Are you interested in building a keyword map for your website? You’ll need to select at least one of the many available SEO keyword mapping tools to get the job done.
Not sure what a keyword map is? That’s a structured set of SEO keywords and phrases you put together for your website, based on market research and your own brand. (We’ve written an overview about keyword maps that you can check out here.) Ultimately, the goal of an effective keyword map is to help boost your site’s overall SEO quality, as well as your online reach.
Ready to learn more about SEO keyword mapping tools, as well as which tools you should consider using? Keep reading–we’ve got you covered.
What Are SEO Keyword Mapping Tools?
A keyword mapping tool is a piece of software that assists in SEO keyword research. This is the deep research you’ll need to conduct if you’re auditing your site’s SEO or setting up a keyword map. A solid keyword map can help your site rank higher in the SERPs, and researching keywords is crucial to your success here.
These tools often have a wide range of functionality. You can use SEO keyword mapping tools to:
- Check a keyword’s search volume
- Find variations on a particular keyword or phrase
- Analyze your competition
- Research users’ search intent
While that’s not an exhaustive list of capabilities, it should give you a basic idea of what you can do with a keyword mapping tool.
Who Should Be Using Keyword Mapping Tools?
Anyone who owns or runs a website that could benefit from SEO optimization should be using keyword mapping tools. It doesn’t matter whether you’re an individual website owner, an SEO expert, a large company, or an agency. These tools will help you identify and analyze the SEO keywords you should be using to boost your site’s ranking in the SERPs.
How to Use Keyword Mapping Tools
There are a number of ways to use keyword mapping tools to your website’s advantage. You might choose to use a tool to simply identify important SEO keywords and phrases that you should be using in your copy and metadata. On the other hand, you may want to dig deeper and look at the keywords your competitors are using.
You can expand on and visualize this process in a number of ways. If you’re interested in taking a look at how to use a keyword mapping tool after you see the various options in this post, we have a great tutorial on getting started.
Top SEO Keyword Mapping Tools
Ready to learn about some of the SEO keyword mapping tools available to you? Let’s jump in.
1. Ahrefs
Ahrefs is an all-in-one SEO keyword research tool designed for anyone to be able to use, whether beginner or expert level. This tool offers an array of easy-to-understand dashboards to help you complete your keyword and competitor research quickly and easily. There’s even a free option, Ahrefs Webmaster Tools, available to website owners.
What you’ll get:
- SEO auditing tools
- Competitor analysis so you can stay on top of how your competition ranks
- A powerful Keywords Explorer to aid in your research
- Content Explorer, which helps you analyze what competitors are publishing
- Rank Tracker to help you keep an eye on how your website is doing
- Free training materials, including articles, videos, and even SEO courses
- Strong community support
Ahrefs is for you if…
You have any level of SEO knowledge and want a wide variety of tools all in one place. It’s particularly helpful to beginning and intermediate users who are just learning the ropes. However, individuals and companies of all sizes use Ahrefs.
Price: Strating at $99.00/month (Ahrefs Webmaster Tools available to website owners for free) | More Information
2. AudienceKey
AudienceKey is cloud-based keyword mapping software that’s self-described as “iterative mapping.” It generates a content brief for the user, in addition to a spreadsheet-style keyword list that allows you to sort, label, and assign specific keywords to parts of your sitemap. Additionally, AudienceKey makes it easy for users to group and cluster keywords. That means it’s not only useful for creating a keyword map that aligns with your sitemap. It’s also excellent for refining your SEO content marketing strategy.
What you’ll get:
- Collaboration tools that make it easy to share your keyword mapping with team members
- Filters that were created specifically to be used for keyword mapping
- The ability to bulk-update aspects of your keyword map
- Bulk-import and quick-add keyword tools that make the process of integrating existing keyword lists easy
- Automatic data integration and ongoing keyword tracking to help you stay on top of your rankings
AudienceKey is for you if…
You have a set of SEO tools you’re already using but want to add dedicated keyword mapping software to the mix. AudienceKey isn’t so much a keyword research tool as it is a tool made especially for creating keyword maps and clusters, plus tracking those keywords. With that in mind, you’ll want to use it in addition to your other SEO tools.It’s also cost-prohibitive for individuals and small teams, so it fits best if you have a large budget to work with.
Price: Starting at $495.00/month | More Information
3. Moz
Moz features a family of SEO products that can help you round out your keyword research and mapping needs nicely. It works well for users at all stages in their SEO journey, including beginners. But, like other tools such as Ahrefs and SEMRush, it’s also highly scalable for large organizations.
