Word clouds, also known as tag clouds, keyword clouds, or text clouds, are visual representations of words. Like other visualization types (charts, graphs, maps), they can help you understand and communicate textual data.
Summary
This type of data visualization is valuable for digital marketers, website owners, and businesses that generally trade online.
In the field of SEO, for example, word clouds can help you discover the most popular keywords among the search terms used by your customers.
Creating a tag cloud is easy, thanks to the many online word cloud generator tools that can be found on the web today.
In the rest of this article, we will introduce you to the 12 best free word cloud generators.
But first, let’s take the time to dig a little deeper into the definition of the term “word cloud” and see how this technique can be helpful.
What is a word cloud?
Word clouds are representations of the frequency of qualitative, textual data, such as keywords, customer reviews, reports, etc.
The design of the visualization provided by a word cloud, or “tag” or “keyword” cloud generator, gives greater prominence to words that appear more frequently in a source text. The larger the word in size in the representation provided by the generator, the higher its frequency in your source text.
You can use the graph offered by this tool to perform exploratory textual analysis by identifying the words that frequently appear on any web page or computer document.
Also, you can use it to communicate the most salient points or themes of your source text, whether it’s a body of data, a report, etc.
Extracting insights from qualitative datasets, like keywords, is a boon for digital marketers and entrepreneurs.
Here’s why.
How can a word cloud help you?
Visualizing tags or keyword clouds is essential for digital marketers, for example, when looking for profitable keywords, but word cloud generators can do many other things.
Here are the areas in which these “word clouds” can help you:
Find your customers’ pain points.
By analyzing the comments and opinions of your customers via a word cloud generator, you will be able to understand what your customers like the most in your company and what they want the least. The “pain points” or “weak points”, price, delivery time or customer service, become easier to identify with a text cloud generator.
Know what your employees think about your company
The text cloud visualization process can turn your employees’ feedback into valuable information. This technique will help you sort through the accumulated comments and get fast, high-value feedback that will positively boost your company culture.
Identification of new SEO terms to target.
In addition to standard keyword research techniques, using a word cloud generator can make you aware of potential keywords to target that your site content is already using.
Also, word clouds are a rather engaging and visually appealing technique for many things. This type of graphic representation can, for example, be a good starting point for a brainstorming exercise or any subject of discussion and facilitate the generation of ideas among your collaborators.
This tool is also valuable for your speech synthesis, debriefing, and written work.
Imagine, for example, that you have just received a 50-page marketing research report that you will have to digest for a meeting in an hour.
It is also in a case like this that a word cloud generator can help you.
When you copy the text into the generator, you can see after a few seconds which words appear most frequently.
This gives you valuable leads to know by which end to take this report and get to the point.
Now is the time to see the available top 12 free word cloud builder tools.
The 12 Best Free Word Cloud Generators
1- MonkeyLearn
MonkeyLearn is an AI-powered text analytics platform with a free tag cloud generator that you can use without creating an account.
To create a word cloud with this app, you can either enter your source text or upload a text file, which must be in TXT format.
For example, other document formats, like DOC, will be automatically converted to TXT format.
After generating your word cloud with MonkeyLearn, you can download it to your device. SVG. PNG or. CSV.
You can change the word cloud theme, which affects the background, text colour, fonts, and each element individually (background colour, text color, and fonts).
All the relevant words you are looking for in your text data are placed in the sidebar on the right as a list.
It is possible to make several types of sorts in this list according to the relevance or frequency. It’s a quick way to scan the most popular words in your source text.
The free MonkeyLearn word cloud builder integrates with other MonkeyLearn branded tools, including a sentiment analysis tool, keyword extractor and NPS (Net Promoter Score) feedback analysis tools, to measure the customer satisfaction rate.
However, you need to create an account to take advantage of all these integrations.
2- Wordclouds.com
Wordclouds is a free online word cloud generator and tag cloud creator created by Zygomatic, a Netherlands-based software and video game publisher and developer.
This word cloud generator, whose original name is “Wordclouds.com”, has a homepage available in several languages, including French.
Wordclouds.com works equally well on your PC, tablet or smartphone.
