Top 10 Free keyword Research Tools

Boost your SEO with these 10 free keyword research tools:

SEO Expert

In headlines, subheads and text, using just the right words and phrases will help your target audience find your content. These tools can help extend your reach.Whether you are writing headlines or copy for your website, blog posts or news releases, keyword research can help you reach your audience better.

You will know which words your audience cares about, how consumers search for things and how they group keywords together. Some benefits of optimizing keywords:

• Increases website traffic
• Improves visibility in search engines such as Google, Bing and Yahoo
• Raises the likelihood your audience finds it valuable to share on their social networks
• Generates ideas for future content creation and curation

Keyword research is the foundation of a good search engine optimization (SEO) strategy and a vital component of your content marketing strategy.

Here are 10 helpful keyword research tools worth exploring:

1. Headline Analyzer: This headline analyzer scores your overall headline quality and helps you determine the ideal number of words for your headlines. It also ensures that you balance emotional and powerful words to make your headlines readable and compelling. For more on the subject, please read: How to Write the Best Headlines That Will Increase Traffic.

2. imran SEO Expert: This is a free keyword suggestions tool, providing search suggestions based on popular keywords in Google searches and the different forms used by people seeking various sources of information. It collects and aggregates search suggestions into a free report.

3. WordTracker: This tool reveals the best keywords related to your search term. It shows you how much traffic certain keywords get and which words you might focus on. The one drawback is that it is geared for you to sign up for the paid version with the "continue your research" button after you get the quick analysis.

4. SEMrush: After you enter your website's URL, this tool provides analytics geared toward the digital marketer. You get information about your competitors, along with specific keywords that are performing well for them. You even get insight into keyword difficulty and backlink information.

5. SpyFu: This website is great for an overview of keywords. It provides a number of monthly searches, ranking difficulty and profitable related keywords. You can enter the name of a competitor, and it delivers an overview of which keywords, links are working well for them, what their pay-per-click ads look like and much more.

6. UberSuggest: This tool provides helpful keyword suggestions so you can learn about specific topics. Add to your keywords a word that starts with "a," for example, and a suggestion will appear, and on through the alphabet to help you with long tail keywords. Make sure you read The Beginners Guide to SEO: Keyword Research.

7. Google's Keyword Planner: Most people use this well-established website. Recently, Google began requiring you to sign up for a Google AdWords account before you can use it. It provides keyword ideas and traffic estimates.

8. Bing Keyword Research Tool: Having mentioned Google, the No. 1 search engine tool, I would be wrong not to mention the second-most popular search engine: Bing. Here is a list of the most popular search engines.

9. SEO Chat: This tool shows how keywords look side by side on sites such as Google, Bing, YouTube and Amazon. It is great for brainstorming topics and content and showing how users search differently on YouTube for entertainment purposes vs. Amazon for buying purposes.

10. KeywordTool.io: This website enables you to search keywords in Google, Bing, YouTube and the App Store. It generates more than 750 suggestions for every keyword. It is one of the few tools that allow you to search the App Store, according to InternetMarketingNinjas.com.

Bonus: Don't forget to use Google Trends to explore topics and see how the popularity of certain words have grown, such as content marketing.