I am always on the lookout for ways to find low-competition keywords for my niche sites. Keyword Chef is a tool that I was a beta user of from the beginning and I fell in love. It’s extremely straightforward, finds excellent low-hanging fruit keywords, and is simple to use.
In this review, I go over the ins and outs of the tool, its features, and why I love it.
Let’s get into it!
What is Keyword Chef?
Keyword Chef is a keyword tool that helps you find profitable keywords that are easier to rank for than other search terms in the same niche.
This software automatically finds these phrases based on your input, filtering any junk keywords. It can even analyze the SERPs to give you an idea of how obtainable each relevant keyword is.
If you get confused by full-stack SEO and marketing tools that do everything from one complicated dashboard, you’ll love the user-friendly and straightforward Keyword Chef dashboard.
6 Main Benefits to Keyword Chef
This keyword research tool comes with multiple benefits despite its simplicity. Here are some of the best parts of using Keyword Chef. These make it one of the best tools for keyword ideas on the market:
1. You can learn to use Keyword Chef FAST!
One of the main benefits of using Keyword Chef is that learning to use it doesn’t take much time at all. It only took me about ten minutes to get up to speed on this tool. I found myself getting proficient at using it within just a few searches with the help of its built-in tutorials.
2. Instructions are easy to access right inside the dashboard
Some tools include poor (or no) instructions. It’s always a pain when the first thing you have to do after buying a new app is search YouTube for good tutorials.
That’s not a problem with Keyword Chef, however. The tool includes helpful tips and nudges built right into the dashboard, and its functionality is so simple that it’s easy to understand right away.
3. Finds accessible long-tail keywords quickly with less fuss than most tools
Some SEO tools require long, convoluted processes to find a decent long-tail keyword. With Keyword Chef, you can find a keyword in seconds and filter the competition right away.
The user interface is well-organized, so it’s easy to find all of your long-tail keywords without unnecessary bells or whistles.
You can also export all of your data to CSV to store and use it however you like.
4. Finds keywords other “better” tools miss
Many SEO software platforms start at $99 or more per month to access their tools. You’d think this would mean that these tools would all work amazingly, but this isn’t always the case.
For a very reasonable price, you can find the exact keywords and long-tail phrases you need instead of having to wade through row after row of unhelpful suggestions.
5. Supports the use of “wildcard” characters to make discovery even easier
When inputting a root search term, you can use an asterisk to represent a wildcard variable. This allows Keyword Chef to “fill in the blank” with different suggestions. This can be a great way to find high-value keywords related to specific phrases or ideas.
6. Cost-effective
Simply put, Keyword Chef is more affordable than other keyword tools. Starting at just $20 for 1200 credits, it provides plenty of power at a rate that’s unlikely to break your budget.
If you’d rather not spend hundreds of dollars on software, try Keyword Chef and take advantage of its money-saving pricing structure.
The 3 Features of Keyword Chef Explained
Now let’s take a look at this tool’s features. It’s a simple tool, so there aren’t many, but they are all-powerful and easy to use:
1. Discover Feature
This is the primary function of Keyword Chef. When you log in to your dashboard, you will be greeted by the Discover panel. Here is where all of your keyword research activities will take place.
The Discover tab is a search term bar where you can input a keyword or phrase. You can also select which types of keywords you want to discover from a handy dropdown menu.
2. SERP Checker
The SERP checker feature (designated as #2 by the red numbers in the screenshot above) automatically scans the Search Engine Results Page for each keyword and discovers any ranking forums and sites like Quora and Linkedin that are on page 1. This is great because you don’t have to search each keyword and find out who ranks manually.
The SERP checker also shows you a list of the top 10 sites that currently rank.
3. Keyword Filters
Sometimes you need to look at data differently to find what you need. That’s what Keyword Chef’s keyword filters are all about. The filters are shown as #1 in the screenshot above. Depending on what is most important for your website, you can filter by keyword clusters or by specific criteria like search volume and SERP score.
3 Different Keyword Searches You Can Do
While it is a simple tool, you can use Keyword Chef in a few different ways. In particular, the wildcard function can be used multiple ways to get different results from the same root keywords.
