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Keyword Research

Definitive – Best Keyword Research Tool to Determine Keyword Competitiveness

Jon August 14, 2017 36 Comments

My last post reviewed how effective MarketMuse was at predicting the overall success of content in Google. This post will now dig deeper into many other keyword research tools to try and show which keyword planner and tools can help provide us with more of a competitive edge when it comes to mastering high-quality content and improving our rank in search engines.

One of the most important factors to consider when choosing the best keyword research tool to determine keyword competitiveness is keyword relevance. The more specific you are with your keyword choices, the better it will be. You want to use keywords to attract a more specific audience, rather than a large and more generalized audience.

A good keyword research tool will be able to help determine keyword relevance and it will also help you gain that advantage over your competitors, so you can build a more profitable and relevant marketing campaign.

Keyword research is one of the primary factors when it comes to SEO (search engine optimization), PPC (pay per click), and any type of content marketing campaign and strategy. Therefore, you want to be able to find the best, so you can provide the best high-quality and the most searched content that you can for your audience. Having the right content can lead your company to more leads and more customers.

A Bit of Info Relating to Keywords and Their Importance

Long-tail Keywords: These are three or four-word keyword phrases that are specific to whatever it is you are selling. With longtail search engine optimization, you are using a technique that targets highly specific niche search terms.

Keyword Suggestion Tools: These tools will provide you with better data that leads to better results. Remember, keywords are the building blocks of your SEO campaign and using keyword suggestion tools like WordStream keyword tool and Free Keyword Tool can help find relevant, accurate, and actionable data for paid and organic searches.

Keyword Difficulty: Otherwise known as keyword competition, this is a metric that is used when doing keyword research as you will see in the results below. The higher the value is, the harder you will find that it will be to compete with others using that keyword. This keyword data should be analyzed next to monthly search volumes and SERP analysis.

Analysis Summary – What Keyword Tools Competition Score Correlated with a Higher Google Rank

The list below was generated to give you a more in-depth view at what keyword tools competition scores correlated with a higher-ranking position on the Google search engine. They are ranked from the best, to the mediocre, to the worst.

  • GREAT – KWFinder – 43.23%
  • GREAT – LongTailPro – 39.37%
  • GREAT – CognitiveSEO – 37.49%
  • GREAT – Ferzy – 35.71%

 

  • OKAY – TermExplorer – 28.16%
  • OKAY – SEMRush – 24.17%
  • OKAY – Ahrefs – 23.07%

 

  • WORST – SECockpit – 17.31%

The results surprised me with both Ahrefs and SEMRush underperforming my expectations and LongTailPro overperforming my expectations. I expected SECockpit to do terrible because I never find the competition score that it provides to be a very reliable analysis of the keyword I am inputting.

Additionally, the accuracy of this keyword tool analysis essentially means that the top 3-KWFinder, LongTailPro, and CognitiveSEO were tied. The margin of error would be larger than the difference between the results.

Based on this analysis, I recommend using one of the top 3 tools as listed above when identifying keywords to create content. It is also now what we do at ContentRefined.com so we can achieve the absolute best results possible.

The rest of this post will provide you with the ability to choose the right keyword tool available to give you to offer you a competitive advantage in targeting keywords. Doing so will result in successfully ranking articles on search engines.

There are so many different websites and companies that have or are starting to develop keyword difficulty or SEO difficulty tools. But once you input a phrase and determine the existing competition and window of opportunity, what weight should the number or percentage that they provide actually hold?

Previously in “Rank in Google with Certainty,” I only analyzed Ferzy, SEMRush, and SECockpit on a very basic level. For this article, I expanded that research to include Ahrefs, LongTailPro, and CognitiveSEO while also including search volume influence (based on feedback from you in my last article).

I have also analyzed competition domain authority, trust flow, headline click-through-rate, and more; but look for that to be shared in another post!

Now for the Fun Stuff (if You are a Data Geek!)

Using some articles from my various money site portfolio and all of ‘Content Refined’ created content, I have been able to compile enough data points to provide some statistical insight into predicting the performance of ranking an article around a certain keyword.

