Looking for more organic traffic and better qualifying leads from paid search? Look no more.

If you’ve ever run a blog, you may agree that the value of a site’s SEO ranking cannot be overestimated. Webmaster tools and analytics software are a good place to start when working on hitting your target metrics, but there is a better way. Enter keyword research tools.

Keyword research tools query search engine APIs and crunch the numbers to find your competitors. They can help you to analyze the market more quickly and deliver insights you may not have obtained on your own.

SpyFu.com

SpyFu.com is one of the most versatile SEO research tools out there.

A few highlights of SpyFu.com:

• top organic keywords overview
• top organic competitors versus top paid search competitors (those businesses that rack up your AdWords bill)
• keywords your site shares with its competitors in organic and paid search
• AdWords Buy recommendations
• most successful advertisers and their best ads
• your site’s organic ranking history
• inbound links (something you can research for your competitors as well)

Given how a single keyword can mean a breakthrough in the SEO ranking, the service is worth giving it a try (plans are available here).