7 Free Keyword Research Tools - Alternative Small Office Home Office

While working on a new report and some updates, I’ve been going through the keyword tools I use to drill down and do cross comparisons. Hopefully this list will also be useful to you.

Desktop Keyword Tools (for Windows)

• Good Keywords – great software which I use at least three times a week. Great to find ideas and to do drill downs.
• The Dowser – requires you to provide your name and e-mail to download, but there’s always a work around. There’s a pro version which isn’t free, but I don’t use it enough to warrant spending the money.

Online Keyword Tools

• Overture – Good for drill downs and keyword suggestions, however, it’s very general.
• Digital Point Keyword Suggestion – Uses Overture and WordTracker data. There’s a very annoying (and difficult to read) captcha, so it’s a tool I use only when I absolutely have to.
• Google AdWords Keyword Tool – The bonus is that you can search for multiple keywords at a time and it will also search synonyms.
• SEO Book Keyword Suggestion Tool – Great tool for generating ideas. It gets Overture data, but links out to Google, Yahoo!, MSN searches (for quick checks) and Google trends.
• WordTracker (which no longer requires you to sign up to trial it – woohoo) – this is probably the de facto keyword research tool, especially for hardcore niche marketers.

When I’m stumped for keywords, I usually open up The Sage and start scanning it for synonyms and play around with various word combinations. After creating a list of keywords, run it through a keyword list cleaner to get the list neat and organized.

[tags]keyword research tools, keyword list cleaner[/tags]