The Keyword Toolbox - Must Haves

Keyword tools help to determine which keywords a site could rank for. The following tools are ones we recommend, they are all free (with the option to unlock more features with paid upgrades).

Google keyword planner

The Google Keyword Planner is a tool under the “Google Ads” site. This allows users to analyze keywords that they’re attempting to rank for to determine a good keyword strategy.

The site shows simple metrics on each word or phrase, and helps to give an idea of how difficult it would be to rank for specific keywords.

This article gives a brief guide on using the Google Keyword Planner for website ranking. The video to the right is within the article, if you’d like to skip the reading.

Ahrefs.com is a great resource for SEO information, and we highly recommend using some of their tools such as the Keyword Explorer and Content Explorer.

Google trends

google trends screenshot

Another part of the Google toolset is Google Trends. This shows users the volume a specific keyword has over time, which gives insights into the likelihood that it would be something to pursue.

Google Trends can show when and how often users search for a phrase that you’re attempting to market yourself to.

JAAXY

jaaxy screenshot

Jaaxy is a great freemium keyword tool that gives users the ability to search for keyword ranking difficulty. This will show you how hard it is to get to the top of a results page for each phrase that you check. While the tool is free to use, the premium features will add additional functionality like:

  • Niche Targeting
  • Competition Ranking
  • Keyword Suggestions

If keyword research is something that you’re interested in, we recommend starting with the free version before upgrading. 

MOZ

Moz is a great freemium keyword tool that gives users the ability to find out your domain authority, how many keywords you are ranking for, your top ranking keywords, and other useful information.

Screenshot of Moz.com website