The Best Free Keyword Research Tools

At the moment, my two favorite keyword research tools are the free version of WordTracker and the Google AdWords tool.

1. http://freekeywords.wordtracker.com

This is WordTracker’s free search tool (they have a better paid service that you may want to subscribe to, but I have found that this is good enough). It separates singular from plural words and phrases, so look for both to see which is the better choice. Type in any keyword and you get a list of up to 100 related search terms, with the estimated daily traffic for each. This has been one of the best keyword research tools for a long time. (2011 update: You get just a week free trial of the free version now.)

2. https://adwords.google.com/select/KeywordToolExternal

Google's keyword tool is open to the public for now, but if they require an AdWords account in the future, get one. It is a cheap way to have access to a good resource It costs just $5 to open an advertising account the last time I checked, and you can use the tools without ever placing any ads.

This does have some issues you should be aware of, however. First, it will have a default setting depending on where you are in the world. If you are in Australia, for example, it may give you results just for Australia. You can edit this setting to get worldwide traffic figures or the statistics from whichever area of the world you think you'll be targeting.

Also, click on the "exact" option for the results. If it is set on "broad," you get the results for any searches that include your keyword phrase. For example, if you search "hunting" as a broad search, you'll get results that count all searches for terms like "hunting dog," "hunting rifle," and so on. Come to think of it, that might be useful for researching a website theme, when you are trying to determine the traffic potential of many related keywords. In any case, be sure you know what you are looking at in the results.

Also, like all the keyword research tools out there, this one seems to have errors regularly. For example, on some keywords, it has shown the same number of searches for one country as for the world, which we can safely assume is inaccurate (how likely is it that a popular keyword is used in only one country?). Obviously, apply some common sense if the results appear to be strange.

Despite it's flaws, this is one of the better keyword tools out there.

Keyword Research

Here is my basic routine for researching what to write about and which keywords to target in my articles and pages.

Note: I always target one primary keyword for each page or article. There will always be other possible search terms on that page or in that article, but focus on just one. I'll explain why later.

1. Pick a Subject to Write About

For example, if I want to get more traffic for my site EverythingAboutTravel.com, I might decide to write an article about vacations. It may end up being about "beach vacations," or vacations overseas, but I try not to get too specific in my topic until I have seen the various keywords. Not only do I want to see the traffic potential, but the research often gives me better ideas for articles than I may have thought of at first.

2. Use a Keyword Research Tool

I type in a possible keyword, in this case "vacations." In the results, I see that 5610 people search for "vacations" daily. Among the other 100 results, I see that 1,030 people search for "cheap vacations." I copy and paste the results into a notepad file and eliminate the ones I have no interest in writing about (like "adult vacations," or "nudist vacations.").

Update: I use the Google keyword tool exclusively now.

3. Dig Deeper

I probably can't compete on the term "vacations" (more on how to determine that later), so I consider "cheap vacations" as my primary keyword. Then I realize that I have a page and an article out there which already target this keyword. I like the subject though, so I click on the keyword "cheap vacations" in the WordTracker results and it opens up a new list of 100 keywords that contain that one.

Looking down the list I spot "cheap beach vacations," with 26 searches daily. Recalling our nights spent camping at a state park on the beach in Florida, and the cheap hotels on the beaches of northern Lake Michigan, I decide I can do an article on this subject. I quickly check and see that I can compete for traffic from this keyword.

An important point here: Since "cheap beach vacations" contains the commonly searched keywords "beach vacations" and "vacations" within it, I am simultaneously optimizing the article for these as well. So if I am wrong and I can compete for these tougher terms, I may get some of that traffic as well. This is why it often makes sense to find a less competitive keyword that contains the more competitive one.

That is how you do your basic keyword research using keyword research tools, minus the important step of determining if you can compete for traffic with those search-words and phrases, which will be covered in a moment.

Continues with 4 - 7 here... Keyword Optimization

Note: This is part of the book, You Can Make Money Writing. There are links to all the all the lessons/chapters on the home page.

Writing Tips
Sell E-Books
Writing for Money
Writing an Article
Get Paid to Blog
How to Write Articles
Article Writing Software
How to Write Articles

Be a Keyword Collector!

As you search for keywords for an article, you'll find other good keywords too. Write them down on a list, along with the monthly number of searches for them. Suppose you write on gardening, and you searched "tomato." You choose "growing tomatoes," as your keyword for this article, but you also see that last month 3,100 people searched for "tomato cages" (I actually just checked this).

Write it down! Later you can do an article on how to make your own tomato cages (or how to choose the best ones, if you sell them). 3600 people searched "tomato plant care." Another article, right? Any time you are using keyword research tools, collect those keywords. They give you ideas for articles. Even better, you know that there are people waiting to read those articles - and to visit your website.