11 Best Keyword Research Tools in 2023: Free & Paid – Still confused by the many lists of free & paid keyword research tools? Check out the following reviews of advantages, disadvantages, and suitable uses
Knowing the list of free & paid keyword research tools is very important, especially if you are just starting to build a website.
Paid keyword research tools generally have more complete features, but the price is quite decent for the size of MSMEs.
In contrast, free SEO tools tend to have limited features. However, it is very useful when you don’t have enough budget to develop an SEO strategy.
Will you be loyal to free research tools or directly use paid tools?
To make it easier to make a decision, you can consider a description of:
- Features
- Advantages and Disadvantages
- when is the appropriate use of each of these tools.
We start with a list of the best free keyword research tools.
Table of Contents
Best Keyword Research Tools For SEO: Free & Paid
Google Trends
This is a free keyword tool from Google where you can see search trends. Here you can see search trends for your business topic along with related queries/keywords.
Advantage:
- Free,
- Live data directly from Google,
- There is a location and time-based filtering feature for searches and related queries.
Disadvantages:
- Can only see search trends, not for search volume and other data.
Usage:
- Suitable for the stage of finding topic ideas or keyword seeds .
- It is also possible to choose which keyword priority should be the main keyword.
Google Search
Google search provides 3 features to help your keyword research, namely the Google Suggest feature, People also asked and Related Search.
Google Suggest is a list of words that appear suggested by Google when you type keywords in the search field.
The People also asked section provides a list of related questions that people ask via Google.
Related search is also the result of suggestions from Google, but appears at the very bottom of the search results.
These three features give you a variety of keywords that people are also looking for through Google.
Advantage:
- Free
- Real time data, direct from Google
Disadvantages:
- Displays only keyword variations, no trends or search volume
Usage: suitable for early stages, still need processing with other keyword tools.
Answer The Public
This is a treasure trove for gaining insight into what people are asking about your area of business via Google.
This tool provides a very useful list of questions to see what topics people are looking for and need.
Advantage:
- Sub-topics are very broad, 1 keyword can bring up dozens of results.
- There are variations with questions, prepositions, comparisons, to related topics.
Disadvantages:
- Freemium, for more features you must register a paid member
- Only keywords, no other indicators.
- The choice of words is limited, more effective for English
Usage: suitable for early stage in topic search.
Also Asked
Alsoasked.com provides question data from the Google “People also ask” section, but in a more interesting form like Answer The Public.
Moreover, this tool supports data. So, it will be easier for you to find a suitable topic
Advantage:
- Supports Many Language
- Each keyword can be clicked again to do in-depth research
Disadvantages:
- Freemium, only 10x searches per month (can be more if you clear browser cache and cookies )
- Only keywords, no other indicators.
Usage: suitable for topic and subtopic selection level.
Google Keyword Planner
This is a free keyword research tool from Google for Adwords advertisers. However, you can still use it for free without having an active campaign or not having to advertise.
In addition to presenting keywords, you can also get other indicator data such as search volume, competition level, to CPC ( cost per click ).
Because it is free and provides complete data in real time, directly from Google, you must be able to use it.
Advantage:
- Free with quite complete indicators
- Realtime data directly from Google
Disadvantages:
- Limited filter features
- Competition data for Adwords campaigns, not SEO
Usage:
- Suitable for doing keyword analysis for free
Google Search Console
This tool you can only use when you have a website that is being managed. It’s actually a website analysis tool, but you can use it to do keyword research.
You do this by looking at what keywords your website is ranking for, then looking for potential keywords that you can push to page 1 of Google.
Advantage:
- Free from Google, basic tools that all website managers must use
- Provide a fairly complete picture of organic search traffic from your website.
Disadvantages:
- You must be a website manager and register a website first.
Usage: for organic website traffic analysis and keyword research of your own website.
Ahrefs Keyword Generator
Ahrefs is a big name in the field of keyword research and SEO. The tools are premium and paid, but you can use the keyword generator for free.
Although limited, you can see search volume indicators, keyword difficulty , until the last date of database update.
Advantage:
- It’s free, just need to fill in the captcha to prevent spamming
- Supports Language
- There is already volume data and keyword difficulty
Disadvantages:
- You must fill in the captcha every time you make a new search
- Data cannot be processed directly, unless using a premium account.
- Freemium, can register and use full features for 7 days after entering the payment method
Usage: the free version is suitable for the early stages of keyword research. The premium version is suitable for all forms of website management analysis.
Semrush Keyword Magic Tool
Semrush also provides a super complete keyword research tool like Ahrefs, but premium and paid.
The free features you can use, but only show limited results. To see more complete metrics, you must take a paid membership .
Advantage:
- Complete data with search volume, keyword difficulty, CPC, and others.
- Support data research
- Analysis directly in the tool without the need to download to a spreadsheet
Disadvantages:
- Freemium, complete data only for the top 3 keywords.
Usage: the free version is suitable for selecting keywords that you have previously selected. For a more in-depth analysis, you’ll need the paid version.
Ubersuggest Keyword Ideas
Ubersuggest is an SEO tool provided by internet marketing expert Neil Patel. This tool has a user friendly interface (similar to Google Keyword Planner) and functional features.
For the free version, you can use all of its features on a limited basis, not just for keyword research. But also domain analysis and others.
Read Also: 5 Tips to Rank Higher on Google in 2023
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Advantage:
- Functional features
- User friendly interface and friendly for beginners
- Affordable price for the paid version (there is a lifetime access option )
- Already supports data
Disadvantages:
- Freemium, the free version can only do 3 searches per day.
- Can direct analysis, but with limited features
Usage: the free version is suitable for the selection of the keywords you have chosen.
Wordtracker
Wordtracker also provides volume data, keyword competition, PPC, and CPC that you can access for free.
This tool only limits its services to keyword research, but it supports data.
Advantage:
- Simple appearance with easy use
- The free version provides fairly complete data.
Disadvantages:
- Only provides keyword research tools services.
- The free version only provides 10 searches per month.
Usage: suitable for early stage keyword research and analysis.
Moz Keyword Explorer
Like Ahrefs, Semrush, and Ubersuggest, Moz also provides a complete service for SEO tools.
The free version allows you to perform 10 searches per month. Unfortunately, although it supports searching, the data is often “not found” Also known as incomplete.
Advantage:
- Full features with a friendly display .
Disadvantages:
- Freemium, the free version only 10x searches per month and displays only relevance and search volume.
Usage: suitable for foreign keyword research. The free version is only suitable for initial keyword research, not for analysis.
The list of free & paid keyword research tools above is the one that provides the best functional features. You may be able to find other keyword research tools, but they are no better than the ones on the list.
However, the best tools are still useless if you don’t know how to use them. For that, make sure you have read how to do keyword research step by step before