1. Asterisk (*) In Front of Keyword
If you’re not finding what you’re looking for by searching your root keyword, try putting an asterisk in front of it. This will allow you to get many different related results depending on what you’re looking for.
Keyword Chef will return results containing different words in place of the asterisk, and it may generate an idea you would never have thought of.
2. Asterisk (*) After Keyword
If putting the asterisk in front of the keyphrase doesn’t get you anywhere, try putting it at the end! This will search through phrases that start with your keyword, discovering all the most accessible search terms within your topic of interest.
3. Asterisk in a Phrase
This will only work for certain keywords, but it’s powerful when done properly. In this case, you use the asterisk as a placeholder. This means you can use the asterisk as part of the phrase to see what similar phrases are commonly searched.
Here’s an example in the blogging niche:
“best * for bloggers”
This will return results such as best tools for bloggers, best courses for bloggers, best forums for bloggers, and so on. Now you see how this can be such a potent tool!
How To Use Keyword Chef: Step-by-Step Walkthrough
Now let’s get started on a short and sweet Keyword Chef tutorial. As promised, you’ll pick this up quickly, but I’ll walk you through it step-by-step with screenshots just in case.
Step 1: Sign up for a free trial
Go to KeywordChef.com and click on either of the yellow “Try for free” buttons. Simply enter your email address, and you’ll be sent an access link that will enable you to create a password and log in.
Step 2: Understand the dashboard
The Keyword Chef dashboard is shown above. Let’s break down each of the important elements.
- Discover Tab: The discover tab is the tab shown in the screenshot, and it is where you can search for relevant terms and find long tail keywords.
- My Reports Tab: My reports stores all of the research you generate within the platform. You can always navigate to this tab to review past searches.
- Dropdown Menu: The dropdown menu (which says “Questions” in the above picture) is where you select which type of query you’d like to perform. Questions and Wildcard are my favorites!
- Search Bar: The search bar has the words “affiliate marketing” in it in the above image. This is where you type the terms you’d like to find relevant keywords for.
- Bulk Upload: The upload arrow to the right of the search bar can be used to upload keywords in bulk to save time on big projects.
- Top Right: In the top right corner you have your credits counter (you get 1000 free credits to start) as well as a buy more button, a help button, and access to your account details.
Step 3: Follow the built-in prompts
As you navigate through Keyword Chef for the first time, the app will prompt you with a series of popups. Follow the instructions and the best practices outlined in this review, and you can’t go wrong!
Case Study of Health Site: Low Competition FAQ Keywords
In June 2021, I conducted a case study using Keyword Chef to help increase organic traffic to a health niche site. I was able to find and rank for 15 highly accessible keywords. I’ve never had such an easy win in SEO!
The keywords returned by the chef were so obtainable that I ranked on or near page 1 for 5 of them by the time the next month rolled around.
Above you can see a screenshot of some of the top search terms that Keyword Chef helped me find. Not only does the app display the phrases and provide their search volume, but it also gives a unique SERP score (highlighted in green/yellow on the right) so it is super easy to know which terms to target first.
Notice how I used a wildcard search to find these keywords. If you’re in any type of health-related niche, you could likely use something similar to “does * cause _____” with a condition related to your area of specialization.
“Does ramen cause acne” received the highest SERP score because two social media sites and three forums were ranking on page 1. This means it was an extremely accessible keyword. As you can see in the screenshot below, one short month later my site ranked #8 for this term.
Keyword Chef Pricing Structure
Keyword Chef is priced competitively and is worth every penny on all three tiers.
My favorite aspect of this product’s pricing is that it doesn’t have any monthly fees. The tool is completely pay-as-you-go. You only have to buy the credits you know you’ll use, and you can grab a few more any time you run out.
My Conclusion – Is KeywordChef Worth It?
If you’re looking for a way to find long-tail keywords that are easier to rank for than other search terms in the niche, then this keyword research tool will be perfect for your needs. With free tools like google keyword planner locating these keywords are difficult to find.
Even with some premium tools, it takes lots of work. The answer is a custom keyword discovery tool. Keyword Chef is one of the best out there, I highly recommend it!
