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Keysearch Review: A Powerful Ahrefs Alternative

Keysearch Review: A Powerful Ahrefs Alternative in 2023

Keysearch is a relatively new and independent research tool that offers an alternative to well-known services like Ahrefs and SEMrush. In fact, you could call it an Ahrefs alternative.

Keysearch has taken the best features from other SEO research tools and combined them with their own innovations to produce a well-designed, comprehensive, and powerful SEO platform.

I know how hard it is to find the right keyword research tool for your needs. With so many keyword research and SEO tools out there, it’s hard to know which one will do what you need it to do.


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You also want to make sure it doesn’t require a PhD to operate. And when you finally find one you like, you want to make sure it’s worth the money!

I’ve personally used Keysearch for well over a year now. In fact, this entire site that you are on currently ranks (Google, Bing and Youtube) for a ton of keywords and long tail keyword phrases as a direct result of Keysearch.

A Keysearch sales banner to get started as an ahrefs alternative

Since I have quite a bit of experience with Keysearch, I decided to write a detailed Keysearch review. This article provides my thoughts on this relatively new but powerful SEO research software.

You can get started with either the KeySearch Starter Plan, or the KeySearch Pro Plan.

I provide more information about the differences and benefits of these two KeySearch plans at the end of the article, along with the prices.

What is Keysearch?

Keysearch is an SEO (Search Engine Optimization) research tool. In simpler words, it helps you better understand what people (your customers, readers, and viewers) are searching for online, and how.

Keysearch tells you how many people are searching for that thing, and how often – something known as “search volume”.

It also tells you how many other people are trying to provide answers to those queries, which you could define as “competition”. It also helps you understand how difficult it might be to create content that would rank on the first page of Google for that specific query – aka keyword difficulty.

Keysearch review quote: Keysearch gives you the information you need to know how to go about ranking your website for a particular keyword or phrase.
Quote from ExpertTexan.com’s Keysearch Review

Not only does it tell you how difficult it is, but it also gives you the information you need to know how to go about ranking for that keyword or keyword phrase.

If people are searching for a specific product, what words are they using to search for it and how many other sites out there are providing the product listing online? What keywords are those other sites using, and how well do they correlate with what people are searching for? Does it match the users’ search intent? Are they trying to buy something, or are they just trying to learn more about the subject?

Why keyword research tools like Keysearch are important

Keyword research tools help provide you with the data that you need so that you can make sure your website shows up on top of the search results when people are searching for your product, service, or information.

Without the extensive knowledge that a keyword research tool can provide you with about your audience, it can be incredibly difficult to make sure that your website is “seen” by people who are searching for whatever services you provide, products you are selling, or the topics you are knowledgeable in and are writing about.

Keysearch Review quote: Without keyword research tools like the Keysearch SEO tool, thousands of people searching online will discover your competitors instead, and they'll never know that you even exist.
Quote from ExpertTexan.com’s Keysearch Review

Without a tool like Keysearch, your business may never get free, organic traffic.

There are certainly other ways you can reach your audience through social media, physical publications, online ads, researching Google trends, etc. But the cheapest and quickest way by far – to reach your audience – is by getting your website ranking at the top of the search results for your niche.

Without keyword research tools like the Keysearch SEO tool, thousands of people searching online will discover your competitors instead, and they’ll never know that you even exist.

How I discovered Keysearch

I have dabbled in SEO off and on for many years now dating back to 2014. But I did not quite grasp the power of SEO until a few years back (around 2018) when I wrote an article for fun on a website that I’d started for a small rural town in Texas.

Funny enough, I’d launched the site on Shopify – even though it was not an e-commerce store – because that’s really all I was familiar with at the time.

But one of the articles that I wrote quickly ranked in the top 5 search results on Google for some popular local keyword searches, and it was completely by accident.

It ranked because I had used an organic keyword without even realizing I had done it.

Once I realized how significant that actually was, I immediately started trying to learn everything that I could about SEO and how it works so that I could replicate the results over and over again.