What you’ll get:
- The ability to research keywords that you’ll then assign to your sitemap
- Tools to help you conduct an SEO audit of your website
- Keyword analysis tools that include competitor analysis, difficulty, and more
- Tools to help you track your rankings
- Keyword metrics and lists to help you effectively determine which words and phrases will work best for your keyword mapping strategy
- On-page optimization tools to help you make tweaks to your web pages that could ultimately help give you a boost in the SERPs
Moz is for you if…
You’re looking for a full-service SEO solution that includes useful keyword mapping tools. Moz is highly scalable so it’s great for businesses of any size, from sole proprietorships to large corporations.
Price: Starting at $99.00/month | More Information
4. SEMRush
SEMRush is a robust SEO keyword research tool that can be utilized in keyword mapping, as well as in all aspects of website SEO optimization. It’s a full-service, multi-dashboard powerhouse with a suite of features that will help you get the most out of your keyword mapping efforts. Like Moz and Ahrefs, it’s great for users from all backgrounds.
What you’ll get:
- Keyword research and site audit tools
- On-page SEO tools to help you tweak your site’s keyword optimization
- Local and global SEO results so you can keep your finger on the pulse of a variety of key phrases
- Rank tracking so you can keep an eye on what’s happening with your website
- A Keyword Gap tool that allows users to compare their site with competitor sites to find the “gaps” in their SEO keyword strategy
SEMRush is for you if…
You’re a website owner, solopreneur, agency, or large company looking for a robust SEO tool that aids in keyword mapping. SEMRush offers in-depth services that help you dig deep into your website’s optimization, such as backlink-building and keyword gap analysis. Its pricing is competitive with similar tools, with a limited, free option to get started.
Price: Starting at $119.95/month ($99.95/month if paying annually) | More Information
5. SE Ranking
SE Ranking is an all-in-one tool for both SEO and social media. It offers competitive research for both SEO and PPC, in addition to site audits, on-page SEO, marketing goals, and more. It’s a solid option for B2B marketers who offer SEO services., as well as website owners who want to get their sites in order for the search engines. For users who don’t yet have social media scheduling tools in place, SE Ranking also offers post scheduling and analytics.
What you’ll get:
- Keyword research tools, including a keyword grouping tool to keep you organized
- Tools for SEO reporting and site auditing
- Search volume and competitive keyword analysis
- Page monitoring in real-time
- A white label option for SEO experts who want to use SE Ranking as a platform for their own branded SEO service
SE Ranking is for you if…
You’re an SEO expert, a business owner, or even a digital agency. The platform works well for a wide variety of website owners and content marketers who are looking for support with their keyword mapping strategy. Users with a tight budget can get started on SE Ranking for significantly less cost than some of the other available platforms, with limited use.
Price: Starting at $39.17/month | More Information
6. SpyFu
SpyFu is an interesting twist on SEO keyword mapping tools. This tool actually dives deep into competitor analysis, allowing users to uncover 15 years’ worth of keyword ranking data from their competitors. Users can search any domain name and get information on where those sites appear on Google. Additionally, users can get connected with these domains and uncover a wide range of lead methods. On top of SpyFu’s SEO tools, the app also offers in-depth PPC analysis for competitors’ websites.
What you’ll get:
- The ability to download lists of your competitors’ keywords
- A Keyword tool that searches multiple competitors
- Website SEO tracking for your competitors
- Keyword ranking history data that reveals the ebb and flow of a site’s traffic and rankings
- Branded SEO reports for your clients (if you’re a B2B marketer)
- Backlink analysis for competitor sites
- Keyword ranking tracker for your site
- Influencer marketing tools
SpyFu is for you if…
You’re ready to take your competitive analysis up a notch and add an edge to your SEO keyword mapping. It’s great for businesses of any size, plus B2B marketers providing SEO services.
Price: Starts at $39.00/month ($33.00/month billed annually) | More Information
Conclusion
When it comes to selecting SEO keyword mapping tools, the right tool for you really depends on the features you need and the type of dashboard that works best for you. Explore your options to find the best tool for your needs. Then, it’s time to start building your keyword map, and we’ve got you covered on learning how.
Have you used any of the keyword mapping tools listed above? If so, which one do you prefer? Let us know what you think in the comments.
Featured image via Sammby / shutterstock.com
FAQs
Which is the best tool for keyword research for SEO in 2022? ›
The best free keyword research tool for advanced SEO
Semrush offers a broad range of keyword research tools, too, from the standard traffic and search volume data to content-driven keyword research and competitive keyword gap analysis.
