SEO can help any business or brand enjoy a better online presence, allowing them to win more customers and boost their sales. And in order for you to successfully pull off any SEO strategy, you need proper keyword research. Investing in the best keyword tools for SEO can greatly help you in that regard.
Now with so many SEO tools out there, you might have a hard time finding the right ones, let alone those you can use for keyword research. So allow us to help you! Below are five great keyword tools that will surely help you find the best ones for your website.
Ahrefs’ Keyword Explorer
As one of the best keyword tools for SEO, Ahrefs has much to offer. For one thing, it can give you more than 1000 keyword suggestions, largely thanks to its extensive database. It can also provide an accurate keyword difficulty score, a comprehensive SERP overview, and click metrics to improve your site’s CTR. and it’s supported in over 171 countries.
Ahrefs currently offers four plans: Lite, Standard, Advanced, and Agency. Below is a table listing all the benefits you can enjoy from each package:
| Lite | Standard | Advanced | Agency | |
| Reports per week | 175 | 700 | 1,400 | 7,000 |
| Keywords lists | 5 | 50 | 100 | 250 |
| SERP updates per month | 100 | 1,000 | 5,000 | 20,000 |
| Rows per report | 1,000 | 5,000 | 25,000 | 100,000 |
| Rows per month | 200,000 | 500,000 | 2 million | 5 million |
| Export, rows per month | 25,000 | 100,000 | 500,000 | 2 million |
| Newly discovered keywords | Last 1 month | Last 1 month | All | All |
| SERP position history | Last 6 months | Last 24 months | Full history | Full history |
SEMrush
Meanwhile, SEMrush acts more like an SEO Swiss Army Knife than a mere keyword research tool. Instead of giving you a long list of keywords, it will only suggest a few high-performing ones used by your competitors. This basically enables you to replicate the results they enjoy. Additionally, SEMrush offers intensive keyword analysis and organic traffic insights to help your website perform better. It can even give you yearly digital marketing trends to take advantage of!
SEMrush currently offers three pricing plans: Pro, Guru, and Business. They also offer a 7-day free trial for their services, which you can cancel anytime within that period free of charge. Below is a table listing all the benefits you can enjoy from each package:
| Pro | Guru | Business | |
| Keywords to track (with daily updates) | 500 | 1,500 | 5,000 |
| Keyword, domain and backlink analytics | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Results per report | 10,000 | 30,000 | 50,000 |
| Historical data | No | Yes | Yes |
| Reports per day | 3,000 | 5,000 | 10,000 |
| Keyword metrics updates per month | 250 | 1,000 | 5,000 |
| Product Listing Ads | No | No | Yes |
AnswerThePublic
On the other hand, AnswerThePublic is probably one of the most unique keyword research tools you’ll ever encounter. Though you can still download its results as a list, this tool usually displays the keywords in such a way that they’re forming a circle. Each keyword is categorized based on the word near it (e.g., which, how, when, who, etc). These results are mainly derived from Google’s and Bing’s auto-suggest and autocomplete features. And as one of the best keyword tools for SEO, AnswerThePublic offers Masterclass videos for newbies.
AnswerThePublic currently offers four plans: Free, Monthly, Annual, and Expert. The free version can be found on their website, and it can be used anytime by anyone. The three paid versions mostly have similar benefits, with a few variations here and there. Below is a table listing all the benefits you can enjoy from each paid package:
| Monthly | Annual | Expert | |
| Unlimited searches | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| No. of Users | 3 | 5 | Unlimited |
| Compare data over time | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Search Listening Alerts | 5 | 5 | 20 |
| CSV export | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Hide branches & suggestions | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| High res images | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Priority customer support | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Education package worth | $248 | $447 | $447 |
| Ebook | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Video Courses | Yes | Yes | Yes |
KWFinder
Developed by Mangools, KWFinder is another great keyword research tool for beginners. With a unique user interface that’s fairly easy to navigate, it will help you find keywords in any language target anywhere. You can also refine your search through the filters they provide. Additionally, they provide an in-depth SERP overview alongside a list of suggestions, allowing you to pick the most powerful keywords for your website. To top it off, it helps you glimpse your competition by providing precise statistics for the keywords they use.
As KWFinder is one of the tools offered by Mangools, you need to subscribe to Mangools to enjoy it. Mangools currently offers three pricing plans: Basic, Premium, and Agency. They also offer a 10-day free trial where you can enjoy up to five lookups per day (25 related and 10 competitor keywords per lookup). Below is a table listing all the benefits you can enjoy from each paid package:
| Basic | Premium | Agency | |
| Keyword lookups per 24 hours | 100 | 500 | 1,200 |
| Keyword suggestions per search | 200 | 700 | 700 |
| Competitor keywords per search | 25 | Unlimited | Unlimited |
| SERP lookups per 24 hours | 100 | 500 | 1,200 |
| Tracked keywords daily | 200 | 700 | 1,500 |
| Backlink rows monthly | 100,000 | 500,000 | 1,200,000 |
| Site lookups per 24 hours | 20 | 70 | 150 |
| Simultaneous log-ins | X | 3 | 10 |
Google Keyword Planner
Finally, there’s Google’s Keyword Planner. Though it only comes with a few basic features, it’s still a fantastic keyword research tool to rely on. Aside from providing you with very accurate keyword data, it can also help you find commercial keywords through “top of page” bid range.
Google Keyword Planner can be used by anyone for free. Just make sure you have your own Gmail account.
Enjoy High-Performing Keywords Using These Tools
By getting the best keyword tools for SEO, you’ll be able to find and use the right keywords for your website. That will lead to more people becoming aware of your brand, thereby increasing your chances of converting them into customers. So in case you don’t know which tool to pick, start with the five listed above.
