Man using a laptop with keywords search concept on the screen
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The Best Keyword Research Tools You May Not Know

ByBill Sebald

Note: This post reviews web-based keyword tools. It doesn’t cover desktop tools or plugins.

Keyword research is extremely important when conceiving new content ideas or optimizing existing content for search engines. You likely have a favorite keyword research tool – be it Google Keyword Planner, SEMrush, or Ahrefs. These tools are great for finding high search volume head terms, but what about those times you need more detailed long-tail keywords?

There are some unique tools that every SEO should know about.

SE Ranking

Suppose you selected target keywords from Google Keyword Planner. I suggest you not rush things and run additional keyword research via SE Ranking, an excellent advanced Google Suggest tool. 

While SE Ranking Keyword Suggestion Tool has a basic set of essential metrics, it suggests more diverse long-tail keywords. It generates a huge list of key phrases split into similar, related, and low search volume keywords.

Click to enlarge

 

When I said SE Ranking is an advanced SEO tool, I mean it. For example, I found a useful bonus in SERP Feature info. The system highlights each SERP feature displayed for the analyzed keyword and gives you the advantage of getting a zero position in search results.

Lastly, SE Ranking Keyword Suggestion Tool got a recent update, where they added bulk keyword analysis. It really works – I analyzed hundreds of keywords and got rid of unnecessary search queries in a matter of seconds!

Übersuggest 

I believe Übersuggest was the first keyword research tool for Google Suggest. At least it was the most popular. It was bought by Neil Patel, who changed the interface a bit.

Ubersuggest
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The addition of search volume and CPC metrics are nice. The PD (paid difficulty) and SD (SEO difficulty) are interesting metrics. I’ve seen several tools try to formulate a similar number, but have never been one to trust in them too heavily. But for some who enjoy directional data, this may be for you.

Keywordtool.io Keyword Suggestion Tool

Next up is another great little Google keyword suggestion tool with a less-creative name. Called Keyword Tool, This tool is a lot like Like Übersuggest; it also takes your base term and appends it with letters and phrases.

keywordtool.io
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Keyword Tool has more platforms to pull from. Instead of just Google, they have added support for YouTube, Bing, Amazon, Play Store, eBay, Instagram and Twitter.

The tool gives plenty for free, but will cost you if you need more keywords than the free version provides. Or metrics.

Answer The Public 

Answer The Public takes a cool spin on “suggest” data, targeted at finding and answering searched questions through Google and YouTube. Pick your subject (keyword) and pick your region.

Keyword Visualization

 

The results are solid (and similar to Keywordtool.io and Übersuggest). But this tool does something unique with visualizations.

Keyword.io

Another awesome Google Suggest keyword tool is Keyword.io.

keyword.io
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Keyword.io prepends and appends your search phrase with different letters from the alphabet as well as prepends your phrase with questions like “how”, “what”, “why”, and “where” to help you better meet searcher intentions. I like the option to pick keywords for exporting.

SEO Scout 

SEO Scout is one I just found. Much like the others with a good amount of options.

SEO Scout
Click to enlarge

Which Google Suggest tool is the best?

To answer the question posed in the title, the best tool is… all of them. (I know, what a cop-out!) These are all very simple tools with a simple function. They all do the job of inspiring content ideas and optimizing copy. I have probably used keyword.io the most because I find the “pick and export” feature useful. My recommendation is to give them all a spin and see which you favor.

If you know of another Google suggest keyword tool that you’d like to share, let me know on Twitter.

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