Keyword research seems daunting, especially if you are new to it. It requires a lot of brainstorming and research just to get started. But it doesn’t have to be hard; the more you do it, the easier it becomes to find what people search for and why they search in the first place. This article highlights nine free tools that will help you find out what people search for so that you can target the best SEO keywords.
1) Google’s Adwords Keyword Planner
This tool helps you find what people search for and why. Take a look at related searches and see which words are searched most frequently. Another great feature is how it allows you to compare keyword searches based on location and language. This can help you determine whether or not your target audience speaks English as their primary language so that you can deliver your information in a way that will be easy for them to understand.
2) Google Trends
Google Trends is an easy way to see how often people search for keywords. The data spans from 2004-present and breaks down monthly searches by category and region. This is a great starting point when doing keyword research because it gives you a historical overview of your industry, as well as where users are searching for products and services like yours.
3) Keyword Tool Dominator – SEOWriter Pro Edition
Keyword Tool Dominator Pro Edition is not your regular keyword research tool. It doesn’t provide you with keyword ideas or show you how many searches per month are made for a specific keyword. Instead, it enables you to find people who are already looking for what you have to offer. Using Google’s search suggestions as a starting point, Keyword Tool Dominator shows you actual keywords people use when searching online.
4) Ubersuggest – Google Suggest + Huge Database = Keyword Research Gives You a Lot of Answers Quickly
This tool isn’t new, but a good one. If you want insight into what people are searching for on Google, start here. To use it, type in any search term. The results show you variations of your search that other people have made and how often those terms appear in searches. Choose a term and Ubersuggest will return thousands of related searches.
5) HitTail Section: YouTube Autocomplete Tool
The YouTube autocomplete tool is another free tool from Google that will give you thousands of additional keyword ideas. It does this by automatically inserting popular words and phrases directly into your search bar as you type. YouTube autocomplete, just like Google autocomplete, shows you trending searches based on what people are typing in YouTube itself. In other words, it’s really accurate. This tool can also be used to find niche keywords for your videos. Just head over to YouTube and start typing in some broad keywords related to your video content. Then see which keywords most often appear at the end of each video title or description. This is a great way to find niche topics that lots of people are searching for on YouTube but aren’t showing up in Google because those users aren’t technically searching for them (and instead finding them through YouTube).
6) BuzzSumo
BuzzSumo is a tool that lets you see what content performs best and shareable on social media. Buzzsumo is useful if you’re wondering what kind of content your competitors are sharing. By choosing specific industries and pulling up posts for those terms, you can find out what kinds of headlines, formats, topics and images work best for your business. The site also shows which sites are linking to certain types of content so that you can find opportunities for outreach (and ultimately new backlinks).
7) Quora:
A question-and-answer website with an incredibly active user base, Quora is home to questions around all sorts of topics — some more relevant than others. If you want to know what people are searching for in your industry or niche, just search for keywords and scroll through the results.