The 6 Best Keyword Research Tools For Affiliates: A Clickbank SEO Guide

By Hanson Cheng

If you’re an affiliate marketer with a niche website or blog, affiliate marketing keyword research is the foundation of your SEO efforts. Without proper keyword research, you won’t be able to rank your site high in the search engines and get the traffic you need to make sales.

While many SEO “gurus” try to make this topic sound complicated, it actually isn’t. In fact, with the right tools, keyword research can be pretty easy and fun. As you start going down the rabbit hole and uncovering all the different keywords you can target, it becomes addicting!

With that said, there are many different keyword research tools, and not all are created equal. In this post, I will be discussing the best keyword research tools for affiliates on ClickBank who do SEO with a niche website or authority site. By the end, you should have a pretty good idea of which tools you need to take your keyword research to the next level.

Let’s get right into it!

What is Keyword Research, And Why Is It Important?

When people go to a search engine and type in a word or phrase, they use specific words to do their search. This is called a “keyword phrase” or “search query.”

For your website to appear in the search results, you need to target keywords relevant to what people are searching for. Ideally, you can them to rank product review content talking to organic visitors with a “commercial intent” – in other words, people who are ready to buy!

But all of this is only possible with strong keyword research to find the right keywords to target for your website or blog.

The last thing you want to do as an affiliate is to spend all your time and effort building an affiliate website around keywords that nobody is searching for. Not only will this make it hard to get traffic, but you’ll also have a tough time making sales (and commissions) from your affiliate site!

Doing the proper research upfront can save you a lot of time and effort in the long run.

What are the Best Keyword Research Tools?

The following are the best keyword research tools that I have used and frequently recommend to Clickbank affiliates doing SEO.

1. Semrush

Best Overall SEO Keyword Tool

Semrush is one of the best research tools on the market for doing comprehensive competitor analysis and keyword research.

With an SEO database that’s as big as it gets, this tool will give you all the insights you need to fine-tune your SEO and PPC campaigns for better results – yes, paid traffic data is also included as part of this tool!

With a backlink crawler that’s fast and accurate and other features like the site audit tool and position tracking, Semrush is the complete package for anyone looking to take their online marketing to the next level.

This tool will give you the insights you need to get ahead of your competitors and make serious cash as an affiliate!

Key Features:

• More than 22 billion keywords are available in their database, spanning as many as 130 countries, so you can get the global insights you need to make your campaigns more effective.
• You can also run in-depth website audits based on 130+ various checks.
• Using Semrush to get content recommendations to improve your website’s ranking
• Track and analyze competitor websites to stay ahead of the curve.

Pricing:

Semrush offers these pricing plans:

• Pro: $119.95 monthly
• Guru: $229.95 monthly
• Business: $449.95 monthly

2. Ahrefs

Best For On And Off-Page SEO

Ahrefs is one of the direct competitors of Semrush and is just as comprehensive in terms of its SEO features and SEO tools.

With a more specialized focus on SEO (it doesn’t cater to PPC as Semrush does), Ahrefs is ideal for those who want to get the most out of their campaigns.

This tool will give you the insights you need to make your campaigns as effective as possible, including both on-page and off-page efforts.

Ahrefs allows you to track your ranking progress correctly and offers a keyword research tool with access to over 7 billion keywords. This is a community-driven Q&A platform to help you get the most out of your SEO campaigns.

Key Features:

• The main dashboard provides you with everything you need to know about your website’s SEO progress, from keyword rankings to backlinks.
• The Site Explorer takes things a step further by giving you an in-depth look at your website’s SEO health.
• The site audit tool is perfect for those who want a comprehensive overview of their website’s on-page SEO.
• The Rank Tracker is an essential tool for anyone who wants to track their progress and see where they rank for specific keywords.
• Content Explorer allows you to find the most popular content on any given topic so you can create similar pieces that perform well.

Pricing:

Ahrefs’ plans and pricing are as follows:

• Lite: $99
• Standard: $199
• Advanced: $399
• Enterprise: $999

The above are paid on a monthly basis. Annual plans are also available.

3. Moz Keyword Explorer

Best For Generating Keyword Lists

Moz Keyword Explorer is a specialized SEO keyword research tool perfect for those who want to get the most out of their SEO campaigns.

This tool is a must-have for affiliates looking for high-impact suggestions that can help improve their rankings.

With in-depth SERP analysis, keyword difficulty scores, and other top-notch features, Moz Keyword Explorer will help you take your SEO game to the next level.

You can generate and save keyword lists, get detailed SERP analysis, find keywords in question format to get an idea of what people are searching for, and more.

Whether you want to take your SEO strategy global or get more insights into your local market, this tool will give you the data you need to make informed decisions.

