Using keyword research tools is a smart move. Search Engine Optimisation to get your website seen can be a confusing thing. How do you get your site to rank? What should you be trying to get it to rank for? Knowing the right keywords to use on your site to draw in the clicks is very important! Don’t waste your precious time and resources creating content for keywords that no one is searching for. We’ve put together a list of the best keyword research tools, that will help you to boost your rankings and drive more traffic to your site. Watch this quick Social Snippet video from Jon for three of the best keyword research tools. Still looking for more? Read on for eight of our favourite tools!

Use Google Keywords Planner for accurate results

Google’s own Keywords Planner is a fairly basic tool compared to some of the others that are available, but it can still help you rank. It’s really useful for one big reason. All of the data comes directly from Google itself! This means that it is the most reliable and up to date information. It also tends to suggest keywords for your website that you won’t find anywhere else, so it’s definitely a useful one to have up your sleeve. It is intended for use with AdWords, which involves paid campaigns, but it can be used for free without running an AdWords campaign.

SEMRush lets you know what your competition is up to

SEMRush is useful because it gives you a slightly different-than-normal list of keywords. Instead of merely suggesting a list of related website keywords, it tells you what your competition is already ranking for. So, you can try and up your rankings for the same thing to try and beat your competitors.  Plus, it usually displays unusual keywords that they are ranking for that you may not have thought about using before. This is not a free keyword research tool, but if you really want to improve your rankings above and beyond your competition, it will certainly be valuable for you.

MonsterInsights: the plugin to improve your rankings

This is a plugin for Google Analytics. It’s useful as it makes tracking your website a whole lot easier! It does this by allowing you to manage and customise the Google Analytics tracking services on your site. It’s an amazing tool to use if you have a WordPress site. The free version is probably enough for most users, although a Pro version is available with a few more extra features. It’s one of the simplest tools to help you rank as you can install it directly on your site!

Neil Patel’s Ubersuggest is a great keyword research tool

Ubersuggest is a great tool developed by entrepreneur Neil Patel. It’s really useful for a number of reasons. Firstly, it gives you insight into SEO strategies that are working for your competitors so you can adapt them to do better! It also shows you which of your competitor’s pages are ranking highly on Google and Facebook. Keyword suggestions and content ideas are other useful features that this tool will provide you with. And the best part is that it’s FREE. This is one tool that you can’t be without if you want to improve your rankings.

[code_snippet id=6]

Try Moz for unusual keywords

Moz, like most other tools, will give you a list of related keywords for any keyword you type in. But, what sets it apart from the rest is its ability to give you a list of keywords that other tools are unlikely to suggest. It also has a great feature that predicts how many clicks you will get from your target keywords, and analyses a number of factors to tell you whether it’s worth targetting that particular keyword on a scale of 1-100. You can access a basic version of Moz for free but will need to have a premium subscription to access all of the premium features it offers. However, due to its unique features, this may be worth considering.

Keywords Everywhere, the Chrome extension for keywords

This tool is slightly different as it’s actually an extension for your Chrome browser! It displays the keyword data you need to rank on ten websites, including eBay and Amazon, directly on your browser. It also suggests a list of related keywords for a search term directly on Google. This is an essential tool to help you rank without much effort, as the data is easily presented to you there and then!

Google Trends will help you compare keywords

Google Trends is a useful tool for two reasons. Firstly, it allows you to search for a keyword. It then shows you some related keywords that you could also use. But perhaps the best feature is its ability to show you whether your chosen keyword is growing in popularity or not! Doing this can then help you make the decision whether it is a keyword worth trying to rank for. If you want to compare two likely keywords, this is also a good keyword research tool to use. Finally, it’s free and simple to use, so it’s definitely worth a look!

Try Ahrefs if other keyword research tools aren’t detailed enough for you

Ahrefs is a useful tool because it goes into a lot of depth about each keyword you research. For example, it gives you a detailed breakdown of each competitor that comes up on the first page, and exactly how many clicks each result has gained. This tool also goes a step beyond simply telling you if a keyword is easy or difficult to rank for. It tells you how many backlinks you need if you want your page to rank on the first page of Google! Ahrefs is a great tool if you’re curious about more in-depth information about your chosen keywords.

There are lots of tools out there that can help your rankings in 2020 and beyond. However, if you’re still stuck on how to boost your rankings, why not book in for one of our FREE social media clinics to see how you can make the best use of keywords and SEO?

Don’t forget to subscribe to our YouTube channel so you don’t miss our helpful Social Snippets!