It’s time to ramp up your SEO, huh? At this stage, it’s important to keep the unique characteristics of your company in mind so you’ll know what services and tools you’ll need. When you’re getting started with your company’s revamp, you’ll want to decipher through numerous little SEO-related things to ensure you’re getting the cream of the crop and not wasting any time while doing so.

At the start of all SEO campaigns comes a time of keyword research and analysis. While there are definitely keyword analysis best practices, there are also a handful of keyword analysis tools out there to help you get started. Here’s a more in-depth look at five major keyword research tools to help your keyword research and analysis as effective as possible:

Our Favorite Keyword Research Tool List:

Tool #1:SEMrush

SEMrush ensures keyword optimization through their keyword analysis tool. This tool works as a generator by expanding the keyword pool for your site, increasing the web presence opportunities for your site. SEMrush’s tool provides tested keywords that compete well against other competitors ranking high in Google, Yahoo, and Bing results. In addition, this tool supplies the user with useful metrics for keywords like CPC, volume, trend, the number of results and others like these.

Some of the “pros” of SEMrush is it’s speed, it’s familiarity with backlinking and site audits, it’s vast network of websites and keywords in it’s database, and it’s ability to see how competitors’ sites are doing. The main “con” found with SEMrush is it’s cost. But, sometimes you gotta pay to play!

Tool #2:Google Keyword Planner

Another top contender in the keyword research tool market is Google’s Keyword Planner. Google’s Keyword Planner helps you to discover keywords, compare the keyword trends, create a plan regarding the keywords you’ve acquired. This keyword tool allows the user to analyze past keyword popularity to better predict what could come in the field of keyword searches.

Some of the “pros” found in Google’s Keyword Planner is it’s backlog of past keyword trends, the ability to track content popularity based on location, and the fact that it is free. This allows you to do kick-ass profitable keyword analysis at no cost. On the other hand, a few “cons” tied to the Google Keyword Planner are the lack of data regarding keyword trends and the inability of knowing which device your target audience is using more. This can leave some blind spots when determining upcoming keyword usage and the platform that people are viewing it on.

Tool #3:Moz Pro Keyword Explorer

Moz’ Keyword Explorer is one tool out of many that Moz offers for improved SEO. The Keyword Explorer provides multiple effective features like keyword suggestions, a wide variety of metrics, search engine result page (SERP) analysis on an easy-to-use interface. A grouping feature allows keyword suggestions to be grouped into broader folders for better organization. This interface allows the user to do almost everything they need in one location. Unlike other keyword research tools, the Keyword Explorer displays data using easily accessible metric graphics and datasheets to make analysis a little easier on the eyes.

Moz Pro’s Keyword Explorer “pros” include its keyword suggestion feature along with it’s detailed analytic features. A cleaner, simpler way of analyzing data is vital in the long run. A “con” with this tool is that it is part of a larger package that Moz offers, the Moz Pro package, so if a small budget is in the picture, it might be best to avoid this choice and utilize another great keyword research and analysis tool until funds permit.

Tool #4:Wordstream’s Keyword Tool

Created by SEO and PPC online advertising company, Wordstream, this keyword research tool was designed to be more accurate than Google’s Keyword Planner. By collecting keywords from a variety of categories like keyword phrases, long tail keywords, meta keywords, and others like these, this keyword tool provides over one billion keywords for your keyword research and analysis. The Wordstream Keyword Tool helps to target certain keyword niches, giving suggestions of what keywords word be best for you, and create a group for similar keyword campaigns.

The “pros” of this keyword tool are the accessible keyword analysis metrics, the keyword suggestion feature and the keyword frequency meter. A few “cons” are that it doesn’t supply other competitive keywords as well as the fact that after 30 free searches, you have to sign up for an alternate account. The inability to access keyword competition could put you at a disadvantage in the long run of keyword analysis.

Tool #5:Long Tail Pro

Last but not least, Long Tail Pro’s keyword analysis tool. Their system allows users to find profitable, targeted keywords and calculate their competitiveness relevant to keyword niche. Some of Long Tail Pro’s features include a proprietary keyword competitiveness score that determines the difficulty of ranking keywords in the top ten Google results. The metric system used in Long Tail Pro’s keyword analysis tool always the user to determine numerous key characteristics like domain strength, page strength, indexed URLs, number of links and many more. Long Tail Pro offers a proprietary algorithm that calculates a score of 0-100 for keyword competitiveness.

The “pros” for Long Tail Pro’s keyword analysis tool are in the intricate features. The in-depth results, metrics and proprietary algorithms that Long Tail Pro offers helps to set it apart from other keyword analysis tools. This tool gives users the ability to attack their keyword analysis with features that set them apart from other keyword analysis tools. After a free week long trial, Long Tail Pro offers a selection of pricing options targeted to boost your SEO.

While there are many effective keyword analysis tools on the market, it’s important to know that not every single one is fit for your company. Depending on your company’s competition, the size of that competition, the keywords of your market, and multiple other characteristics, it’s smart to navigate through each keyword analysis tool offered to find the one that will be the game changer for you, your company, and the way you do SEO.