- Semrush.
- Soovle.
- Jaaxy.
- Google Search Console.
- Ahrefs Keywords Explorer.
- SECockpit.
- Google Keyword Planner.
- KeywordTool.io.
- Make a list of possible keywords, using a keyword tool.
- List all current pages within the website.
- Find out the monthly search volume and ranking difficulty using a keyword research tool.
- Assign a keyword to each page of the website.
Keyword URL mapping is the process of matching keywords to URLs on your website so that you're using the best possible pages to rank for each keyword.
What is SEO keyword planner tool? ›Keyword Planner helps you research keywords for your Search campaigns. You can use this free tool to discover new keywords related to your business and see estimates of the searches they receive and the cost to target them.
Is there any SEO tool as good as Google keyword planner? ›A. Semrush is a great alternative to Google Keyword Planner and Keywords Everywhere. Along with basic keyword insights, it offers many advanced features, such as Local SEO and Competitive Research. Using the tool, you can build quality backlinks and identify your ranking keywords.
How do I find highly searched keywords? ›Use Google Trends to find the most searched keywords on Google. Go to https://trends.google.com to find the most popular searches around the world. Google Trends also helps you find trending searches for each day, week, month, and year for thousands of keywords and topics.
Which is the best free tool for keyword research? ›- Keyword Surfer.
- AnswerThePublic.
- Keyword Sheeter.
- Keyworddit.
- QuestionDB.
- Ahrefs Keyword Generator.
- SEMrush Keyword Magic Tool.
- Ubersuggest.
The easiest way to find out the keywords your competitors are using is to visit their website and then view the Page Source—or the underlying HTML code—for their homepage. In Google Chrome, you simply click the tools bar (the three lines in the top right-hand corner) then select Tools > Developer Tools.
Which is better SEO or PPC? ›SEO is also more effective for local searches and can grow your online presence for longer. Pay-per-click (PPC), on the other hand, is an acquisition strategy that requires you to spend ad money to get your content in front of an audience when they search for specific keywords online.
Does CTR matter for SEO? ›
Click-through rate is important for SEO, in more than one way. First, you want people to click-through to your site when they see any impression – an ad, a SERP result, an email, whatever. That's the point of the experience, to get people to click through and engage with your content.
What is an example of online keyword planner tool? ›Google Keyword Planner. Microsoft Advertising Intelligence. Bing and Google search terms report. Soovle.
How do you create a keyword strategy? ›- Understand your business' audience. ...
- Choose a tool for research and tracking. ...
- Add lots of keywords to track and analyze. ...
- Choose the best targets. ...
- Organize your keywords into topic clusters. ...
- Write, publish, and refine content. ...
- Analyze and iterate.
How do you calculate keyword density? The formula is straightforward: Divide the number of times a keyword is used on your page by the total number of words on the page. Multiply this by 100 to get a percentage, which in this case is 1%.
How do I create a keyword list? ›- Step 1: Identify Your Target Audience. ...
- Step 2: Brainstorm. ...
- Step 3: Review Your Log Files. ...
- Step 4: Research and Analyze the Top Ranked Sites. ...
- Step 5: Research and Analyze Your Direct Competition. ...
- Step 6: Employ Google AdWords Keyword Tool. ...
- Step 7: Employ Other Keyword Sources.
Keyword mapping helps with tracking of all important search terms that you wish to rank for with your pages. With properly researched and assigned keywords to the relevant parts of your website, it is much easier to have an overview of the performance of your content for those queries.
What are the benefits of mapping keywords to Web pages? ›The advantages of keyword mapping are: Helps you create a structured, intuitive funnel that guides your site navigation. Creates a hierarchy of topics, subtopics and sub-subtopics that informs your content authoring. Serves as an official record of which pages are associated with which keywords.
How do I use keyword planner? ›- Step #1: Access the Google Keyword Planner.
- Step #2: Choose Your Tool.
- Step #3: Filter and Sort the Results.
- Step #4: Analyze the Keyword Ideas Section.
- Step #5: Choose a Keyword.
- Bonus Step #1: Get Exact Keyword Search Volume Data.
- Bonus Step #2: The GKP Hack.
Semrush is an SEO tool that does your keyword research, tracks the keyword strategy your competition uses, runs an SEO audit of your blog, looks for backlinking opportunities, and lots more. Internet marketers all over the world trust Semrush. It is also used by a number of businesses, big and small.
