Whether you are an SEO professional or just starting your career in the industry, you need to know that searching keywords without a comprehensive tool is an uphill task. Creating a list of relevant and quality keywords with their monthly search volume is almost impossible without an online tool.
Keyword research is one of the most crucial and prior tasks of SEO. It involves discovering, analyzing, and using target keywords to optimize content. According to the latest stats, the top 5 organic search results hold more than 65% of total clicks, which primarily depends on keyword optimization.
Companies and marketers use paid and free keyword analysis tools to determine what the target audience is looking for so they can provide solutions to their queries via optimized content and attain higher rankings on search engines.
Are you also looking for a free tool for keyword research? Then, read this blog to find out the top 10 keyword research tools that are trusted by digital marketing freelancers, professionals, business owners, and industry leaders.
What are Keyword Research Tools?
Keyword research tools simplify and streamline your keyword research process by providing information about keyword search volume, cost-per-click, paid keywords, keyword density, SEO difficulty, total traffic, organic traffic, paid difficulty, probability to rank, and more.
These keyword research tools make it easier for SEO experts and digital marketers to find the right keywords for their content by providing all the data required to achieve higher ranks on search engines.
You can find an effective tool for keyword search to get suggestions on long-tail and short-tail keywords and topics surrounding them. Although each tool is a bit different from the others, they all serve the same purpose- finding relevant keywords and related data to boost search engine rankings.
To learn how to use popular tools and make the most of their features, sign up for our SEO online course where you will use different tools while working on various hands-on projects.
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List of Keyword Research Tools for SEO
We have listed paid and free keyword search tools that you can use for SEO in 2025 and enhance your marketing efforts. All these tools provide results based on relevant questions, search volume, monthly keyword value, keyword difficulty, and other factors.
- Google Keyword Planner
- SEMrush
- Google Trends
- Soovle
- Ahrefs
- Ubersuggest
- KeywordTool.io
- MOZ Keyword Explorer
- Serpstat
- AnswerThePublic
Also Read: What is Technical SEO? Beginners Guide in 2025
SEO Keyword Research Tools
Let’s dive deep into the best keyword research tools for SEO in 2025:
1. Google Keyword Planner
Google is the dominant search engine. So, it’s no surprise that it offers the best free keyword research tool known as Keyword Planner. It is a great place to start your keyword search, especially when you use Google Ads for your paid ad campaigns.
If you want to use this tool, you need to set up an AdWords account, but you don’t have to create an ad. If you use it for your ad campaigns, it allows you to select competitive bids and budgets.
It’s easy to use and navigate, so it’s an excellent option for beginners. You simply need to input a keyword, multiple keywords, or a website link, and Keyword Planner will provide you with a list of relevant keywords and simple metrics so that you can determine the level of competition for each keyword and total searches (global and local) for each one. It also gives data regarding monthly searches, bidding information, and related keywords.
Users can also get insights into historical statistics and details regarding keyword performance. If you want, you can get a new list of keywords generated by multiplying different lists of keywords.
However, with the transition of Google Keyword Tool to Keyword Planner, the tool removed various functionalities. So, it might lack a few features and functionalities that you can find in other tools, but it makes up for it by offering you data directly from Google. Anyone with a Google Ads account can use this tool for free.
2. SEMrush
SEMrush is a well-known keyword research tool that helps advertisers simplify and manage their SEO tasks. It is a competitive research tool that offers a range of keywords for different marketing strategies, such as PPC, content, competitor research, social media, and more.
One reason that it is considered among the top SEO keyword research tools is it lets users identify competitors’ keywords to explore better marketing opportunities to attain higher search engine rankings on Google, Bing, and Yahoo.
Use this tool to compare various domains and evaluate the competitive landscape, such as common keywords, their positions in organic and paid results, and their history of rises and drops. It is user-friendly, giving you a sneak peek into trending topics and keyword popularity. You can find what attracts the audience to accelerate your business growth. Its visually appealing charts make it easier for users to understand trends and analyze results.
