7 free SEO keyword research tools

Posted by Rohit Singh on November 23rd, 2021

The SEO strategy that a copywriter imagines for their web page or text largely depends on the keywords they are betting on. Choosing a keyword over another depends on several factors: search trends and volumes or even potential difficulty in standing out on the query, choice of competitors, etc. Whatever your tactic, there are free SEO keyword research tools to help you access this valuable data. Here is a personal and non-exhaustive selection of Freemium natural referencing apps. Without downloading, they allow you to refine the semantic consistency of your texts and, icing on the cake, to analyze their performance.

FREEMIUM KEYWORD RESEARCH TOOLS

The first decisive step in SEO writing is the choice of relevant keywords so that search engines identify your text as useful to Internet users. Search trends, volumes, difficulty in seeing the competition, keyword suggestions… here are 4 free SEO tools, very useful for polishing your web writing.

GOOGLE TRENDS

Whether your client imposes the main keyword of their text on you, or whether you have carte blanche, Google Trends is essential. Google\'s tool helps you identify the most relevant queries and themes for your theme. You can also compare the performance of two different keywords for free over a given period. Google\'s solution is enough to know the search frequencies of the main keywords related to your subject.

Google Trends advantages:

• Classification of requests:
• by geographic areas, frequency, sectoral categories;
• Keyword comparison; Keyword popularity curve, which makes it easier to identify recurring trends;
• Intuitive tool, with graphics and maps.

Disadvantages of Google Trends:

• Popular queries only: only works for keywords that generate a certain amount of search;
• No information on actual volumes: Google\'s system operates around a performance index ranging from 1 to 100.

UBERSUGGEST

Ubersuggest is a Freemium SEO tool for web editors and other web marketing content managers. Its “keyword analyzer” feature aims to identify the most relevant queries, but also to find ideas for content and keywords close to your subject. This marketing solution now belongs to the famous marketer Neil Patel, so it is on her website that she uses. In its free version, this web page offers various features, which allow you to use up to 3 daily uses. Beyond this frequency, the paid version is essential. Another problem: the tool regularly displays zero results for competing keywords.

Ubersuggest advantages:

• Primary and secondary keyword lists;
• Keyword relevance test, practical in the context of a customer request;
• Ideas for recommended keywords, because they are sought after, but less competition for example;
• Numerous semantic tracks, which make it possible to nourish a large semantic cocoon;
• Ergonomic tool.

Ubersuggest cons:

• No analysis of low competition keywords;
• No track of competing content or keywords on poorly searched queries;
• Limit to 3 searches per day;
• Occasional bugs, with results not consistent with other SEO platforms;
• Punctual lack of updates on research trends.

WORDTRACKER

Some marketers readily use Wordtracker to identify which competition applies to a keyword, as well as its average monthly search volume. This strategy can pay off if you are only looking for a keyword. Thanks to its large database, Wordtracker displays welcome search volumes. The solution also makes it possible to obtain “ keyword reviews ” worthy of SEMRush or YourTextGuru, with:

• Difficulty estimates by keyword;
• A very interesting “rate of difficulty to beat this result”;
• The position of the competitor in the SERP ( Search Engine Results Page ) and the \"authority\" of its site.

The Freemium version, however, only provides this information for the keyword you are concerned about and two other associated keywords. It also authorizes searches only for the USA and UK zones. You cannot set up a period either. Relevant information, therefore, but too little provided.

Wordtracker advantages:

• Accurate search volumes;
• Keyword competition rate.

Wordtracker disadvantages:

• Few leads: a search for keywords only results in 2 suggestions of related keywords;
• Geographic restriction: in the free version, only works for the United States and Great Britain zones;
• No configurable period in Freemium version.

KWFINDER

KwFinder requires registration before allowing you to view its results. A big advantage, however, the SEO tool allows searches in French and on French search results. It displays trends for each keyword, but also search volumes, and especially a difficulty score. You can also view the evolution of trends over a year, as well as a global view of the use of your keyword on the SERP. In its presentation and in its functionalities, the tool is reminiscent of YourTextGuru. The difference, of course, is that it does not offer analysis of your texts, nor SEO optimization suggestions.

KwFinder advantages:

• Very complete data on the keyword of your preference;
• Difficulty rating and “ overview ” of the use of your keyword in the SERP;
• Ideas for Internet users\' questions related to your request.

KwFinder disadvantages:

• Limitation of the number of data: the suggestions of keywords and frequently asked questions are limited to ten.

ANSWER THE PUBLIC

AnswerThePublic constitutes a tool a little apart in this comparison. More than evaluating the relevance of a keyword, it allows you to identify the questions and expressions most searched by Internet users in connection with it. It is, after all, a bible of the semantic cocoon.

AnswerThePublic Benefits:

• Access to many questions asked by Internet users on Google;
• Display as a list of keywords or mindmaps;
• Design that leaves no one indifferent, to be avoided around 2 a.m. ?