Key Features:

• Understand your visitors and what they’re seeking with detailed web traffic reports.
• Track your progress and see where you rank for specific keywords with the MozRank Tracker.
• Crawl and audit your sites to find technical SEO issues that could be holding you back.
• Optimize your pages for better search engine visibility with on-page recommendations.
• Find link opportunities to help improve your website’s authority.

Pricing:

Moz Keyword Explorer comes with these paid monthly plans:

• Standard: $99
• Medium: $179
• Large: $299
• Premium: $599

4. Ubersuggest

Best For Competitor Research

Ubersuggest takes any domain name on the internet and returns a list of SEO metrics and keyword ideas.

The data it provides is comprehensive and particularly helpful for those who want to take their SEO campaigns to the next level.

If you want to dive deep and understand what your competition is doing in terms of SEO, this is the tool for you.

Ubersuggest also provides data points related to social media marketing and content marketing, allowing you to get a well-rounded view of your competitor’s online marketing efforts.

This will ensure you’re on the right path when using keywords to create content for your website and social media channels.

Key Features:

• Content ideas help you develop topics that are popular in your niche and have high ranking potential.
• Backlink data lets you see who’s linking to your competitor’s website and where they’re coming from.
• Keyword suggestions give you ideas for keywords related to your competitor’s domain.
• Domain overview provides an overview of your competitor’s website, including its authority score, backlinks, and more.

Pricing:

Ubersuggest offers three pricing plans:

• Individual: $29 per month
• Business: $49 per month
• Enterprise: $99 per month

5. QuestionDB

Best For Generating SEO Questions

QuestionDB is one of the best tools to uncover those questions that people are typing into search engines.

This is perfect for finding content ideas that you know will be popular and have a high-ranking potential.

Whether you want to dominate the featured snippets for set keywords or want to get more ideas for content, QuestionDB will help you get there!

It’s also great for affiliates who want an edge over their competition and to be one of the first in line for ranking opportunities.

When you provide a broad keyword, QuestionDB will generate a list of questions related to that keyword.

Apart from simple keyword ideas, you can use these questions as blog posts, YouTube videos, or even items on an FAQ page for your website.

Key Features:

• Become a topical authority in your niche so you can rank for various keywords.
• Uncover all the possible questions related to your keyword so you can create content that covers them all.
• Ensure you don’t miss any opportunities to rank by covering all the bases around a set keyword.

Pricing:

QuestionDB offers a free plan that allows you to get started.

Then, its paid plans are as follows:

• Pro: $15/month
• Agency: $50/month

6. Jaaxy

Best For Affiliate SEO

Jaaxy is a platform that’s been created by affiliates for affiliates.

It provides all the data and tools you need to succeed in your affiliate marketing campaigns, including keyword research, site analysis, and more.

With once-manual processes now automated, Jaaxy makes it easy to get the data you need to make informed affiliate-related decisions about your campaigns.

Get the right research related to competition, website, keywords, and even the market as a whole by using the all-in-one Jaaxy interface.

If you’re after new keywords with low competition and high search volume, Jaaxy is an excellent tool to consider.

Key Features:

• SiteRank lets you see where your website ranks in Google, Yahoo, and Bing.
• Efficient, fast, and powerful keyword data provides you with the information you need to make informed decisions about your keywords.
• 99.7% search engine coverage ensures you get the most accurate data possible.

Pricing:

Jaaxy offers the following plans:

• Starter: $0
• Pro: $49/mo
• Enterprise: $99/mo

6 Key Features of An Affiliate Marketing Tool

As you can see, the features of an affiliate marketing tool are pretty varied. Some features are essential for almost any SEO project, while other features are specific to affiliate marketing and affiliate websites.

So, if you want your affiliate marketing effort to yield the best results, then there are 6 essential elements that your chosen SEO tool should have!

1. Keyword Research Abilities

The first and most important feature of any good SEO tool is the ability to do keyword research. After all, that’s the bread and butter of SEO!

Your SEO tool will provide various methods for finding keywords, including general and niche-specific keyword databases and suggestion tools that give you ideas for new keywords based on what you already rank for.

Getting accurate keyword complexity scores and search volume metrics is also important. Otherwise, you won’t know how difficult it will be to rank for a given keyword or how much traffic you can expect if you manage to rank for it.

2. Backlink Data

Another essential SEO metric is backlinks. To rank well in search engines, your website needs to have links from high-quality websites pointing to it.

The best keyword research tools will have a database of backlinks that you can use to see which websites are linking to your competitors and what kind of link text they’re using (anchor text). This information can be used to successfully build affiliate marketing backlinks to boost your domain authority and make ranking in the search engine results pages (SERPs) easier.