I have broken down the six different keyword tools into two tiers and you will find that the results within the tiers are statistically indifferent.

So here are the results…

Worst Performing Group (Worst Ability to Predict)

  • SECockpit

Best Keyword Research Tool

SECockpit keyword difficulty tool uses a percentage system. The percentage systems that show scoring below 30% and as close to 10% while maintaining a reasonable search volume, is a typical metric we use when determining if the keyword tool is effectively predicting. However, with only a moderate correlation of 17%, SECockpit has shown the very least predictive tendency of the tested tools.

  • Ahrefs

Best Keyword Research Tool

Ahrefs provides an absolute number score out of 100 to determine the difficulty you would encounter to rank for a searched keyword. While it only held a statistical correlation relevance of 23%, I do like that it provides a suggested required number of backlinks to go with the score.

I was actually surprised by this result. The guys at AuthorityHacker, who always do great work, had found AHrefs tool to be the best when it came to Keyword Difficulty, but we found it to not perform very well.

  • SEMRush

Best Keyword Research Tool

With SEMRush, you get a percentage score out of 100 with being below 70-75% as a target. Still only holding a moderate 25% correlation, SEMRush is the best of the tools found in our 2nd tier.

Best Performing Group (Best Ability to Predict How an Article Will Rank)

  • Ferzy

Best Keyword Research Tool

Ferzy is a newer tool on the market and will provide an absolute score out of 100 with varying levels of ratings categories. At a 35% statistical correlation, it offers to be one of the strongest predictors of keyword difficulty and ability to rank of the tools tested.

  • CognitiveSEO

Best Keyword Research Tool

CognitiveSEO is new to me and they recently came out with a new keyword difficulty and content analyzing tool. Both of these tools seem to work great and at a 37% correlation rate, it compares and competes well with some of the more well-known tools.

The content analyzing tool offers MarketMuse some competition and it comes at a more reasonable price. However, the difference in effectiveness is still to be determined…(more to come on this in the future).

  • LongTailPro

Best Keyword Research Tool

Behold the LongTailPro, the final keyword research tool we analyzed. Coming in with a statistical correlation at just under 40%, it is the most predictive keyword tool, however, it is not by much.

I was surprised by these results because LongTailPro has been around for a long time and I would have thought one of the newer tools would have come out with a better predictor.

  • KWFinder

Mangool’s KWFinder had not been used by me or the team until it became the most popular and most suggested and asked-about tool in the comments. Based on the recommendations I have received, I have gone back and completed the analysis to wrap up assessing the various keyword difficulty tools.

KWFinder’s tool assesses the keywords on a scale out of 100 while also giving the user a very user-friendly dashboard that provides additional search volume and SERP charts.

Best Keyword Research Tool

In my short time using KWFinder, I am very impressed with the value. In our statistical analysis, the overall correlation was 43% with keywords that have >1000+ monthly searches having a correlation of 41%. KWFinder has shown the highest correlation so far of any keyword tools researched and this remains true across various search volumes.

The tool instantly becomes an intriguing option for any level of operation with its variable pricing and added SERP Tracking features. More time spent using the tool will provide more insight, but this tool is the absolute leader of all the tools we have so far analyzed.

  • Term Explorer

Based on recommendations, here is the statistical analysis for Term Explorer keyword analyzer difficulty. Term Explorer provides a score out of 10 to its users and this score is what can then determine the level of competition of the keyword in terms of using the keyword to rank. From our brief analysis, it appears a score below 2.00 is a good number to reference for researching and is a number you will want to maintain and stay below.

Best Keyword Research Tool

Overall, the correlation was 28.16% for Term Explorer; a moderate correlation that places the tool somewhere between the 1st and 2nd tiers. Its ranking scale makes it an attractive tool to operate and its ability to maintain projects and track given keywords regularly is also a plus.

Question – What if we Adjust for Search Volume?

When the varying search volumes for a keyword were separated, the results varied by little. The three successful tools we reviewed before held their ground in being the most successful predictors.

