Keyword Research Tools: Google Keyword Planner Alternatives

Do you do keyword research for your site?

You know, the kind that’s based off of some good old fashioned customer research?

If you do, you might use one of the most used go-to “free” tools – the Google Keyword Planner (formerly the Keyword Research Tool).

But you may have noticed that it’s currently hidden behind an Adwords login.

Or you may have started to see some instances of the number of monthly searches being changed to vague ranges instead.

All of this to say…

You might be looking for a Google Keyword Planner alternative.

Even better?

A Free Alternative to the Google Keyword Planner

But what’s a girl to do?

The truth is, there’s nothing that’ll fully replace what the Keyword Planner used to be in terms of access & full data – BUT you’re not without options.

In this video tutorial, I walk you through one of my favorite alternatives, Moz’s Keyword Explorer. It’s free up to 2 keyword searches a day – which can be plenty for ongoing weekly blog keyword research.

Check it out:

The other free alternative to the Google Keyword Planner I mention in the video is kwfinder.com – usually a paid tool but which can add another 2 free searches per day to your arsenal for free.

Here’s a screenshot of what our sample keyword research phrase looks like in the kwfinder:

You get the traditional search volume data on the left and who’s already ranking for that term (aka your competition) on the right.

Using Google’s Keyword Planner for keyword research definitely gave you more access to numbers on how many searches each keyword phrase was getting but never any real information on what your competition looked like.

So – tell me:

Have you tried either of these alternatives to Google’s Keyword Planner?

What do you use for keyword research? Do you do much at all?

Let me know in the comments.