List of Keyword Research Tools
Prior to any search marketing campaign, keyword research should take priority. This is the process of not only selecting keywords and phrases that are relevant to one’s business but ones that people are actually searching for. While a portion of this requires good old common sense, actual data and statistics are a necessary ingredient in developing a good list of words to target.
This is where keyword research tools come into play. I have assembled a list of the most popular keyword research tools, some of which are paid services while others are free. Hat tip to Chris Logan whose post at Small Business Ideas Forum inspired this entry.
Leading Keyword Research Tools:
- Keyword Discovery
Prices start at $49.95 per month or $479.40 annually ($39.95/mo.) This is the keyword research tool we use at SearchRank. - Wordtracker
You can order Wordtracker for as little as one day for $7.93. They also offer weekly subscription at $26.44, monthly at $52.87 or annually at $264.36.
Free Online Keyword Research Tools:
- Digital Point’s Keyword Suggestion Tool
Offers options to search Overture and Wordtracker data. - Google Keyword Tool
Generates potential keywords for your ad campaign and reports their Google statistics, including search performance and seasonal trends. - Niche Bot
Offers options to search Keyword Discovery, Overture and Wordtracker data. - Overture Keyword Selector Tool
Displays search data from Yahoo, All the Web, Alta Visa and other search partner sites. - Pixel Fast
Uses data from Overture.
Free Desktop Keyword Suggestion Software:
- Good Keywords
Free Windows based desktop software, 500Kb download, digitally signed and safe to install. - Keyword Spider
Free desktop software that gathers tons of keywords from other people’s websites using sneaky spider technology (that is what their site says… not me). - Keyword Tumble
A free keyword research marketing tool that takes your existing keyword phrase and generates multiple variations of it, simply by mixing the words in each keyword phrase around.
Other Free Keyword Tools:
- 7search
Data from 7Search.com queries. - Iota Web
With the ability to search a growing database of tens of thousands of high-dollar AdSense keywords, Iotaweb allows publishers to find the keywords and key phrases that will allow them to focus their content to monetize their site most effectively. - Keyword Difficulty by SEOmoz.org
Analyzes the competitive landscape of a particular search term or phrase. This tool issues a percentage score and provides a detailed analysis of the top ranking sites at Google and Yahoo. - SEO Book Keyword Suggestion Tool
This tool shows top keyword phrases from Overture. Also links to other keyword research tools, including: Overture View Bid, Google Suggest (popular Google search phrases), search results from each of the major engines, Google AdWords Keyword Sandbox Tool and NicheBot. Also links at various vertical databases, blog searches and tagging systems to show you the top results from other information sources.
And finally if you wish to hire a professional to conduct your keyword research for you, I highly recommend Dan Theis of SEO Research Labs. This is Dan’s niche and he has years of experience behind him.
About the Author: David Wallace, co-founder and CEO of SearchRank, is a recognized expert in the industry of search and social media marketing. Since 1997, David has been involved in developing successful search engine and social media marketing campaigns for large and small businesses. Follow 
keywordspy | Jun 25, 2007 | Reply
Can also give KeywordSpy.com a try for a keyword research tool, with results actually reflecting what advertisers are using at the current time.
find keyword | Sep 25, 2007 | Reply
Find-keyword.com offers an on-line keyword analysis and information retrieval tool for keyword optimisation.
Soledad | Feb 16, 2008 | Reply
Thanks for the information. It really helps a lot for us. We are now searching for a Free or low Fee but Most and real fast keyword or advertising company.
Marcus | Aug 27, 2008 | Reply
Can anyone tell me whether google adwords is the only tool that gives keyword phrase hits along with (more importantly) website market saturation?
visiblenet | Oct 16, 2008 | Reply
Fantastic list of keyword resources. We’ve used many of the ones you mentioned for years now. WT, Wordze and KW Discovery are among our faves, but we’ve found that even many of the BIGGER apps are limited or confusing. Recently, we developed our own keyword tool for use in-house, it is now offered for free on our website. Thought your readers might like to check it out. We encourage feedback or suggestions, so please don’t hesitate to chime in if you notice something that can be improved.
http://www.visible.net/tools/keywords/
Joshua Wexelbaum | Nov 13, 2008 | Reply
I’ve interviewed several developers of the keyword tools you mentioned and posted a comparison of the top 7 keyword research tools on my site:
http://www.keywordresearching.com/compare.php
I think your visitors would find it resourceful.
Using Keywords | Jan 21, 2009 | Reply
Great post thanks. Will take me a while to look through all the sites, but I”ll get there eventually.
Goran Web | Mar 14, 2009 | Reply
I been using the Google keyword tool and the data just does not make sense. Maybe you can explain the following.
I often search and there are 1000′s of results displayed in the Approx Avg Search Volume column yet the data from the previous month is “Insufficient Data”.
This does not make logical senses to me as how can there be no search volume (Insufficient data) during previous months if there are 1000′s on an average month.
Your help would be greatly appreciated.