Summary

In conclusion, the results shown offer that there is a significant competitive advantage available if you are using the right keyword suggestion tool to find relevant keywords. Ensuring that you follow a keyword data strategy of 500-1000+ monthly searches and a low recommended score from the varying scoring systems from tier 1 tools, you can start your content creation process on the right foot and provide it with a stronger chance of ranking well in the end!

But remember, when looking to rank your content, there are so many factors involved that this one step of the process can only provide so much insight and competitive advantage.

While it is necessary to find good keywords, the rest of the process must be completed at the same level of effort and quality to maintain the opportunity to rank. So, combining a keyword difficulty tool with a content analyzer tool, backlink analyzer tool, and so on, is essential to maximize opportunities.

Look forward to an upcoming post where I will wrap up this round of statistical analysis by exploring additional tools and factors that help you rank such as domain authority, trust flow, and headline score. Finding out that there may be an auxiliary tool for helping rank could make all the difference.

Hope you are enjoying these more statistically driven posts!

If you have any questions or ways we could expand on this analysis, please let me know!

Keyword Competition
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AboutJon Gillham
I am a husband, father of 3, engineer and a huge fan of developing systems to build useful and profitable businesses (mostly online). The reason I build online businesses is to provide financial independence for my family so I can spend time outside skiing and biking with my them.
Jon Gillham, Online Entrepreneur
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Comments (36)

  1. Rob Stretch
    August 14, 2017

    Any thoughts on Mango Tools?

    Reply
    • Jon Gillham
      August 14, 2017

      We haven’t used… but will look to test it out as well and update the results! Thanks! Any other tool suggestions?

      Reply
      • Jesse winters
        August 14, 2017

        I would also like to know!

        Reply
      • Joe
        August 15, 2017

        Another vote for KWFinder from Mangools please: https://kwfinder.com/

        Seems like Ferzy is the least expensive option to get started with from your report?

        Reply
        • Jon Gillham
          August 15, 2017

          We are working on it right now… stay tuned 🙂

          • rob
            August 17, 2017

            I know you are working on it but i just wanted to say that my vote and money is also on kw finder mango. 😀

  2. Steve Blundon
    August 14, 2017

    Nice article Jon. As a long time Long Tail Pro user, I’ve seen the good, the bad, and the ugly. It’s certainly not perfect, but I agree the data analysis it performs is weighted enough in the right context to make it one of the best of the bunch.

    Reply
    • Jon Gillham
      August 14, 2017

      Hi Steve, yah this is just looking at the absolute score and nothing related to the keyword suggestion/UX… glad you found the article useful!

      Reply
  3. john
    August 14, 2017

    I’m using kWfinder tool it works great for me, could you consider for your next analysis,
    and also, another one is termexplorer.com but only used the free plan

    Reply
    • Jon Gillham
      August 14, 2017

      Thanks for the suggestions! Will look to update with all added suggestions.

      Reply
  4. Res
    August 14, 2017

    The reason you are different than Authority Hacker is likely because you are doing a different test.

    If you test only informative articles, you will get different results than if you test review articles only, and different again if you test a blend.

    Reply
    • Jon Gillham
      August 14, 2017

      Possibly, I reached out to them to understand how they had run their test so we can all hopefully learn more.

      Reply
  5. Bobbi
    August 14, 2017

    Interesting! We used to use Longtail Pro b/c we had heard great things. However, we found that it glitches a LOT and that our results weren’t anything close to as on target as they used to be when we used another one or two of the sites that you mention here. lol Perhaps we’re doing something wrong? We are about to test Ferzy (since you had recommended it previously) and their support team seems awesome when we asked a few questions. Thanks for some insights and just more things to test and try. 😉

    Reply
    • Jon Gillham
      August 14, 2017

      Hi Bobbi, this was just looking at the 1 aspect of the tool and not trying to say what the BEST tool was overall. The fact is the different tools have different strengths. I find myself using SEMRush and SECockpit for different tasks then Ferzy/LongTailPro.