Disadvantages AnswerThePublic:

• Mindmap visualization: nice at first glance, it turns out to be quite difficult to read;
• Sometimes unsuited to the French language;
• Quite a mess compared to semantic cocoon optimization tools like 1.fr.

WHAT ABOUT OTHER FREE SEO KEYWORD RESEARCH TOOLS?

As announced in the introduction, this article on free SEO tools is far from exhaustive. There are many solutions that tackle areas other than keyword research and semantic optimization. These can be SEO audit apps like SE Ranking, speed audits like WebPageTest or crawlers like Screaming Frog.

Regarding keyword research apps, this article does not cover the following web pages:

• KeyWordRevealer, which requires registration;
• Keyword Keg, which also requires registration;
• Keywordtool.io, which is a freemium tool.

FREE SEO OPTIMIZATION TOOLS BY TEXT ANALYSIS

To ensure the relevance of your biases in terms of choice of keywords, nothing better than a little analysis. This is what the two apps below, 1.fr and Alyze.info, offer at different levels, but completely complimentary.

1.FR

In its free version,

1.fr works in two parts. You can either test the SEO optimization of a text already written, or request topic suggestions. In the first case, you use the “Optimize your text” feature. You chose to have it rated for Google or Bing bots, depending on your query and target audience. You can type your text directly into the tool, load it, or enter its URL.

1.fr analyzes your text and provides you with an estimate of its level of semantic consistency. Strategic data, when we know that the semantic cocoon of your article directly influences the ability of search engines to identify your topic, and therefore to report it as interesting to your Internet use on your request.

1.fr thus provides you with a semantic consistency score of 0% to 100%. 100%, therefore, embodies the best possible level. The page also suggests a list of keywords include in your draft to flesh out its semantic “power”. This same marketing solution is also used to obtain content ideas according to the subject that interests you.

1.fr, in this case, gives three categories of relevant information: Frequently asked questions by Internet users; Number of Internet users who ask them; The number of sites that give the answer. In terms of free optimization of natural referencing, 1.fr is, therefore, one of the essentials. Why use 1.fr, to summarize?

1.fr advantages:

• Very easy to use, impossible to get lost;
• Suitable for Google or Bing optimization;
• Practice for blog articles, help in choosing writing topics;
• Free semantic audit.

1.fr disadvantages:

The severity of the scores: the semantic optimization score of 0 to 100% displayed by the solution is sometimes difficult to achieve unless you pour into keyword stuffing. The screenshot above shows for example the score that the solution attributes to the text in the first position of the SERP France in February 2021 for the keyword “qualified leads”; No performance by keyword: the solution does not indicate the performance of your text for each of the keywords linked to your theme. This possibility remains the prerogative of paid SEO tools like YourTextGuru; No optimization priorities: 1.fr does not prioritize the keywords to add to your text in order to optimize it, the app just lists them; Ideas of questionable content: side suggestions of subjects, it is necessary to make sorting. The artificial intelligence working on your theme sometimes makes recommendations that are a little off the table, it\'s up to you to sort it out!

ALYZE.INFO

If Alyze.info and 1.fr both embody powerful SEO tools, they are much more complementary than competitors. Alyze.info is a particularly useful online solution for analyzing your web pages or articles already online. Available in Freemium version in exchange for registration, it gives access to three free modules perfect to help with web writing. The “SEO Analysis” module offers various interesting features for analyzing a web page (published or unpublished):

• Classifies the keywords according to their raw density (number of occurrences in the text) and according to their weighted density (which depends on the relevance of their use, their placement in the tags, etc.);
• Analyzes the structured data of the page and makes recommendations, if necessary;
• Suggest optimizations in terms of text length, repetitions, use of titles and metadata;
• Evaluate the relevance of links and their optimization for natural referencing;
• Examine your images and check for the presence of alt attributes;
• Advises you on the speed of the page and its security.

Alyze.info is therefore very valuable as part of a global optimization process, especially if you try to assess your past successes and mistakes to optimize your future texts. Alyze.info\'s “SEO Comparison” module is not without interest either, as it allows you to examine the SEO performance of your article compared to that of one of your competitors on the same subject. This feature highlights your similarities, establishes a likeness score, and displays the tags where the keywords appear for each website. The last handy Alyze.info tool for SEO web writing: the keyword suggestion module. It displays some expressions complementary to your keyword, as well as about fifteen expressions from its lexical field. This is not the most advanced feature of this SEO tool, but it is still useful for focusing your research. This SEO app can also be used before publication, to verify that your main keyword displays the correct density. It is also a very good support to spot your too frequent repetitions.

Alyze.info advantages:

• Very complete solution;
• Detailed SEO optimization recommendations;
• Comparison of SEO performance of pages and websites;
• Keyword suggestions.

Cons Alyze.info:

Not much, except for a somewhat rigid interface. This non-exhaustive review of free SEO keyword research tools aims to save you time while writing articles and web pages. These Freemium apps also help produce content that ranks well on search engines, without spending a fortune on SEO analysis. Objective: good rankings in the SERP, for boosted traffic on your website.