Want to do keyword research but don’t have the funds or time to justify premium software? You can use these 15 free SEO tools instead. We go over the tools, best use cases, and how to use them to get content that ranks quicker.
How To Find and Use Free SEO Tools
Boop. Hi, I’m Lo from Boop Digital. I run a growth digital marketing agency that helps creatives, entrepreneurs, and nonprofits grow their website traffic, and convert their website traffic. I love working with brands and making the world a more beautiful place. And today, I want to talk to you about absolutely free SEO keyword research tools. I have 15 Yes, 15 free, different SEO keyword research tools that you can use to help figure out what keywords you might want to focus on for your SEO efforts for your business. So we’re gonna get into it. As you know, this is probably already going to be like a pretty lengthy video. So feel free to like save this. Also, ask questions in the comments. I’m all about education. So let’s get into it.
So the first SEO keyword research tool I want to talk about is very simple. It’s the Google Suggest Autocomplete. You type something in Google. And it’s a keyword. And then you see all those autocomplete suggestions. And it’s just a bunch of related popular search terms right from the source, right from Google. So this is one of the simplest ways you can start to get an idea of what people are actually searching for keywords that you might want to write content for.
The second free SEO keyword research tool that I want to talk about is called Answer The Public. Answer The Public also uses Google Suggest to find all of the related questions that are related to the keyword that you input. And I really love to use this as a way to come up with potential subheadings for a blog post that I’m trying to write. So I’ll put the main keyword of the blog post that I’m trying to write, look at all the related questions and then try to form sections of my blog posts. Based on those questions. I’ll set those sub headings as an h2 Heading tag. So really great way to use Answer The Public.
The third SEO keyword research tool that I want to talk about, again, absolutely free. It’s called KeywordTool.io. And this is a really good free tool to use. If you want data that’s not just from Google, if you want to have data that also is going to include keywords that show up on Bing, or YouTube or Amazon Web Services. So you can just add a little bit of variety to your data pool.
Another free SEO keyword research tool is actually the Google Keyword Planner, Google Keyword Planner is associated with like paid search and Google AdWords. So you might have to kind of set that up. But what’s really good is you can start to get cost per click data on actual keywords, which is pretty hard to get on most free SEO keyword research tools. And why would you want cost per click data. So how I like to prioritize which keywords to focus on first is when I have a long list of keyword ideas, I like to filter and rank them from most popular to least popular first. So like highest monthly search volume to lowest monthly search volume, because I’m gonna want to focus on the keywords that have the most amount of traffic and potentially going to get the most amount of traffic to my site. Once I’ve done that, I also like to filter the keywords by highest cost per click to lowest cost per click. And the reason I do this is because a higher cost per click to me indicates that advertisers are willing to spend more money bidding on that keyword. Why would they do that because it gives them results, it gives them conversions as a higher return on investment. So if you focus on those higher, higher cost per click keywords, it’s also a pretty good indication of keywords that will convert better for your business. So that is a really useful thing. And again, a free way you can access that data.
So another free SEO keyword research tool that I would look into is Google Trends. And what I really like about using Google Trends is that you can actually filter out the data by country or you can look at global data. So this is really important if you have like different markets for your business. And so you want to maybe just look at keyword data from a certain country and filter on all the rest. And there again, that’s kind of a unique advantage to this particular free SEO keyword research tool.
Another free SEO keyword research tool is called Soovle. And Soovle is essentially like Google suggests autocomplete the one I mentioned at the beginning. But it will take data from other places on the internet like Bing or YouTube or Pinterest or that kind of thing. So again, it’s just adding a variety if you’re going to Google suggests autocomplete route of action.
Another free SEO keyword research tool is called AdWords and SEO permutation generator. This is a very simple tool that will basically just let you kind of input certain keyword lists and then it’ll generate permutations on that phrase. So like you can choose between a broad match or a phrase match or an exact match. I’m not going to explain that right now. If you want to know about that, I can explain it in the comments. This can just be like a really interesting way to get creative about different ways of phrasing this keyword. Because you might phrase a certain keyword a certain way, but someone else is naturally thinking of it in a completely different way. And so it’s good to get out of your own head and just figure out different permutations of the same keyword.
Another free keyword research tool is called Keyworddit and it has two Ds it and it spelled kind of like Reddit keyword it. And this is taking keyword data from Reddit and showing you kind of the most popular keywords and kind of the click data related to Reddit questions. And this is really good for generating ideas on creating engaging content that people are like discussing about and having conversations about, why not have some of those conversations be taking place on your site as well.