      Reply
  6. Bernard
    August 14, 2017

    Really interesting so far. I would love to know your criteria for using Secockpit when it has the worst score.

    Quote: “Based on this analysis I recommend using one of the top 3 tools when identifying keywords to create content for (it is now what we do at ContentRefined.com)! ”

    So what is so different that you prefer using Secockpit?
    Which of the top three tools do you use primarily, and what do you use Ferzy, Longtailpro for exactly?

    Reply
    • Jon Gillham
      August 14, 2017

      SECockpit & SEMRush I find are great at coming up with keyword ideas and that is what I use. Then I prefer Ferzy for the keyword score.

      If you wanted one tool to accomplish everything then LongTailPro would be good but I don’t find it as good as SECockpit for identifying keyword ideas.

      Reply
  7. Matthew Allen
    August 15, 2017

    I do the same. I use SEMRush to find keyword ideas… they come up with WAY more than tools like Long Tail Pro or Ferzy. I previously used SECockpit for the same reason, but got tired of paying for both tools and SEMRush has way more useful functionality.

    I then download my list of keywords from SEMRush and upload all of them to Long Tail Pro to get KC Scores. This strategy works quite well!

    Ferzy is great for quickly checking the competition levels on one keyword at a time, and their visual layout is awesome. But they don’t have an option to upload large lists of keywords.

    Reply
    • Bernard
      August 15, 2017

      Thanks, Jon and Matthew for the detailed answers. I use Secockpit and am shocked at its prediction percentage.

      Definitely going to try the others on some keywords I expected to rank better.

      Reply
      • Jon Gillham
        August 26, 2017

        SE Cockpit is great for a lot of what you are after in a keyword research tool… this is just looking at one aspect of a KW Research Tools performance. But yah I was a little surprised too!

        Reply
  8. Dean
    August 15, 2017

    Another vote for KWFinder, though I do use Semrush as the starting point for finding good keywords from competitors.

    Having used 4 of the above including LongTailPro I find KWFinder way more accurate for competitiveness, easier to use with the colour coding system and faster too. Nice research though.

    Reply
    • Jon Gillham
      August 15, 2017

      Hi Dean, seems like a popular choice and we are working on it right now to see what the data says. Hopefully, we all learn something soon!

      Reply
  9. Peter
    August 17, 2017

    Thanks for another great post Jon.

    A tool that can accurately, and consistently, show you the difficulty of a keyword is the holy grail for internet marketers.

    As you mention, the Google ranking algorithm is so complex that no single tool is up to the task, in my experience.

    The tools you mention are a great starting point, but if you are serious about your website you must manually analyse the top 10-20 results for your most important keywords.

    Reply
    • Jon Gillham
      August 26, 2017

      Hi Peter, definitely agree that tools only provide an approximation (hence why the correlation isn’t higher) and to really understand you need to analyze the top 10 results.

      Reply
  10. Joseph
    August 21, 2017

    WOW! Thanks for the article. Loved every bit of it. I have a question, Can you explain more why did you rate Ahrefs okey?

    Another question, What do you think about (keywordrevealer) ?

    Reply
    • Jon Gillham
      August 26, 2017

      Ahrefs was ranked as okay simply because of where the correlation of its ability to predict how well an article ranked. Haven’t tried KeywordRevealer

      Reply
  11. Taylor
    August 23, 2017

    What about keywordtool.io??

    Reply
    • Jon Gillham
      August 26, 2017

      haven’t tried it… will look to get it tested.

      Reply
  12. Robin Wiman
    August 24, 2017

    Hi Jon, nice roundup!

    I love to see statistical studies. Have you calculated the causality (R^2) in your data? Because correlation can be both random and very deceiving.

    It would also be nice to see the data plotted on a bell curve because it looks a bit all over the place in your scatter plots.

    I have no reason to believe this study is inaccurate, but as you probably get paid an affiliate commission for the tools you promote, I’m just curious if there is any bias in the study.

    Reply
    • Jon Gillham
      August 26, 2017

      Did not calcuate the coefficient of determination… agree R^2 could have been a useful test as like you said the data is pretty scattered.

