Keyword Research Tools

What are keyword research tools?

Keyword research tools are basically used to help you find the right keywords for your needs automating the most time consuming and tedious tasks. These tools usually query the search engines, primarily Google, to process a lot of information so it’s always a good idea to use proxies (LINK TO PROXY PAGE) to prevent the search engines temporarily blocking and in some cases indefinitely banning your IP address.

There are two primary types of keyword research tools:

Online or web based – where you can simply create an account and log in using any browser and any computer with internet access.
Software applications – that you have to install on your computer.

At the end of this article, you can find some of the best keyword research tools that I use every day.

Free vs paid keyword research tools:

There are a couple of free tools that you can use but for obvious reasons, they will have a lot of restrictions preventing you to do an adequate and more professional keyword research. The only free keyword research tools that I use very often is Google’s keyword tool and sometimes Google’s traffic estimator. I use these free tools primary to begin brainstorming keyword ideas and when I find a good group of keywords, then I use the paid tools to do the rest of the work.

Here’s what WordStream has to say about what free or traditional keyword research tools offer:

No relevant data – The data and metrics you’re getting from most keyword research tools are available to everyone, including other businesses vying for the same market. Where’s the competitive advantage? Where’s the relevancy to YOUR website?

No ability to act – Most if not all third party search marketing tools spit out data and then it’s up to you to collect it and incorporate it into your search marketing campaign. Nothing could be more tedious and time-consuming.

Given that keyword research is so vital to the success of your SEO and PPC efforts, it only stands to reason that the keyword research tool you choose is of equal importance.

– WordStream

Examples using keyword research tools

Example 1 (adsense keyword research)

If you want to add adsense to your blog, you need to find keywords that have a high search volume, high CPC and if you plan to get organic traffic, you will also want those keywords to have low competition so you can easily rank them on Google organic search.

Example 2 (affiliate or offline product or services keyword research)

If you have an affiliate blog or offline business website promoting any kind of services or products, you will also need to use one or two keyword research tools to find the right keywords. In this case, you also need keywords with high demand and low competition but since you’re not using AdSense ads, it doesn’t matter if they have high or low CPC, though, a good indication to know if the keywords are what are regularly called in the Internet Marketing world as “money keywords” is if they have a descent CPC.