Ubersuggest Tutorial: Free Keyword Research for Beginners

Keyword research does not have to cost a fortune. Ubersuggest, Neil Patel’s freemium SEO tool, gives beginners access to keyword data, content ideas, site audits and backlink analysis without requiring a paid subscription. This Ubersuggest tutorial walks you through every feature so you can start finding profitable keywords for your Singapore business today.

For small businesses and startups across Singapore, budget constraints often mean choosing between paid SEO tools and other marketing investments. Ubersuggest fills that gap by providing enough free data to build a solid keyword strategy, making it an ideal starting point before committing to premium platforms like Ahrefs or SEMrush.

In this guide, we cover the keyword overview dashboard, keyword ideas generator, content ideas tool, site audit feature, backlink data, traffic analyser and the differences between the free and paid plans. Whether you are handling SEO in-house or working alongside our 搜索引擎优化服务 team, this tutorial will help you get the most from Ubersuggest.

Getting Started with Ubersuggest

Ubersuggest is a web-based tool accessible at neilpatel.com/ubersuggest. You can use it without creating an account, though signing in with a Google account unlocks additional daily searches and lets you save projects for ongoing monitoring.

Step 1: Navigate to the Ubersuggest homepage. You will see a search bar where you can enter a keyword or a domain name, along with a dropdown to select your target country.

Step 2: Set the country to Singapore. This is critical for accurate search volume and competition data. Ubersuggest pulls data from Google’s API, so selecting the right region ensures the numbers reflect your actual target audience.

Step 3: Create a free account by signing in with Google. This increases your daily search limit from three to approximately ten searches per day and enables project tracking. The free account also gives you access to the Chrome extension, which displays SEO metrics directly on Google search results pages.

With your account set up, you are ready to explore the core features. Each feature serves a different purpose in the keyword research and content planning process, so let us work through them one by one.

Using the Keyword Overview Dashboard

The keyword overview is the first screen you see after entering a keyword. It provides a snapshot of key metrics that help you evaluate whether a keyword is worth targeting.

Search volume: This number represents the estimated monthly searches for your keyword in the selected region. For Singapore-specific keywords, volumes are naturally lower than global figures. A keyword with 500 monthly searches in Singapore can still drive meaningful traffic if the intent aligns with your business.

SEO difficulty: Displayed as a score from 0 to 100, this metric estimates how hard it would be to rank organically for the keyword. Scores below 30 are considered low competition, 30 to 60 is moderate, and above 60 is highly competitive. For new Singapore websites, focus on keywords with difficulty scores below 40 to build early momentum.

Paid difficulty: This metric shows how competitive the keyword is in Google Ads. A high paid difficulty often signals commercial intent, meaning people searching for that keyword are likely to convert. This insight is valuable if you are running Google Ads campaigns alongside your SEO efforts.

Cost per click (CPC): The average cost advertisers pay for a click on this keyword. Higher CPCs generally indicate higher commercial value. Use this data to prioritise keywords that drive revenue, not just traffic.

Trend graph: The trend line shows search volume fluctuations over the past 12 months. Look for keywords with stable or growing trends rather than those in decline. Seasonal patterns are also visible here — for example, “Chinese New Year gifts Singapore” will spike every January and February.

Generating Keyword Ideas

The Keyword Ideas section is where Ubersuggest truly shines for beginners. It generates hundreds of keyword suggestions based on your seed keyword, organised into several useful categories.

Suggestions: These are keyword variations that include your seed keyword. For example, entering “digital marketing Singapore” might return suggestions like “digital marketing agency Singapore,” “digital marketing course Singapore” and “digital marketing jobs Singapore.” Sort by search volume or SEO difficulty to find the best opportunities.

Related: Related keywords are semantically connected to your seed keyword but may not contain the exact phrase. These are excellent for building topic clusters and identifying content gaps in your strategy.

Questions: This tab shows question-based keywords, such as “what is digital marketing” or “how much does digital marketing cost in Singapore.” Question keywords are perfect for FAQ sections, blog posts and featured snippet targeting. They often indicate informational intent, which is ideal for 内容营销.