      Regarding the bell curve I am not sure if that would make sense to do since so many of the data points would be sitting at #1…but maybe I am wrong on this and if you have suggestions would be happy to improve the analysis.

      Maybe that has left some error on the table which I have attempted to account for by grouping the clear difference in performance between group 1 and group 2. I am not attempting to say that a tool that scored 27% is always better then a tool that socred 25%.

      Regarding the affiliate commissions there are tools I don’t make affiliate commissions on that I have ranked higher then tools I do make a commission on… the data is the data and that is how the tools were ranked.

      Reply
  13. Tony Hilsden
    August 24, 2017

    Hi Jon, This is the first I have heard of you or seen your articles, so maybe I am coming in half cocked… apologies.
    We are completely revamping our old “non ranking’ website, new look, new approach, new structure and it will be live soon. I have been researching and playing with a number of the tools mentioned.. have LTP (old version) and also tested KW finder, which is great plus Keywords everywhere, so this article was very timely.
    So it seems that many are using these tools to find a potential niche site that can be targeted by the use of Low competition, high search keywords and then structure the site and content accordingly.
    Am I right in saying that for those of us with existing websites and products, that we are looking for L T keywords that have high searches, low competition which we can then include in existing content or write content about, in order to increase our organic ranking and capture the interest of an audience that uses search terms other than the usual or “seed” terms?

    maybe I have researched this TO much, so if you could guide me a little or refer me to another of your blogs on the topic, it would be appreciated.. Great work none the less.

    Reply
    • Jon Gillham
      August 26, 2017

      Hi Tony, I would say you are definitely thinking about this correctly but also agree I think you might be over-thinking this!

      Reply
  14. Barbara DiLucchio
    August 25, 2017

    Hey Jon, I really enjoyed this keyword tool correlation! This is the kind of stuff I really love it’s really interesting not to mention extremely helpful to have more confidence in the tools you are using. The results that shocked me the most were the SECockpit results-really awful and I thought that was one of the best! Well, I guess when it comes time to renew and they haven’t improved it then that will save me some money.

    I was a little confused about what you were saying towards the end of the article. Were you saying that KWFinder is the best for keyword difficulty but you need the best tool for each of these categories to really give yourself the best advantage? I didn’t see all those categories mentioned when you were talking about the correlation score or is that included in it? I’m still a little confused on that one. But anyway I mainly wanted to tell you how much I enjoyed this article and thank you for including it!
    Barbara

    Reply
    • Jon Gillham
      August 26, 2017

      Hi Barbara, thanks for the question and agree on the shock for SECockpit as it is often my go-to tool. What I was saying regarding the tools being the best at all categories is a keyword research tool needs to do more then just identify the competition score we want to use a tool to help identify keywords to go after (this is where SECockpit is great) we also want a tool that works fast and can analyze a competitors site fast (this is where SEMRush shines) but for a quick competition score (Ferzy can be great). So unfortunately no ONE tool is best at everything and that is what I was saying at the bottom.

      Reply
  15. georg
    August 28, 2017

    Question KW finder for everyone

    What Keyword SEO difficulty ranges in kw finder is low enough for you to go for?

    A 0-19 (go for it)

    B 19-29 (easy)

    C 30- 39(still easy)

    D 40+

    ? I would very much like to see how you guys interpreted these metrics

    I personally go for A 0-19

    Reply
  16. Ashley Faulkes
    September 14, 2017

    KWFinder is great because it evals the top 10 (more or less). Whether you go for 0-19 or higher depends on your site and how many links the competition has. So sure, everyone goes for 0-19 but more authoritative sites can go for higher terms.

    I also find Ahrefs not great for predicting ability to get in the top 10 as they assume you are going to build links (and their metric is almost entirely based on number of links needed). So not sure it is fair to compare, but maybe their tool is incorrectly named :>

    Great review here though! thanks

    Reply
  17. Dan
    October 3, 2017

    Damn, based on value and ease of use I was loving Ferzy then you buy it up for an internal tool 😉

    Reply

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