3. Google Trends
Google Trends is another fantastic tool that helps you find the popularity of different keywords and their search volumes over time and across multiple locations. You can filter keywords based on search history, location, and category.
You just have to input details, and it will provide you with detailed results, showing the web interest around a specific search term, reasons for the interest, source of traffic, and similar keywords. Apart from giving static keyword volume numbers, it also generates interactive and easy-to-understand graphs that you can download and embed on your website.
You can get more in-depth information about keywords to know their relative popularity over time. While preparing data, it doesn’t include repeated queries from a single user over a short span, enhancing the result and making it more accurate.
This is one of the most reliable tools for grouping searches that it assumes to be the same. If you are not able to pick between two keyword variations for your next blog post, then Google Trends is one of the top keyword research SEO tools to try to compare the two options and find which one has more search volume and frequency.
4. Soovle
If you are looking for a free keyword search tool to get query suggestions based on the provided keywords, then Soovle is your one-stop solution. It scours multiple platforms, such as Bing, Google, Amazon, Yahoo, YouTube, Wikipedia, and more, to provide you with keyword suggestions you might have overlooked.
It can generate hundreds of suggestions within seconds and display results by website, so you can optimize content for each keyword. You can also use it for future reference or download suggestions in a CSV file. Another feature is an alphabetical list of top keywords with the platforms on which each one is ranked highly.
Also Read: 20+ Key SEO Skills You Need to Succeed in 2025
5. Ahrefs
Ahrefs is almost similar to SEMrush but has some additional features and a more intuitive design. For example, sometimes, Google provides instant answers for a few queries, so not every search turns into page visits. Using Clicks and Clicks Per Search metrics, you can find keywords that generate website traffic and skip dead-end options.
Its database has over 7 million keywords from 171 countries, and each month, the platform updates new keywords in the database. It shares keywords and their search volumes after combining various popular search engines and platforms, including Amazon, YouTube, Google, Baidu, and Bing. It means it identifies opportunities that many other tools might miss.
You can use Ahrefs for competitive research, and its Site Explorer tool helps you figure out competitors’ keyword strategies. Moreover, using the Content Gap feature, you can compare competitor keywords with yours to find what you are missing.
It uses the Keyword Difficulty (KD) score to guide users on how challenging it can be to rank certain keywords on search engines. It calculates scores using present high-ranking pages. Ahrefs is now among the most reliable keywords search tools that allow searches for multiple keywords simultaneously.
When you input different keywords, it gives thousands of ideas in different ways. It matches terms or phrases that include your target keywords and gives ideas based on one or more keywords.
It notifies you about every ranking progress of your competitors, no matter how small it is. One of the strongest features of the tool is backlink research. We can conclude that Ahrefs stands out for its freshness, usability, and index size.
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6. Ubersuggest
Ubersuggest is a free keyword generator that can find short-tail and long-tail keywords within seconds. You can download it and add it as an extension to your browser and use it for various purposes, such as search volume data, keyword suggestions, keyword density, and keyword difficulty.
It can provide the top SEO pages report so you can understand how competitors’ pages are working. You can see all the relevant keywords and find which are generating the most clicks. Use this free tool to get a list of hundreds of keywords with seasonal trends, competition, and volume. Also, you can check the content that is ranked top to compose your own content around similar keywords.
As we know, backlinks directly impact search engine rankings. That is where Ubbersuggest can be of great help. It shows you details about where businesses are backlinking their articles on the website so you can approach them to link their articles or pages on your site. This will enhance your link profile and speed up your business growth.
It is one of the top keyword research tools with plans for individuals, businesses, and agencies. You can seek help from its support team via emails or biweekly calls. Moreover, once you sign up for this tool, you can access Google Search Console and seek better support services from the team.
7. KeywordTool.io
Keyword Tool is a rudimentary keyword research tool but a perfect choice if you simply want long-tail keywords related to the one you have already thought of. It is completely free, and you don’t need to create an account to use this tool.
This tool uses Google Autocomplete to provide users with a list of relevant keyword suggestions with required data that SEO experts need, such as search volume, competition, and trend information.