How do you use the keyword planner tool effectively? ›- Use Basic Filtering to Refine Your Audience & Budget. ...
- Use Quality Keywords Over a Quantity of Keywords. ...
- Show Your Ads to Your Geographic Audience. ...
- Prepare for What Your Competitors Are Paying. ...
- Analyze Your Plan to Help Make the Most of Your Budget.
Which tool is used for Amazon keyword research? ›
The Sonar Amazon keyword tool helps you to identify all relevant keywords to maximize visibility.
Are keyword research tools accurate? ›Keyword Data is Inaccurate
Even Google's keyword tool, which has direct access to its own search database, has never been wildly accurate. And with the recent changes, that data is even more skewed. All keyword tools provide inaccurate search volume numbers.
Keyword Explorer is a time-saving keyword research tool that helps you find profitable keywords and organize your keywords into lists. Start by thinking about what your potential customers might search for.
Are there free keyword research tools? ›Ahrefs Keyword Generator is one of the free tools offered by Ahrefs, which is a popular paid service. Enter any target keyword or phrase, and it will pull the top 100 keyword ideas from its database of over 8 billion keywords from more than 170 countries.
What is SEM vs SEO? ›The difference between search engine optimization (SEO) and search engine marketing (SEM) is that SEO focuses on getting traffic from organic search, whereas SEM focuses on getting traffic from organic and paid search. Both SEO and PPC are ways to market your business in search engines.
How do I check keyword density? ›How do you calculate keyword density? The formula is straightforward: Divide the number of times a keyword is used on your page by the total number of words on the page. Multiply this by 100 to get a percentage, which in this case is 1%.
What is content mapping? ›Content mapping is the process of creating the content plan that addresses buyers at different stages of the customer lifecycle. Each piece within a content map is designed to meet the needs of the buyer at a certain point in their journey — with the ultimate goal of driving them toward a purchase decision.
Should you target the same keyword on multiple pages? ›Having the same keyword targeted on multiple pages of a website doesn't make a search engine thinks your site is more relevant for that term. When multiple web pages seem to be too similar, it can actually send out negative signals.
What is keyword cannibalization? ›Keyword cannibalization occurs when you have too many identical or similar keywords spread throughout the content on your website. As a result, a search engine like Google can't discern which content to rank higher. This means that sometimes it will give a higher ranking to the web page you don't mean to prioritize.
How do I increase keyword density? ›How to increase keyword density? It's simple, you just need to insert more of SEO keywords into your content! We recommend adding your keyword at your headline, the first 100 words of your content, and the last 100 words of your content.
How many keywords should I use for SEO? ›
It's much more likely that you'll want to target two or three keywords per page, even if they're just close variations. Any more than four is a bit crowded; after all, each page only has one title tag and meta description.
How do I find SEO keywords for my website? ›The easiest way to find out the keywords your competitors are using is to visit their website and then view the Page Source—or the underlying HTML code—for their homepage. In Google Chrome, you simply click the tools bar (the three lines in the top right-hand corner) then select Tools > Developer Tools.
How do I map my website content? ›- Step 1: Review the structure of your pages. ...
- Step 2: Code your URLs. ...
- Step 3: Validate the code. ...
- Step 4: Add your sitemap to the root and robots. ...
- Step 5: Submit your sitemap.
Each of your pages should be focused on a single topic with the most important keywords for SEO purposes being included. So pick one to three keywords for each page. That's the basic answer for how many keywords per page you should focus on.
What is keyword proximity in SEO? ›The keyword proximity refers to the distance between the search term's individual keywords. For example: a website contains the keywords that make up the search term “dentist Boston implant” in the heading “Your professional dentist in Boston; dental practice for minimally invasive implants”.
Is keyword stuffing good for SEO? ›Filling pages with keywords or numbers results in a negative user experience, and can harm your site's ranking. Focus on creating useful, information-rich content that uses keywords appropriately and in context.
What is keyword stuffing example? ›For example, a kitchen appliance store might use the keyword “appliances” too often without being aware they are doing it. But if that same appliance store puts the words “affordable kitchen appliances” in every single paragraph and again at the end, this is likely intentional keyword stuffing.
What is black hat in digital marketing? ›Black hat SEO is a practice against search engine guidelines, used to get a site ranking higher in search results. These unethical tactics don't solve for the searcher and often end in a penalty from search engines. Black hat techniques include keyword stuffing, cloaking, and using private link networks.