SEO is not just a business essential, it's a game-changer for your brand's success. It's a complex field, but one that's worth every ounce of your effort. And to simplify the process, you need the right tools for keyword research and competitor analysis. Here's our list of the top ten tools you should be using today!
1. Moz's Free SEO Competitive Analysis Tool
Highly regarded in the SEO industry, Moz's Free SEO Competitive Analysis Tool offers several key features for keyword research and competitor analysis. When you input your competitor's URL, it will give you detailed data such as search volume, SERP features, keyword difficulty, and many more. All these can significantly contribute to identifying high-impact keywords to drive organic traffic.
Moz's Free SEO Competitive Analysis Tool is free to use, making it an excellent option for small businesses and startups.
2. SpyFU
A powerful tool for uncovering your competition's keywords, Spyfu goes deep into finding their historical keyword data, both organic and PPC. This will give you valuable insights into what drives their traffic and how you can potentially outrank them. It doesn't stop at that, it can also analyze their ad variations to give you a peek at their messaging and landing pages to help you create effective campaigns.
Spyfu offers some of the most affordable pricing plans, with monthly subscription fees starting at $39. It provides a 30-day money-back guarantee to make the deal risk-free.
3. Google Keyword Planner
A free tool that's readily available, Google Keyword Planner only requires you to have a Google account. It provides valuable search volume estimates for your target keywords and identifies those worth targeting. It offers basic competitor insights and reveals a keyword's level of competition to give you a good grasp of the challenges you'll face to make it rank.
If you're using or considering PPC (pay-per-click) advertising, the Google Keyword Planner can help you estimate the potential cost per click (CPC) for your desired keywords. This lets you efficiently plan your PPC budget.
4. Free Keyword Tool by WordStream
Another free keyword research and competitor analysis tool, WordStream's Free Keyword Tool, can be valuable to any business looking to rank higher. Its user-friendly interface makes it an excellent option for beginners. Its multi-platform targeting capability gives you insights into both Google and Bing, allowing you to capture a wider audience.
WordStream's Free Keyword Tool also provides valuable metrics like search volume, competition level, and cost-per-click (CPC) estimates for the two search engines. It can also analyze your competitors' websites, although not as in-depth as the paid tools.
5. SEO PowerSuite
A complete set of SEO tools, SEO PowerSuite, is a feature-rich yet easy-to-use tool to help you place your business higher on search engines. It can help you with more than researching keywords and getting data from your competition; it is a one-stop SEO software shop. It has a rank tracker, website auditor, SEO Spyglass, and link assistant, among many other features.
SEO PowerSuite will provide you with reports that are fully customizable, white-label, and responsive, making it easy to view whatever device you use. It has a free version and two paid plans with pricing that starts at $299.
6. SE Ranking
A comprehensive keyword research and competitor analysis software, SE Ranking, can help you discover long-tail keywords, related searches, and question queries. These can reach a broader audience that captures valuable user intent to target specific search needs. Its Competitor Research module analyzes your competition's organic and paid traffic, identifies its top keywords, and unearths backlinks.
SE Ranking's Domain Trust score feature can also give insights into a website's overall SEO authority. This can gauge the competitive landscape for your target keywords and allow you to find ranking opportunities. Pricing starts at $65 per month.
7. Ubersuggest
With a surprisingly powerful free tier, Ubersuggest is a valuable SEO tool option for businesses with limited budgets. It provides keyword suggestions, search volume estimates, and fundamental competitor website analysis. It uncovers your closest competitor's top organic keywords and analyzes their estimated traffic share.
Ubersuggest's free plan lets you do the basics, so if you want to upgrade, it has three affordable plans you can choose from. Its monthly subscription fees start at $20 for 2 to 7 websites.
8. Ahrefs' Keywords Explorer
Using the power of AI, Ahref's Keyword Explorer is a robust SEO tool. It can generate keywords in seconds to help you get ideas from their presets. It gives you an analysis of any keyword in detail: its estimated ranking difficulty, search volumes, and true traffic potential. It can uncover your competitors' top organic keywords, estimated traffic share, and even paid advertising strategies.
Ahrefs also has a Content Gap feature that identifies the keywords your competition ranks for, but you don't. It integrates with powerful backlink analysis tools to help you build your own strategies. Pricing starts at $129 per month.
9. KeywordTool.io
A compelling option for your keyword research and competition analysis efforts, KeywordTool.io is a favorite among many SEO practitioners and entrepreneurs. It shines at generating a vast number of long-tail keywords to help you discover particular keywords with low competition. It uses Google Suggest and search queries from different locations and languages.
KeywordTool.io offers three pricing plans. The free tier lets you do the most essential keyword research. You can use this to explore the tool and then upgrade to any of its paid plans. Pricing starts at $79 per month.
10. Google Ads Auction Insights
While technically not a keyword research tool, Google Ads Auction Insights is still an excellent tool to add to your SEO arsenal. It gives you a window into the world of your competition bidding on the exact keywords as you. It shows you how the competitive landscape evolves, allowing for quick and easy adaptation of your strategies.
Google Ads Auction Insights is free to use. You can use it with other SEO research methods and tools to enjoy its maximum potential. It promises to hand over valuable intel on the overall competitive landscape and how your SEO efforts are performing against the competition. Go to your Google Ads account to access Auction Insights.
