I’ve shared before that most of SEO (search engine optimization) can be broken down into two steps:
1. Find keywords with high search volume and low competition.
2. Write articles around those keywords.
Repeat over and over until traffic starts to pour in and income eventually follows.
I typically recommend using a $7 7-day ahrefs trial to perform keyword research because it’s the most cost effective way to find good keywords to write about.
In addition to ahrefs, I recently stumbled upon an excellent keyword research tool that’s completely free to use: SEO Surfer Chrome Extension.
If you simply click on that link and then click “Add to Chrome” you can install it as a Chrome extension. Then, each time that you make a Google search there will be a box that appears to the right of the search results that shows related keywords along with their search volume.
For example, here’s what it looks like when I search for “ANOVA in Excel”:
This Chrome extension automatically displays a list of “keyword ideas” along with their search volume. This is an incredibly helpful way to come up with new keyword ideas and get an idea of the search volume for those keywords.
Granted, it doesn’t provide keyword difficulty but you can get a decent idea of keyword difficulty by using the Mozbar technique I shared in this tutorial.
Many so-called SEO “experts” will try to tell you that you have to use paid tools to perform keyword research, but that’s not always the case.
This Keyword Surfer Chrome extension is wildly helpful and I can’t actually believe it’s free. I recommend giving it a try today.
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