In all SEO strategy we find the need to use tools to search for keywords. The problem, especially for freelancers or companies with limited budgets, is that many of them are paid. But, there are tools that allow you to do a keyword search without any cost and with very good results.
What is a keyword Research?
Before entering fully into the presentation of the keyword tools, I would like to remind you what a keyword search (or keyword research) is. It is a process that aims to identify relevant keywords to position the pages of your website in search engines, taking into account your business and the users you are targeting. The main goal is to find keywords that provide visitors and, therefore, improve the traffic of our website and generate conversions (records, purchases. If you want to understand better what it is and what are its utilities, I recommend this post about the keyword research that we have in our blog.
7 Tools to Search for key keywords at No Cost
Google Keyword Planner
In my opinion, this is the most important free tool to make a keyword research and I recommend that you use it whenever you can. Keyword Planner tells you how many monthly searches a keyword has in Google, depending on the country and language you select. This way, you will be able to know if the keyword in question can bring visitors or not. Logically, it does not make any sense that, for example, you work on a keyword that has 0 monthly searches, because it is clear that if you do not care about anyone, it will not generate visits to your web page. Keyword Planner has the added advantage of being a Google tool and, therefore, is the one that provides more reliable data on the monthly searches that a keyword has in this search engine. To use Keyword Planner you must follow the following steps:
Go to Google Keyword Planner .
Select “Get search volume data and trends.”
Write the keyword or keywords that you want to know the volume of monthly searches they have. It is important that you try all the combinations that you can think of: synonyms, different orders, singular / plural, etc.
Select in which country you want to search and click on “Get search volume” (at this point, you must select the language of your website and the country of the users you are targeting).
Next, a dashboard will appear with the number of monthly searches that each one of the keywords has. In addition, you can also obtain information at the seasonality level. That is, the number of monthly searches they receive based on the month of the year.
Keyword Planner also has another very interesting functionality: it allows you tosearch for keyword ideas from another keyword or from a URL.This is very useful to find more keywords that are of interest to position your web page.To take advantage of this feature, you have to do the following:
Go to Google Keyword Planner .
Select “Search for new keywords using a phrase, website or category.”
Write the keyword or keywords from which you want to find new ideas. You can also write a URL, for example, of your competition or a page that deals with similar topics.
Select in which country and in what language you want to search, and click on “Get search volume” (at this point, you must select the language of your website and the country of the users you are targeting).
Next, a dashboard with the results will appear. You will also be shown the number of monthly searches for each of these keywords.
Go to Google Keyword Planner .
Select “Search for new keywords using a phrase, website or category.”
Write the keyword or keywords from which you want to find new ideas. You can also write a URL, for example, of your competition or a page that deals with similar topics.
Select in which country and in what language you want to search, and click on “Get search volume” (at this point, you must select the language of your website and the country of the users you are targeting).
Next, a dashboard with the results will appear. You will also be shown the number of monthly searches for each of these keywords.
Attention! For a few months, Keyword Planner does not provide the exact data of the volume of monthly searches that has a keyword, but only approximate ranges. To access all the exact information, it is necessary to have a Google Adwords campaign running.
Google Trends
Google Trends is another keyword tool created by Google with a very specific goal: to know what is the trend of a keyword, that is, how their searches have evolved over time. What is this for? To see if the trend of the word is positive and if, therefore, you are interested in using it on your website or blog. Obviously, if the trend is positive it will be advisable to do so and, if it is not, it is not. To use it, you just have to follow these steps:
Access the tool .
Indicate the keyword you want information on what dates and in which country.
Check the results.
With Google Trends, you can also compare the trend of several keywords. It is very useful when you have doubts when choosing both keywords with different meanings and different keywords but that mean the same thing. To access this comparison, you just have to follow the following steps:
Access Google Trends .
Search for the keyword you want to know the trend in the search engine and select in which country you want to see the trend and on what dates.
Click and the results will appear.
Click on “+ Compare” and add the rest of the keywords to make the comparison.
It is important to keep in mind that Google Trends only provides information about the trend of a keyword, but it does not provide information about monthly searches. Therefore, once you have identified keywords that may be relevant to your website, it is recommended that you use Keyword Planner to check if they have a remarkable volume of searches. My recommendation is that you also do it the other way around: if you already know the volume of searches for a keyword, it is important to look at its trend to make sure that it is a keyword that will be searched with the passage of time. If it is not, it is better that you consider using another, even if you have fewer monthly searches.
Google Search Console
Google Search Console (formerly Webmaster Tools) will include the keywords by which users are accessing your website. This information can give you many surprises: it is possible that you have already used some of these keywords, but it can also be the case that you see keywords that you are not using. In these cases, it is recommended that you do so because you will increase the number of visitors that access your page through that search. To use Google Search Console it is necessary, first of all, to have it configured and have the accesses. Then, you just have to follow the following steps:
Go to Google Search Console .