WordClouds allows you to enter text directly or upload a TXT file. You can also extract text from PDF files, MS Office documents (.odt, .docx, .doc, .pptx, .ppt, .xlsx, .xls) and web pages with their URLs to generate a cloud of words or tags automatically.
This software allows you to customize your tag cloud with different shapes, colours, fonts, and themes.
You can also change the wordlist and cloud size.
You can save your generated word cloud visualization in CSV format or image in SD or HD. It is worth mentioning that WordClouds allows you to record the whole process as a video, even if it is time-consuming.
3- Infogram
Infogram is a platform that offers more than just a tag cloud generator. It is an incredible tool that will allow you to create captivating infographics and all kinds of visual representations.
If most of the tools offered by Infogram are accessible via a subscription, the word cloud generator is free.
All you need to do is create an account to use it.
Once connected to the platform, all you have to do is choose a word cloud template that you can then customize. A large selection of word cloud templates is waiting for you. A sample text accompanies all these models to give you a better perception of the whole.
You can edit your data with an integrated sheet editor. Therefore, the word cloud generator offered by Infogram is handy if you want to process textual data from Excel.
You can directly upload your Excel file (XLS, XLSX or CSV) or copy and paste the lines of text into the integrated sheet editor.
Moreover, it is easy to import text files from Google Drive, Dropbox, JSON feed and other databases such as MySQL, PostgreSQL, Oracle, Microsoft SQL and Amazon RedShift.
All this indicates that Infogram is a word cloud generator with advanced capabilities.
Of course, this app lets you change your word cloud’s colours, fonts, and other properties.
Finally, inform allows you to publish and share your word cloud in image format.
4- TagCrowd
TagCrowd is a web application created by Daniel Steinbock that visualizes word frequencies in any text by creating what is commonly known as a word cloud, text cloud or tag cloud, i.e. an informative image that communicates a lot at a glance.
With TagCrowd, there are three options for creating word clouds: paste or type your text, upload a plain text file, or type a URL. After that, click on the “View” button to generate your word cloud.
TagCrowd offers unique customization options. For example, you can choose the language of your text, set the maximum number of words and the minimum frequency, exclude unwanted words and convert all text to lowercase characters.
When you set a language for your text, the word cloud generator can ignore all common words in that language.
Also, the TagCrowd software has a notable feature that you won’t find in many word cloud generators, which is to display the word count next to each word. Therefore, you can easily distinguish the most important words within your data and compare their frequencies.
You can save your word cloud in PDF format or embed it in HTML format.
TagCrowd is a free tool, but donating can help sustain the project.
5- Word Art
With the WordArt keyword cloud generator, it is possible to create professional quality word clouds for free.
The website offers a scalable word cloud builder and editor, which is very easy to use.
WordArt allows you to import text data from two primary sources: text files and the web.
For text files, you can type or paste text directly or import text from CSV and MS Excel files.
For this last option, you only need a URL.
After importing the words, you get your word cloud by clicking on the “View” button.
WordArt only takes a few seconds to generate a word cloud.
In particular, it is possible to customize your word cloud before generating it.
You will be able to customize the word cloud’s shape, fonts, layout and style.
When you switch from “Animate” mode to “Edit” mode, you can easily rearrange the words in your word cloud, for example, change their colours, fonts, etc.
6- Jason Davies Word Cloud Generator
The JasonDavies word cloud generator has a pretty basic GUI, but it does what you expect it to: it creates a word cloud and still has several exciting options to help you make the perfect word cloud.
However, it must be pointed out that with this word cloud generator, it is not allowed to import text in TXT, DOC or any other format, for that matter. You must enter your text directly in the dedicated space.
we must admit that this tool is fast.
Then you can customize your word cloud and see the changes in real-time.
One of the unique features of the JasonDavies word cloud generator is that it allows you to create an Archimedean or rectangular spiral word cloud. You can adjust the orientations for different angles and change the scale between log n, n and sqrt n.
If your text data contains a large number of words, you can limit the number of words in your cloud.
Also, you can change the font type, but their website doesn’t offer a list of fonts to speak of. You will have to type the font name of your choice without making mistakes.