SEO Tools are expensive. I use Keysearch - ExpertTexan.com.

But as someone with a really low budget at the time, I quickly became incredibly frustrated with how expensive keyword research tools were – and still are!

I did free trials on all of the various keyword research tools, and ultimately paid for a month of usage here and there, but it was really expensive for someone just starting out. Not to mention, a lot of keyword research tools have a somewhat steep learning curve.

MOZ and Ahrefs are both currently $99/mo for their basic plans. SEMRUSH is $120/mo for their basic plan. And $99/mo is a pretty consistent price-point across the board for access to pretty basic SEO tools.

And if you want the really nice keyword data, it costs even more.

You get the point…

SEO tools are PRICEY!

As a result, my extensive research for a cheaper Ahrefs alternative ultimately led me to Keysearch!

Keysearch review summary

If you do not want to keep reading my more detailed review of Keysearch, here is a quick summary:

Text overlay that says Keysearch Review Summary: 
- Affordable
- Easy to use
- Powerful Results
- It powers the SEO on ExpertTexan.com
My Keysearch Review Highlights
  • Keysearch is super easy to use.
  • Keysearch is incredibly affordable. Even SEO beginners can generally afford it.
  • It is still incredibly powerful for keyword research.
  • This entire site (ExpertTexan.com) ranks in the Top 1, 3, 5 and 10 search results for tons of keywords and keyword phrases (aka; a long tail keyword) as a direct result of using Keysearch as my primary keyword research tool.

The rest of this article will be a more detailed Keysearch review, and why I think it really is a good Ahrefs alternative, especially if you’re relatively new to SEO.

Important Keysearch features

Based on my personal experience, here are a few of the most important Keysearch features that I think you should know about:

Keyword research filters

Hands down, the most important tool that Keysearch offers is the keyword research tool. The keyword tool lets you research keywords on multiple platforms such as:

  • Google
  • Bing
  • Etsy
  • Youtube keyword research
  • Amazon
  • Pinterest

So, basically the top search and e-commerce platforms in the world. Not only is that great for content-based SEO, it’s also great for researching things like Google Ads keywords to make sure you’re getting your ads in front of the right people.

Keysearch is an Ahrefs alternative as it helps you do keyword research to help you get your content in front of the right people, at the right time.
An Ahrefs Alternative for Keyword Research

The keyword search results will also give you the keyword difficulty score so you can focus on low competition keywords early on and start generating organic traffic quickly. You can also click on each keyword to get a deep analysis, and a competitor analysis in order to dig deeper into some content ideas on how to rank your site for the keywords you’re researching.

It also allows you to narrow it down by location, so you can research based on countries, not just by platform.

Keyword suggestion(s)

When you type in a single keyword, or keyword phrase (also known as a “long tail keyword”), Keysearch will automatically give you a related keyword. But not just one related keyword… In the results for that search it will also list a TON of potential other keyword matches, along with the keyword difficulty for each one.

Text overlay: A related keyword may have a lower keyword difficulty score.

A keyword suggestion tool is an incredibly helpful feature because it helps you discover things that you probably never would have thought of previously.

It also gives you a deeper insight into the various ways that people are searching for certain things, and the words they are using.

SERP Analysis

When you research a certain keyword, you want to know a few things about that keyword:

  1. How many people are searching using that keyword?
  2. What is the intent of the search – Transactional? Educational?
  3. How difficult is it to rank for that keyword?
  4. How well are other sites resolving that query?
  5. What authority do other sites have in regard to this query?
Your competitors domain authority should not deter you from attempting to create quality content on the same topic.

An SERP analysis helps you answer the fifth question by giving you an overall breakdown about things like:

  1. Is the keyword in the page URL?
  2. What is the domain strength and/or page “authority” (e.g. 5? 50?)
  3. Are a lot of other authentic sites linking back to their article as citations?

The answers to these questions shouldn’t necessarily deter you from creating the content if it seems like there is stiff competition. It just lets you know what you need to do in order to ultimately get it ranked yourself.

