Wordtracker, the popular subscription based keyword research tool used by many professional search marketers, has announced a new free keyword suggestion tool that offers search estimates on up to 100 keyword phrases at a time. While the tool lacks many of the more powerful research features of Wordtracker's paid service and the subscription service offered by Trellian's KeywordDiscovery.com, it does serve as a powerful way for small business owners to find out what variations of a phrase are being searched.

The tool is available at: http://freekeywords.wordtracker.com and works by tapping into the search records of Dogpile and Metacrawler. Basically, you type in a search term or keyword phrase and the free Wordtracker tool will provide you with an estimate of the daily number of searches for that phrase. It will also provide up to one hundred related phrases and the search volume for them as well.

From the press release covering the launch:

"Keywords are simply the words people use when they search. Incorporate those words into your website copy and your position in search engines results will rise – often dramatically – and that means more sales online." Mike Mindel, CTO and co founder of Wordtracker.

"There is a gap in the market for this type of tool and as Wordtracker provides the most popular paid-for keyword service on the web it made sense to create this service." Mindel continued.

"Our strength has always been providing in-depth analysis that allows marketers to get to understand customer behaviour online. We’re confident that once people see the benefits of initial keyword research, they will realise that this is a profitable marketing resource that they simply can’t do without." He added.

It's important to note that users can purchase a single day's access of Wordtracker's full featured subscription service for about $8 (US funds). Most small businesses can spend some time on the free tool compiling a brainstorming list and then easily conduct necessary keyword research in a matter of an afternoon. That makes Wordtracker one of the most affordable options out there for small business keyword research.