The suggestions are based on different factors, including how often people have searched for a specific term in the past. You can filter results according to your requirements, such as region, platform, language, type, etc.
If you want keyword research tools for SEO free of cost, then Keyword Tool is certainly one of the top choices. It is listed among the most in-demand SEO tools as it helps users understand what people are searching for around different topics.
Hence, bloggers can rely on it to brainstorm new and unique blog ideas. Similar to other tools, it also allows users to analyze competitors and find words they are ranking for.
Its free version is sufficient to find keyword suggestions, but you need to upgrade to the paid version to know about search volume and cost-per-click.
8. MOZ Keyword Explorer
Being a marketer, you must have heard of MOZ at some point. It’s a leading tool that can perform extensive keyword research in no time and provide high-impact suggestions. You can also use it to find keywords for your business to rank your website higher on search engine result pages.
One feature that makes it one of the best SEO tools for keyword research is that it allows users to export CSV files. You can easily download the MOZ bar, which appears at the top of your computer screen and allows you to check the page and domain authority, shares of a website, spam score, and much more.
It ensures more than 95% accuracy in terms of search volume, so you can prioritize keywords according to topics using the scoring system.
You can filter keywords by location and other parameters for strategic keyword planning. As you perform a keyword search using MOZ, it shows a list of relevant keywords along with their difficulty level to rank, potential, opportunity, and other aspects. You can also see the top ten organization results for a specific keyword with its Facebook shares and links to the page and domain.
You can analyze, download, and apply keyword suggestions for future use. It also shows keywords in the form of questions, long-tail keywords with high competition, and related topics. Many of MOZ’s features are available with only the paid subscription, but its Keyword Explorer allows three free searches every day to users signed up for a free account.
Also Read: How to Do Keyword Research for SEO? 2025 Strategy
9. Serpstat
If you want high-performing keyword research SEO tools for PPC campaign management, keyword research, link building, and local search optimization, then Serpstat has got you covered with its complete SEO suite. It offers a complete list of profitable keywords used by competitors to attain higher ranks in SERPs. It analyzes past searches and results to find the value of keywords based on different factors, such as cost-per-click and number of search results.
The platform claims to have the biggest database that it uses to identify relevant keywords, track competitors, analyze search volume, and assess keyword popularity. It recommends more suggestive keywords and provides a list of long-tail keywords that have low volume but are relevant to your business.
Moreover, global businesses can easily adapt keywords using their databases according to different countries. The best part is it offers tools for monitoring trending keywords based on rank, content analysis, and region. In addition, you can see how relevant your web pages are and evaluate the latest trends that browsers can find attractive.
To conduct a complete analysis of keywords for competitors, Serpstat is your go-to solution. It also helps you mitigate the chances of your website or web page losing its high rankings on search engines.
10. AnswerThePublic
AnswerThePublic calls itself a ‘search listening tool’ that uses autocomplete data from search engines to find useful search phrases and questions. It generates over 500 results and visually represents search questions and autocomplete searches so users can easily identify search volume according to prepositions, related searches, questions, and comparisons.
For anyone who wants keyword analysis tools free for SEO, content, and market research, pick AnswerThePublic without a second thought. It will help you understand search intent, active searches, and curiosity so you can understand the target audience better. It finds high-potential and low-competition keywords so you can enhance your SEO efforts.
If you are a beginner, this tool is a great place to start your keyword research journey, as it’s easy to use and navigate. Using actionable insights provided by the platform, you can make data-driven decisions while implementing marketing strategies.
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Wrapping Up
Keywords are one of the most crucial aspects of website and content optimization. Hence, it’s important that you choose the right keyword analysis tools to find relevant search terms for your brand. As you select the right tool, consider a few key factors, such as your SEO strategy, budget, and goals.
Evaluate all the available options based on their pros and cons and then make an informed decision. We are sure that this blog will guide you in selecting the best tool for your keyword research and make the process simpler for you.
To learn more about these tools and their features, join our Digital Marketing Course. Get trained by industry leaders and understand how to leverage each tool to boost your marketing and SEO efforts.
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