Whether you are doing search engine optimization, social media optimization, or running a pay-per-click campaign, the right keywords are the basis of any successful marketing effort. The two leaders in the field of keyword research have always been WordTracker and Keyword Discovery. Both are great tools and both are reasonably priced, especially if you’re serious about search marketing. However, for smaller businesses that are just getting their toes wet in the waters of online advertising, a free, bare-bones solution might be the answer. Here are five free keyword research tools I find to be useful.
1. SEO Book Keyword Suggestion Tool
A WordTracker-powered keyword research tool. The tool generates a list of related terms and provides links to keyword suggestion tools offered by major search engines. Provides search volume estimates from WordTracker, Google, Yahoo!, and Microsoft.
2. SpyFu
This tool analyzes your competitor’s paid search campaigns on Google AdWords and generates a list of both organic and paid keywords your competitor is using. As an added bonus, the tool also lists their organic and paid competitors, providing you with more domains to analyze.
3. SiteVolume
Not sure which keywords to use in your social media marketing campaigns? The SiteVolume tool gives you the ability to see how many times a specific keyword or a phrase has been mentioned on major social media sites, including Digg, MySpace, YouTube, and even Twitter.
4. Soovle
Nice little tool for keyword research. Searches all major search engines and other sites like Amazon.com and Answers.com and instantly provides related keyword suggestions. Also offers a list of today’s top keywords.
5. Nielsen BuzzMetrics’ BlogPulse
This tool searches millions of blogs, providing insights into what keywords and phrases are popular in the blogosphere. It also has handy charts showing keyword use trends over time. ![[]](http://www.searchmarketingstandard.com/wp-content/themes/sms/images/entry-end.gif)
Some awesome tools here, thanks for the post.
Also, you mention that if someone is serious about search marketing they should use Wordtracker or Keyword Discovery and I’m interested in hearing why.
I’ve used both in the past and have never really felt the results to be any better than what you can get from the Google Keyword Tool. Of course the numbers are all different, but in relation to each other are basically the same.
I’m just interested in hearing how you use them.
Thanks again for the post. Soovle and Sitevolume are interesting.
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Mmmmmm! Whilst the SEO Book one is great I really think you missed the absolute best one out there – and it’s free
Respectfully
David Saunders
Plymouth UK
This is the research tool I wouldn’t be without http://tinyurl.com/keywordfinder
Thanks for these great tools. Just thought I would also mention another great way to find related keywords when using the google keyword tool is to go down the left hand side of the page and click on wonderwheel- It will generate the related words that you can then research.
cheers Sue
Thank you so much for sharing these!!!
For international keyword research I prefer using Google Adwords and the Search-based kw tool. These tools provide me with more accurate data then most other kw tools (paid and free).
Ps. The link to SEO book kw tool is broken.
Help – am getting 404 error message when clicking on SEO Book link in 1. Can you fix.
Sorry about that, Tony. All fixed now.
Another good keyword tool that I use is followtopia. For any search result if gives you the list of keywords for sites in the results. It can be good for coming up with secondary keywords. http://www.followtopia.com