Prepositions: Keywords containing prepositions like “for,” “with,” “near” and “without” appear here. Examples include “digital marketing for small business” or “SEO services near me.” These long-tail variations often have lower competition and higher specificity.

Comparisons: Keywords containing “vs,” “versus,” “or” and “compared to” are grouped in this tab. They reveal what your potential customers are evaluating, giving you opportunities to create comparison content that captures decision-stage traffic.

Filtering and exporting: Use the filters to narrow results by search volume range, SEO difficulty, CPC or word count. Once you have identified your target keywords, export the list as a CSV file for further analysis in a spreadsheet. This exported list becomes the foundation of your keyword strategy.

Finding Content Ideas

The Content Ideas feature shows you the top-performing content for any keyword, helping you understand what type of content Google rewards and what you need to create to compete.

How it works: Enter a keyword and Ubersuggest displays the top-ranking pages along with their estimated traffic, backlink count, social shares on Facebook and Pinterest, and domain authority. This gives you a clear picture of the competitive landscape.

Analysing top content: Look at the titles, formats and word counts of the top-ranking pages. If the first page is dominated by long-form guides exceeding 2,000 words, you know you need comprehensive content to compete. If listicles dominate, consider creating a better list with more items and deeper analysis.

Identifying content gaps: Compare the top-ranking pages to find topics or angles they have missed. If every article about “email marketing Singapore” covers the same five tips, creating a more comprehensive guide with Singapore-specific case studies and data will give you a competitive edge. Pair this research with a solid email marketing strategy for maximum impact.

Backlink insights: The backlink count for each top-ranking page tells you how much link building you will need. If the top results have hundreds of backlinks from high-authority domains, competing will require significant effort. If they have fewer than 20 backlinks, the keyword is more accessible for newer sites.

Running a Site Audit

Ubersuggest’s site audit feature crawls your website and identifies technical SEO issues that may be holding back your rankings. While not as comprehensive as dedicated tools like Screaming Frog, it provides a solid overview for beginners.

Step 1: Navigate to the Site Audit section and enter your domain. Ubersuggest will begin crawling your site, which may take several minutes depending on the number of pages.

Step 2: Review the overall health score. This score, displayed as a percentage, summarises your site’s technical SEO health. Scores above 80 per cent indicate a well-optimised site, while scores below 60 per cent suggest significant issues that need attention.

Critical errors: These are issues that directly impact your ability to rank, such as broken internal links, pages returning 404 errors, missing title tags, duplicate meta descriptions and pages blocked by robots.txt. Address these first, as they have the greatest impact on your SEO performance.

Warnings: Less severe than errors, warnings highlight opportunities for improvement. Common warnings include missing alt text on images, pages with thin content (fewer than 300 words), slow page load times and redirect chains. Fix these after resolving all critical errors.

Page speed: Ubersuggest reports page speed metrics including load time, time to first byte and page size. For Singapore users accessing your site on mobile networks, page speed is especially important. Our web design services can help optimise your site for faster load times.

Tracking progress: If you have a free account, Ubersuggest saves your audit history so you can track improvements over time. Run an audit monthly to catch new issues early and monitor the impact of your fixes.

The Backlinks section provides data on who links to your site and your competitors’ sites. While Ubersuggest’s backlink database is smaller than those of premium tools, it still offers valuable insights for beginners.

Your backlink profile: Enter your domain to see your total backlinks, referring domains, domain authority score and the ratio of dofollow to nofollow links. A healthy backlink profile has links from a diverse set of referring domains with a majority being dofollow.

Competitor analysis: Enter a competitor’s domain to see their backlink profile. Identify the sites linking to them and consider whether you can earn similar links. For Singapore businesses, look for local directories, industry associations, news sites and business partnerships that provide linking opportunities.

New and lost links: Track which links you have gained and lost over time. A sudden drop in backlinks may indicate that a referring site has removed your link or gone offline. Monitoring this helps you maintain your link equity.

Anchor text analysis: Review the anchor text distribution of your backlinks. A natural profile includes a mix of branded anchors (your business name), generic anchors (“click here,” “learn more”), keyword-rich anchors and URL-based anchors. An over-optimised anchor text profile with too many exact-match keyword anchors can trigger Google penalties.