Go to the “Analytics of the search” section.
Next, you will see a list of the words by which the users find you. You can also visualize the impressions they have during a specific period. Normally, the more impressions a keyword has, the more monthly searches it has. Anyway, to confirm the information, I recommend that you pass through Keyword Planner.
Übersuggest
Ubersuggest is a free keyword search engine focused on finding keywords long tail from a keyword. Therefore, it is also useful to find new quality words to work on your website. Using Übersuggest is very easy and you should only do the following:
Access Übersuggest
Enter the keyword from which you want to find new long tail suggestions and select the country in which you want to find these suggestions.
See the results and select those keywords that you think may be relevant to the website.
Like Google Trends, Übersuggest also does not provide information about the monthly searches that a keyword has. Therefore, it will not help you to confirm if the keyword can provide visits to your web page. As a consequence, once you identify new keywords related to your business, you will also have to pass it through Keyword Planner to know the volume of monthly searches they have and by Google Trends if you want to check their trend.
Keyword Shitter
Keyword Shitter has exactly the same functionality as Übersuggest, that is, it allows you to search for long tail keywords from the entered keyword. Its use is also identical:
Access the tool .
Enter a keyword in the box.
Click on “Shit Keywords” and check the results.
Remember that once you have the list of keywords, you must put it in Keyword Planner and Google Trends to know your monthly search volume and its trend.
Google Suggest
It is a function of Google itself that does the same as Übersuggest and Keyword Shitter. Simply enter a keyword in the search engine so that it shows you related long tail words and what users are looking for.
Keywords Everywhere
This first tool is amazing, because it allows you to search for keywords in Google while it shows you the volume of searches , suggestions and other relevant data. And also, it works with other services that we will see later.
As you see in the image, below the search box it shows you 3 values:
Volume.
CPC (cost per click, or what they pay for each ad).
Competition (with values between 0 and 1).
But it is also on the right side shows 2 boxes. In the first of them you can see what is called long tail keywords and in the second, other keywords related to the search that people also do.
As a negative point, it sometimes returns as zero search volume and, although sometimes it may be that way, it is sometimes false (if the tool shows them, it has searches).
Also it must be said that it is an extension that you must install in the browser (Chrome or Firefox). We leave you a video tutorial on how to do it.
The Google search engine
As we just told you, thanks to Keyword Everywhere now every time you do a search on the big G you will know how many people make the same query. But even without that extension, Google is a tool to search for free words (if you know what to look for).
The first thing is the autocomplete. Each of these lines with suggestions is a long tail that you can include in your content. Also, as you see in the image, thanks to the previous tool you know your search volume.
Another place to find keywords is a new feature that Google added, known as “other user questions . ” It does not always appear but when it does, always look at it to get new ideas.
And of course, the bottom part with related searches is another gold mine.
The Google keyword planner
Who better than the big G to tell you what people are looking for on the Internet? That’s why your Keyword Planner is one of the tools to find the most recommended free keywords.
The problem is that it can only be used if you’re campaigning in AdWords … and that costs money! Do not worry because we have a trick for you.
The key is to create an ad in AdWords with the minimum possible amount and, as you accept the payment, go to the campaign management part and pause it. This way, they do not charge you anything and you can use the Keyword Planner.
Also, thanks to the extension of before, you have a column that shows the search volume of each keyword.
Ubersuggest
Neil Patel offers one of the solutions to find the most complete free keywords that exist today . In fact, it could even rival payment tools like KWTool.
And it is that when doing a search with Ubersuggest you have access to:
Volume of monthly searches.
Trend.
Ideas for keywords.
SERP analysis.
Come on, everything you need to do a professional keyword research but without spending a single euro.
Keyword Shitter
This website will not win any prize for its design (it even seems that it does not load well) but its ease of use makes it one of the most attractive and, in combination with Keyword Everywhere, a very powerful solution for low buoyant economies.
Simply put the keyword in the first box and click on “Shit Keyword!” To begin to leave suggestions. When you think it’s enough, click on the same site (which now says “Stop job”) and it will stop working.
As you can see, it also has positive and negative filters and, if you have activated the extension before, you have the same list below but with the volume, the CPC and the competition.
Answer the public
Although it is a payment tool, its free version offers a lot of keyword suggestions that, combined with what has been seen so far, is more than enough (especially for its cost).
The grace of Answer the public is that you enter a concept in the search engine and return a huge list of related topics and sorted by type of question. In addition, it is compatible with Keyword Everywhere and you just have to leave the pointer over for the data to appear.
Another option is to click on “Data” so that they are displayed all at once.
