5 FREE keyword research tools you can use

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Shammika Munugoda 2023-02-22 5 min read

Before you can start marketing your website, you need to do some keyword research. This is a simple process that allows webmasters to find out what search terms people are using when they are looking for products or services like yours. It's been around since the early days of the internet and has evolved into an essential part of any successful digital marketing strategy today.

Keywords are important for online marketing and SEO (Search Engine Optimization) for some reasons:

Search Engines: Keywords are used by search engines like Google, Bing, Yahoo, and more to index your website and rank it for certain searches. This is how people find your website, so it's important to use relevant keywords in your content.

Targeted Traffic: Keywords are used to target the right people with your content, which helps you get more visitors that are interested in what you're selling.

Competitive Advantage: Keywords are how you get an edge over your competitors. Keywords are how you differentiate yourself from your competitors. If you're using the same keywords as them, then it will be difficult to stand out and get noticed.

In the world of digital marketing, keyword research is an essential component of any successful SEO strategy. Identifying relevant keywords and phrases helps businesses optimize their website content for search engines—which drives more traffic (and converts). There are many paid keyword research tools available, however, there are also a number of excellent free ones that can help businesses big and small to conduct keyword research without spending too much. In this article, we'll look at some of the most helpful free keyword research tools and see how they can be used to improve your SEO performance.

Here are 7 free keyword research tools that will help you find profitable keywords for your site:

Google Keyword Planner

Google Keyword Planner is a free keyword research tool that you can use to get a good idea of how many people are searching for a particular phrase and what the competition is like. It also helps you to find new keywords that you may not have thought of before. Although Keyword Planner is mainly used for AdWords campaigns, it can be helpful for SEO and content marketing strategies as well.

Google Keyword Planner provides daily search volume and cost estimates for your new keywords, which makes it easier for you to decide whether a particular keyword is worth targeting with an ad campaign.

Follow the steps below on how to use the Google keyword planner

Sign in to your Google Ads account: If you don't have one yet, sign up for free.
You can access the Keyword Planner by clicking on "Tools & Settings" in the top right of your dashboard, then choosing "Keyword Planner."
You can choose between two options: "Discover new keywords"—which provides keyword ideas —or "Get search volume and forecasts" —get search volume and other historical metrics, plus forecasts for how they could perform
Enter a keyword or search term into the option you choose then click Get results
Review and analyze the results: Google Keyword Planner will generate a list of keyword ideas along with their search volume, competition, and other metrics. Review these to identify the most relevant high-traffic keywords for your content or ad campaigns.

Google Trends

Google Trends is a free tool that shows you the popularity of a keyword over time. For example, if you're selling dog food and notice that searches for "buy dog food online" have increased dramatically over the past year, then this might be an ideal keyword for you. Google Trends is helpful for market research, content creation, and SEO strategy.

Below are the steps on how to use google trends for keyword research

Go to Google Trends, and enter a keyword or phrase in the search box.
Choose your desired location, time range, and category for your search, it can be found in the drop-down bar at the top of the page
Search for your keyword or phrase. Look at the trends over time, related topics and queries, and how other people use keywords in their search engines.
Use related queries and topics to identify other keyword possibilities.
Repeat the keyword-searching process for other relevant keywords related to your topic or industry.
Use Google Trends to optimize your website or blog content—including headlines, tags, and meta descriptions (if applicable)—by inserting relevant keywords and phrases.

Answer the Public

Answer the Public is a free tool that generates keyword ideas based on user queries. For example, if you're selling dog food and want to find keywords related to this topic, you can enter "buy dog food online" into Answer the Public and see what terms people are searching for.

Go to Answer the Public and type in your target keyword on the search bar
Use the drop-down menus to choose your language and location preferences.
Click "Get Questions" to get your keyword's most frequently asked questions.
Click on "Get Prepositions" to generate a list of prepositions related to your keyword.
Click on "Get Comparisons" to generate a list of comparison keywords related to your keyword.
Click on "Get Alphabetical" to generate a list of keywords in alphabetical order related to your keyword.
Examine the list of questions, prepositions, comparisons, and alphabetical keywords generated by Answer the Public generated when given your seed keywords.
Use the keywords and phrases you've identified to create content that addresses the questions and topics your audience is searching for.

Wordstream Free Keyword Tool

The Wordstream Free Keyword Tool is a keyword research tool that allows you to generate keyword ideas and suggestions. It also has an option for tracking your AdWords campaigns, which is helpful if you run ads on Google AdWords.

The tool has two versions: the free version and the paid version (which costs $99 per month). The free version allows users to create up to 100 queries per day from one domain or website; if you want more than 100 queries per day, then you'll need to upgrade to their paid plan.

Go to Wordstream, on the "Keyword Research" tab, and enter your target keyword or phrase in the search bar
Choose the desired location and industries from the drop-down menus.
Click on "Continue" to generate a list of related keywords and phrases.
Examine the list of keywords provided by WordStream. You can sort the results by search volume, top bid price, and competition.
Create content that uses the keywords and phrases you've identified that provide answers to questions that your audience is asking.

Google Search Console

is a free tool from Google that lets you monitor your website's search rankings. You can see how many people are searching for your brand and product names, along with the number of clicks on your website's search results. You can also check the top organic keywords driving traffic to your site and monitor how they change over time.

In conclusion, free keyword research tools are a valuable resource for businesses looking to optimize their website for search engines without incurring additional costs. These tools provide insights into the keywords and phrases that are relevant to their target audience and can help them create content that aligns with user intent. Whether it's identifying high-performing keywords, discovering new keyword opportunities, or optimizing existing content, free keyword research tools can be powerful aids in improving SEO efforts and driving organic traffic to a website. So, if you're on a budget or just starting out with keyword research, these free tools can be a valuable addition to your digital marketing toolkit. Remember to use them in conjunction with other SEO best practices for maximum impact and success in your online marketing efforts.