Using the Traffic Analyser

The Traffic Analyser lets you peek into any website’s organic search performance, making it a powerful competitive intelligence tool. Enter a competitor’s domain to see their estimated monthly traffic, top-performing pages and top keywords.

Top pages: This report shows which pages drive the most organic traffic to a website. Use it to identify your competitors’ most successful content and create better versions targeting the same topics. Pay attention to page formats, content depth and keyword targeting.

Top keywords: See which keywords a competitor ranks for, along with their position, estimated traffic and SEO difficulty. Filter by position to find keywords where competitors rank on page two — these represent opportunities where slightly better content could outrank them.

Traffic trends: The trend graph shows whether a competitor’s traffic is growing or declining. A declining competitor may be losing ground due to outdated content or technical issues, creating opportunities for you to capture their traffic.

Practical application for Singapore businesses: Analyse three to five direct competitors in your Singapore market niche. Look for keywords they all rank for that you do not — these are your content gaps. Also identify keywords where you have a positional advantage and can push into the top three with targeted optimisation.

Free vs Paid: Which Plan Do You Need?

Ubersuggest offers a free tier, three paid subscription plans and a lifetime access option. Understanding the differences helps you decide which level suits your needs as a Singapore business.

Free plan limitations: The free plan allows approximately three searches per day without an account and around ten with a free account. You get access to all features, but with limited data. Keyword suggestions are capped, and site audit crawls are restricted to fewer pages.

Individual plan (USD 12/month): Designed for solo entrepreneurs and freelancers managing one to three websites. This plan increases daily search limits, unlocks full keyword suggestion lists and allows deeper site audit crawls. For most Singapore SMEs handling SEO in-house, this plan provides sufficient data.

Business plan (USD 20/month): Suitable for small agencies and businesses managing four to seven websites. It includes additional daily searches, more tracked keywords and longer audit histories.

Enterprise plan (USD 40/month): For larger agencies managing eight or more websites with high search volumes and extensive competitor analysis needs.

Lifetime access: Ubersuggest also offers one-time payment options for lifetime access, which can be significantly cheaper in the long run. Prices range from approximately USD 120 for Individual to USD 400 for Enterprise. For Singapore businesses planning to use the tool for more than a year, the lifetime option offers excellent value.

Our recommendation: Start with the free plan to learn the interface and validate that Ubersuggest meets your needs. If you find yourself hitting the daily search limit regularly, upgrade to the Individual plan or invest in the lifetime option. For comprehensive SEO support beyond what any single tool provides, explore our digital marketing services.

常见问题

Is Ubersuggest accurate for Singapore keyword data?

Ubersuggest pulls data from Google’s API and other sources, so its Singapore-specific data is reasonably accurate for search volumes and trends. However, like all keyword tools, the numbers are estimates rather than exact figures. Use them for comparative analysis — identifying which keywords have more or less volume — rather than treating them as absolute truth.

Can I use Ubersuggest without creating an account?

Yes, you can use Ubersuggest without an account, but you are limited to approximately three searches per day. Creating a free Google-linked account increases this to around ten daily searches and unlocks project tracking and audit history features.

How does Ubersuggest compare to Ahrefs and SEMrush?

Ubersuggest offers a smaller keyword and backlink database compared to Ahrefs and SEMrush, and its data updates less frequently. However, for beginners and small businesses, Ubersuggest provides sufficient data at a fraction of the cost. It is an excellent starting point before investing in premium tools.

What is the Ubersuggest Chrome extension?

The Ubersuggest Chrome extension displays SEO metrics directly on Google search results pages, including monthly search volume, CPC and competition data for any keyword you search. It also shows domain authority and backlink counts for each result. The extension is free and works without a paid subscription.

Can Ubersuggest track my keyword rankings?

Yes, with a paid plan, Ubersuggest can track your keyword rankings over time. You set up a project for your domain, add the keywords you want to monitor, and Ubersuggest checks your positions daily. The free plan offers limited tracking for a small number of keywords.

How often should I run a site audit in Ubersuggest?

We recommend running a site audit at least once a month. This frequency catches new issues before they impact your rankings significantly. After making major site changes, such as a redesign, migration or large content update, run an additional audit to ensure nothing was broken in the process.