Keyword lists

Keysearch has a very simple and easy to use feature to save keyword lists in just a few clicks and give those lists custom names. You can also export your saved lists as a CSV/Excel file, and use Excel to filter, sort and break it down for your SEO needs.

It’s such a simple feature, but it’s also very powerful and allows you to keep your keyword research organized.

Social Analysis

Social media has become more than just a place to share photos, updates and chat with family and friends. Now social media also plays into SEO, which is why a lot of content creators and businesses have automated their social media via AI tools.

The social analysis feature on Keysearch allows you to see how many posts are on the various social media networks for the articles that have been written about the specific keyword you are researching.

Social media plays a substantial role in SEO.

Are people sharing this article on Pinterest, Facebook, etc? If so, how many people are doing so?

While it’s not necessarily the most important element of SEO and keyword research in general, it’s a powerful insight that should not be ignored.

Other Keysearch tools

I could write all day about all of the other tools in Keysearch like:

  • Bulk checking
  • Competitor gap
  • Backlink checker
  • Youtube research
  • Rank Tracker
  • Brainstorm (aka; opportunity finder)

But that will be included in an article that I’ll write about how to use Keysearch in the near future. Suffice it to say, if you need a solid keyword research tool, Keysearch is a great place to get started.

Why Keysearch stands out

When writing this Keysearch review, I thought it would be important to detail some of the things that set the software apart from some of its competitors. So here are a few things that I think set it apart from competitors like Ahrefs:

"Simple" in scrabble letters with ExpertTexan.com overlay.
Keysearch is simple and easy to use.

Ease of use

I think I’ve said this several times throughout this article, but I cannot stress enough how simple it is to use Keysearch keyword research tools. I’ve explained it to kids, and they understand it – it’s that simple.

Low cost, high value

On top of being super easy to use without any prior experience, Keysearch is extremely affordable. And not only is it affordable, it also comes with a TON of features and tools on top of the keyword research tool that make it even more valuable given the small monthly fee that you pay to use it.

Results

As I mentioned previously, this entire site that you’re on right now consistently ranks in the top 10 results for tons of keywords and it’s all thanks to Keysearch. This site is literal proof that the tool will help you generate real-world results.

Keysearch Pricing

Keysearch pricing is incredibly affordable compared to nearly every other keyword research tool, and SEO research platform available today. You can also get 20% off of the rates listed below by using my Keysearch coupon code: KSDISC.

Keysearch Starter Plan: $17/mo (or $169/year)

The Keysearch Starter Plan is the plan that I generally use and I research and write a LOT. It will work for most small service-based businesses, bloggers, and e-commerce sites. It comes with the following:

  • 200 Daily Searches & Analysis
  • 80 Rank Tracking Keywords
  • Keyword Research
  • Youtube Research
  • Competitive Analysis Access
  • Content Assistant & More
"Keysearch is affordable" text overlay.
get started on the Keysearch Starter Plan

Keysearch Pro Plan: $34/mo (or $279/year)

The Keysearch Pro Plan will work for larger businesses, or people who operate multiple websites and do extensive keyword research each month.

  • 500 Daily Searches & Analysis
  • 200 Rank Tracking Keywords
  • Keyword Research
  • Youtube Research
  • Competitive Analysis Access
  • Content Assistant & More

The average small business, or content creator with just a small site or two, will not need the pro plan.

My Keysearch Review Conclusion

I like Keysearch because it’s affordable, it offers incredibly valuable tools for my SEO research needs, and it generates real-world results as evidenced by this very site you’re on.

In the past year and a half that I’ve been using it they’ve also introduced several new tools, and have improved the existing ones.

All in all, with the help of Keysearch, I’ve been ranking keywords day in and day out. And when I’m stuck on a keyword idea, I just pull up Keysearch and start poking around.

In general, I have not yet found a tool that competes with the Keysearch SEO tool in terms of affordability. And as long as Keysearch continues helping me generate consistent real-world SEO results, I’ll continue to be a loyal customer.

Have any questions about my Keysearch review? Feel free to contact me!