Another free SEO keyword research tool is called a Bulk Keyword Generator. This allows you to basically select a business category, select a location, and they generate a list for you. So for me, this is not like the tool I’m going to use because I have like a system of how I like to create, you know, my keyword list. However, this is a really good tool. If you’re the type of business owner who’s overwhelmed. You’re like, I have too many options. I have no idea where to start, I kind of just need someone to be like, here it is. Is it the best? I don’t know. But is it a place to start? Yes. And sometimes as a business owner, just getting started is better than procrastinating and being overwhelmed, you hear me.
So another free SEO keyword research tool is called WordTracker Scout. This is a browser extension that will basically give you a list of keywords from any web page. This could potentially be good for like competitor research for at least for free SEO, keyword research tools, you could use that I will say the UX experience a little janky. But it’s kind of like it get what you pay for.
So you know, another free SEO keyword research tool is called a SearchVolume.io this allows you to bulk upload, I believe up to 800 keywords. And it will tell you how popular each keyword is. And again, like I kind of mentioned, I really like to filter my keyword ideas from most popular to least popular. And then if I have the cost per click data, I like to do the highest cost per click data to lowest cost per click data. And this gives me an order of action items. This gives me a prioritization which is so important so that I know I’m kind of working through in the most efficient manner possible.
Another free SEO keyword research tool is called Google Location Changer. And this is really good if you’re doing international SEO. So take a look at that if you’re if you’re trying to target in a different market that you like, don’t aren’t currently in.
Another free SEO keyword research tool. It’s called Keywords Everywhere. I actually use this a lot. It has kind of like a paid version where you can like pay extra for credits to get even more data and like I love doing that. Just be careful to like turn it on or you’re in keyword research and then turn it off when you’re not. Otherwise, we’ll just be running your credits. But it’s a Google Chrome extension. And basically, it’ll show you a ton of keyword data like on the actual screen, you’re on fun on the Google homepage and I’m searching something it’ll like show me data and like traffic for like every search result. If I’m like on a particular page, like with a search bar, I can see keyword data right in it. And it’s really cool. And I think it’s really nice like visually to see that.
So another free SEO keyword research tool is called also asked, this is very similar to Answer The Public. I personally like Answer The Public better, but like another option.
And then the last kind of keyword research tool to talk about is check out the limited functionality or the free versions of some of the most popular paid SEO softwares like SEM Rush, and like, say Moz so that’s all that was a super long video. I hope you enjoyed it. I have so many more SEO resources if you want to check out boopdigital.com I do blogs webinars. I mean honestly, anything. My whole shtick is just trying to educate you more to empower you to make more meaningful data driven decisions in your business. So that’s all!
Links To The Free SEO Tools
Google Suggest (Autocomplete)
Google Suggest (autocomplete) is the first place I will look for simple, effective related keywords to the main one you have come up with. You will already know these are the most popular high search volume terms related to your keyword.
Answer the Public
Answer The Public leverages Google Suggest to find all of the questions people may have related to any industry or keyword. Great for searching for related H2 headings / subheadings on your blog posts.
KeywordTool.io
SEO doesn’t just exist on Google. You can also rank higher on Amazon, YouTube, Bing, and tons of other sites. Works like Google Suggest but for many different internet sites.
Google Keyword Planner
Google Keyword Planner gives you suggestions as well as CPC data and click estimates.
Google Trends
Google Trends lets you look at data by a specific country or by a global perspective.
Soovle
Soovle takes the concept of Google Suggest (autocomplete) but for many popular sites around the web.
AdWords and SEO Permutation Generator
The AdWords and SEO Permutation Generator is a super simple tool that helps you get creative with your keyword research. Not based on search volume but good for longtail keywords.
Keyworddit
Reddit has many categories (subreddits), and Keyworddit helps you find all of the keywords within that subreddit.
Bulk Keyword Generator
The Bulk Keyword Generator by Higher Visibility does keyword research by making you select a business category and location and then it gives you a list of keywords. This isn’t a bad idea to use this tool if you are overwhelmed by the more self-directed tools we’ve already listed.
WordTracker Scout
WordTracker is a browser extension that gives you a list of keyword ideas from any web page.
SearchVolume.io
SearchVolume.io lets you bulk upload up to 800 keywords, and it tells you how popular each keyword is.
Google Location Changer
SERanking has a neat tool that works well if you are doing international SEO. Their Google Location Changer allows you to search Google in any country or city. Just type in a keyword, and you’ll see who ranks.
Keywords Everywhere
With Keywords Everywhere you can get accurate metrics whenever you need them using this extension.
Also Asked
With Also Asked you can find questions people ask.
SEMRush (Limited Functionality)
There is limited free functionality for SEMRush.
