by various SEO metrics.
• Unique Perks: Offers one of the fastest keyword research experiences with comprehensive filtering options.

KeywordTool.io leverages Google Autocomplete to generate hundreds of long-tail keywords on any given topic.

Advantages and Features:

• Core Focus: Specialises in quickly generating long-tail keyword suggestions.
• Ideal For: Content creators, marketers, and SEO specialists seeking extensive keyword options.
• Services: Generates keywords using autocomplete data from Google and other search engines.
• Unique Perks: Provides a free version with valuable insights, with more advanced features available in the paid version.

KWFinder zeroes in on finding long-tail keywords with low SEO difficulty, making it ideal for boosting organic search rankings.

Advantages and Features:

• Core Focus: Offers user-friendly tools for identifying low-competition keywords.
• Ideal For: SEO beginners and small business owners aiming to improve organic search performance.
• Services: Keyword research, SERP analysis, and SEO metric evaluation.
• Unique Perks: Intuitive interface with a targeted approach to improve SEO effectiveness.

Jaaxy is crafted for affiliate marketers, assisting them in discovering profitable keywords and tracking rankings across various search engines.

Advantages and Features:

• Core Focus: Provides tools for keyword discovery and competition analysis for affiliate marketing.
• Ideal For: Affiliate marketers and online entrepreneurs enhancing their online presence.
• Services: Keyword research, niche discovery, and ranking performance tracking.
• Unique Perks: Simple metrics that help users quickly identify high-return opportunities.

At Bird, we’ve integrated ChatGPT into our SEO toolkit. This AI-driven tool has been indispensable for keyword research, generating fresh content ideas, and offering insights into keyword strategy and SEO best practices. By using ChatGPT’s free version, we brainstorm and refine ideas efficiently, ensuring our content is relevant and optimised for search engines.

Advantages and Features:

• Core Focus: Offers AI-driven support for SEO and content creation.
• Ideal For: SEO specialists, marketers, and content creators looking for quick, AI-generated insights.
• Services: Content generation and keyword-related query responses.
• Unique Perks: A versatile tool for rapid brainstorming and idea generation.

Google Trends offers insights into the popularity of top search queries across different regions and languages. Our team at Bird frequently uses Google Trends to identify trending topics for clients. This tool is completely free, providing valuable insights into whether a client’s niche is in decline, which can inform strategic adjustments.

Advantages and Features:

• Core Focus: Tracks the trends of keyword searches over time to gauge interest and seasonality.
• Ideal For: Researchers, marketers, and journalists who need to understand trends for better content and marketing strategies.
• Services: Visualisation of keyword popularity over time and by region.
• Unique Perks: Free and integrates with other Google services for comprehensive insights.

Primarily designed for advertisers, Google Keyword Planner is also a valuable tool for SEO and PPC research. We at Bird prefer it for its access to Google’s own data. While the free version provides a range of data, a minimal investment in a Google Ads campaign can unlock full keyword data, offering precise insights to enhance your campaign strategies.

Advantages and Features:

• Core Focus: Supports advertising and marketing campaigns with robust keyword data.
• Ideal For: Advertisers and marketers planning PPC and SEO strategies.
• Services: Keyword discovery and performance forecasting.
• Unique Perks: Direct integration with Google Ads for comprehensive campaign planning.

AlsoAsked dives into how topics branch out from initial search queries, offering deeper insights into user questions. We have utilised its free version on multiple projects at Bird, efficiently compiling a comprehensive list of relevant questions for our strategies.

Advantages and Features:

• Core Focus: Maps the relationship between user queries and subsequent questions.
• Ideal For: Content strategists and SEO professionals seeking to deepen their understanding of topic areas.
• Services: Visualisation of question patterns and topic exploration.
• Unique Perks: Helps in crafting a structured content strategy based on real user inquiries.

Keyword Surfer is a free Chrome extension that offers instant keyword suggestions and SEO metrics directly in Google search results.

Advantages and Features:

• Core Focus: Provides real-time keyword data and search volumes within Google search pages.
• Ideal For: SEO specialists and content marketers looking for quick insights.
• Services: Offers keyword suggestions and traffic estimations.
• Unique Perks: Seamlessly integrates with browsing for a convenient user experience.

AnswerThePublic is well-known for its ability to generate a broad range of commonly asked questions and related keywords. Despite recent changes that introduced more limitations on the free version, it continues to offer value for basic research needs.

Advantages and Features:

• Core Focus: Specialises in visual keyword research and content idea generation.
• Ideal For: Content creators and marketers aiming to understand audience queries.
• Services: Generates question-focused keyword suggestions.
• Unique Perks: Provides visually appealing reports and comprehensive data.

Keyword Sheeter is an excellent starting point for keyword research. It extracts ideas directly from Google Autocomplete, providing a quick and efficient method for bulk keyword generation.

Advantages and Features:

• Core Focus: Focuses on generating a high volume of keyword suggestions quickly.
• Ideal For: SEO professionals and content strategists looking for expansive keyword lists.
• Services: Bulk keyword generation based on seed keywords.
• Unique Perks: Offers a free tool with an option to purchase data sheets for deeper insights.

Keyworddit is unique in extracting keywords from Reddit, offering insights into what users discuss in various subreddits.

Advantages and Features:

• Core Focus: Captures user-generated content keywords from Reddit.
• Ideal For: Marketers seeking to tap into niche markets and understand community discussions.
• Services: Keyword extraction from subreddit conversations.
• Unique Perks: Free access with an easy-to-navigate interface.

QuestionDB collects questions from across the web to help users create content that answers popular queries.

Advantages and Features:

• Core Focus: Identifies questions related to specific topics for content creation.
• Ideal For: Content marketers and writers aiming to address common audience questions.
• Services: Provides a database of questions for targeted content planning.
• Unique Perks: Streamlines the research process for crafting SEO-friendly content.

Soovle is a customisable engine that gathers keyword suggestions from major platforms like Google, YouTube, and Bing.

Advantages and Features:

• Core Focus: Aggregates search suggestions from multiple search engines and platforms.
• Ideal For: Marketers and content creators using multi-platform SEO strategies.
• Services: Provides search suggestions and saves search term lists.
• Unique Perks: Free and easy to use, offering a wide view of keyword strategies.

Keywords Everywhere is a browser add-on displaying keyword data directly on Google Search, YouTube, and other platforms.

Advantages and Features:

• Core Focus: Offers on-the-spot keyword analytics across multiple platforms.
• Ideal For: Content creators, marketers, and entrepreneurs who multitask across various sites.
• Services: Instant keyword metrics like search volume, CPC, and competition data.
• Unique Perks: Efficient research with metrics available during searches.

Ubersuggest provides SEO insights and keyword suggestions to improve content marketing and search engine visibility.

Advantages and Features:

• Core Focus: Offers comprehensive keyword research tools and competitive analysis.
• Ideal For: Small businesses and SEO professionals.
• Services: Keyword tracking, domain overview, and content ideas.
• Unique Perks: Features a user-friendly interface with limited free access.