3. Traffic Analysis

Knowing how much traffic a website gets is another essential SEO metric. The best keyword research tools will have detailed traffic analysis features that allow you to see how many people are hitting the website and where that traffic is coming from (organic search, direct, referrals, etc.)

This information can be used to improve your own website’s traffic by targeting the same sources of traffic that your competitors are getting theirs from.

4. SERP Analysis

SEO is about ranking well in the SERPs. The best keyword research tools will have SERP analysis features that allow you to see how your website is currently performing in the SERPs for various keywords and how your competitors are doing.

This information can help you adjust your SEO strategy to improve your current SERP rankings.

5. Competitor Analysis

To beat your competitors, you need to know what they’re doing. The right keyword research tool will be the one with detailed competitor analysis features that allow you to see what keywords your competitors are targeting and what their backlink profiles look like.

Increasing affiliate marketing sales comes down to being able to outrank your competitors in the SERPs. The right information can improve your SEO efforts by targeting similar keywords as your competitors and building similar (or better) backlinks.

6. Long-Tail Keywords

Long-tail keywords refer to keywords that are very specific (generally made up of multiple words) and usually have lower search volume than their shorter-term counterparts. The best keyword research tools will have an updated database of long-tail keywords you can use to find ideas for new keywords to target.

Long-tail keywords are often easier to rank for than broader and shorter ones, so they can be a great way to drive high-quality traffic to your website with less competition.

As part of your SEO keyword mapping strategy, the content you create based on long-tail keywords can link to other, high-traffic pages on your website, resulting in more overall traffic and improved rankings across the board.

What Type of Marketer Can Benefit From Doing Keyword Research?

Various types of marketers can benefit from doing keyword research. Here are a few examples.

An Affiliate Starting An Ecommerce Store

If you’re an affiliate who’s just starting out in ecommerce, keyword research can be a great way to find product-related ideas. You can use keyword research tools to find search terms to create content around, along with products to add to your site.

This means that you’ll have a good chance of ranking well in the SERPs for these keywords, which can result in more traffic and sales.

For example, suppose you’re going through the process of learning how to start to reverse dropshipping. As opposed to just starting to add products to your site new and hoping for the best, the proper keyword research will allow you to find high-quality products with the right search volume and competition you can handle.

Businesses Interested In Expanding Key Business Areas

Businesses interested in expanding into new areas can use keyword research to find popular keywords related to these areas.

Using the right keyword tools, you can get an idea of the level of interest your target audience has in a set topic, helping you decide whether or not it’s worth expanding into them.

For example, a business that promotes ID scanning software and is looking to expand into KYC compliance might use keyword research to find popular keywords related to this new topic. If they see a high level of interest in this topic and their current tool can be modified to help with such compliance, they might decide to expand into this area.

Businesses That Want to Offer an Affiliate Backend

Getting affiliates to promote your products is a great way to drive sales and grow your business. But in order to get affiliates on board, you need to offer them a backend that’s easy to use and provides all the information they need!

Consider a people search company that wants to offer an affiliate backend. In order to get affiliates on board, they need to offer a backend that provides affiliates with the right information, such as search volume and competition data for various keywords.

The right keyword research tools can help them find the right keywords to target and provide other information that can be used to improve the backend. This can result in more affiliates signing up to promote their products, which can drive more sales.

Affiliates That Want To Scale Their Business

What does it mean to scale a business?

This question can have multiple answers, but generally, it means sustainably growing your business beyond its current size.

One way to achieve this is by increasing your traffic and conversions. If an affiliate business depends on search engine optimization to get traffic, then keyword research can be a great way to achieve this.

By finding popular keywords with high search volume and low competition, this affiliate can optimize their website and content for these keywords, resulting in more traffic and conversions. And, as we all know, more traffic and conversions equals more significant business!

Best Keyword Research Tools for Affiliates Wrap-up

Keyword research is essential to search engine optimization and should be conducted regularly to ensure that your website ranks well for the right keywords – and as a way to uncover trending keywords to inform your overall strateegy.

Many different keyword research tools are available out there, each with its own set of features that cater best for unique business use cases.

But in the end, no matter what your needs are, there’s a keyword research tool or two out there that can help you. Get started today and see how you can benefit from doing keyword research! And for more information on how to build an affiliate website and generate sales from organic traffic, be sure to check out Spark by ClickBank – it features the Free Traffic Academy course and a whole lot more.

Author Bio: Hanson Cheng

Hanson Cheng is the founder of Freedom to Ascend. He empowers online entrepreneurs and business owners to 10x their business and become financially independent. You can connect with him here.