Every content plan we write for a client starts with keyword research: what people search, how hard it is to rank, and which page should answer each query. These are the tools we use for that, from Google’s free data to paid suites, plus the clustering and rank tracking tools that turn a keyword list into a site plan.
How we chose
- Data quality: how close the volumes and difficulty scores come to what Search Console later shows.
- Coverage: countries, languages and the long tail.
- Workflow: grouping keywords into topics and pages, and tracking rankings afterwards.
- Price: what you get free, and what a small team pays.
Free first
Start with Google Search Console and Keyword Planner. Search Console shows what you already rank for, and the pages on page two are usually the quickest wins. Keyword Planner and AnswerThePublic fill in new topics. Add a paid tool when you need difficulty scores, competitor research or more than a handful of searches a day.
Verdict
Ahrefs is our pick for research and competitor analysis, and Semrush for teams that want rank tracking, audits and PPC in the same subscription. Moz is the friendliest paid option for beginners. Use Keyword Insights to turn a large list into clusters, one page per cluster, and SE Ranking for affordable daily rank tracking. If you would rather have the research done for you, talk to Seahawk.