In order to do a keyword tools analysis, I will first include a brief explanation of what exactly a good keyword tool should do, in order to help you fully understand the analysis I do later.

Keyword Tools

As you may have guessed already, a keyword tool is a piece of software, usually browser based, that is designed to perform searches on the internet to analyse the strength of a given keyword. If you wanted to build a site around "Lake fishing in tropical countries" but have no idea how much competition there is, you would use a keyword tool to analyse the strength of that keyword. You'd simply type in the word, hit search, and await the results

Why Use A Tool Instead Of A Manual Search

An interesting question. Generally speaking, search engines inflate their results, that is, they exaggerate about how many matching results they have. Typing in "Lake fishing in tropical countries" might say more than 3 million results on Google, but how many of them truly match that keyword or phrase?

Another reason, it is cumbersome and long. Yes, you can get a rough idea from Google, by typing in the keyword in quotation marks, and you can analyse the strength of your competition by visiting their site and doing your own analysis, but why should you do that when a tool will do it for you?

Are These Tools Free?

Some of them are yes. The most common tool is the Google keyword tool, and it is free if you are signed up for using Ad words. That is the problem with the Google tool though, it is designed for analyzing Ad words competition. If it says "low" it means there are not many people paying for adverts for that keyword. It tells you nothing about how many real websites there are that are ranking for that keyword, so if you are not going for pay-per-click advertising, this tool will not really help you.

There ARE other free keyword tools that are very efficient, effective, and even come with their own training on how to really use them to the fullest. A keyword tool can be quite confusing to the unfamiliar eye, so it is great to find one for free that also has an explanation on how to use it.

My recommendation for the beginner is to use a free tool and then decide if you want to invest in a better one. Do not let that discourage you though, there are plenty of professional marketers using the above free tool, and for the average person, this will do just fine. There are only really two or three keyword tools out there that are worth researching anyway.