Once the work is done, you can download your word cloud as an SVG file.
7- Word It Out
WordItOut is a word cloud generator that has many customization options.
It is an entirely free tool and is not even necessary to register.
You can type, copy and paste your text into WordItOut. However, this website does not allow you to download files or extract textual content from the web.
Before generating your word cloud, you can set many things, like a minimum number of letters in a word, filter punctuation characters, etc.
After generating your word cloud, you can access customization options, including cloud font, colour, layout, and word size and layout.
These options are customizable manually, but you can also set them randomly.
In random mode, the generator will automatically assign the best font, colour, layout, etc., to your word cloud.
To download your word cloud, submit your email, and you will then receive the download link in your inbox.
The little extra of WordItOut is that it is possible to browse and discover word clouds created by other website users and even download them.
8- WordLift
At its core, WordSift is a free word cloud generator created for English language teachers and students.
However, this generator can be used by anyone to create a word cloud, and it is effective for all types of purposes, like all the tools listed in this article.
However, with WordLift, you cannot import a text file. Therefore, you must paste or enter your text before clicking on “Sift!” “. This tool only takes a few seconds to generate your word cloud.
WordLift has a handy feature that allows you to switch between word cloud and text views.
In text mode, you get an overview of information such as word count, unique words, readability index and average grade level, to name the main ones.
WordLift lets you choose between five-word cloud styles. Your style will affect the orientation, font style, font size, and colours.
However, it is possible to customize these elements individually in the settings.
This keyword cloud generator also offers an excellent “Sort Words” feature.
With this option, the words appear in alphabetical order, ascending or descending.
Finally, with WordLift, you can download your word cloud as an SVG or PNG file.
9 – Vizzlo
Vizzlo is a web-based charting specialist that thousands of businesses use to create polished business charts from data.
This company offers many possibilities, some of which, like the word cloud generator, are free.
On the Vizzlo website, you can create word clouds from over 100 pre-made templates.
However, it is imperative to register to take advantage of this platform.
You can easily create your Vizzlo account using your email address or your Google, Apple or Microsoft accounts.
Vizzlo lets you import text from spreadsheets to create interactive word clouds.
Not only can you adjust the look of your cloud from the settings, but you can also click on each word and edit them individually.
Vizzlo offers several predefined colour themes if you want to change the entire look of your word cloud.
Also, this tool allows you to add annotations and change the style of specific elements.
You can finally download your word cloud in PNG or VZL format, and even in PDF format, if you opt for a paid account.
10 – Slido
On the Slido website, you will find a large selection of services and products – surveys, quizzes, analytics, web integrations, etc. — some of which, like the word cloud generator, are free.
You need to register to create word clouds with Slido. It’s child’s play, as you can sign up with your Google or Webex account.
Once connected, create a Slido event and then a Word Cloud. You can enter words from the text to generate your word cloud via the “Participant Mode” option in the left tab.
You can then view your word cloud in your dashboard’s “Analytics” section.
Slido allows you to create an infographic from your word cloud, which can be shared via a link or on social networks.
Slido only provides a few customization options.
Nevertheless, it is a platform that stands out for its interactive side, and its website integrates perfectly with tools like Webex, PowerPoint, Teams and Google Slides.
11- Free Word Cloud Generator
Here’s another free word cloud generator that aims to help non-data-savvy people turn texts into “powerful word cloud visualizations .”
You can import a CSV file or directly paste or type your text into this word cloud generator.
Admittedly, it’s quite a minimalistic tool, as it only has a few customization options, i.e. most of the basic customization options you’ll need, like fonts and colours.
With Free Word Cloud Generator, you can add six colours to your word cloud. By default, the most important words have the darkest colours and vice versa.
Talking about fonts, there are nearly thirty different styles that you can benefit from, including relatively modern fonts.
On the other hand, you won’t find mundane fonts like Arial and Times New Roman.
Just use the scroll bar to adjust the number of words in your word cloud (between zero and one hundred).
Finally, Free Word Cloud Generator lets you download your word cloud in three formats: PNG, JPEG, and SVG.
12- Text Magic
TextMagic is a platform specializing in SMS marketing solutions for businesses.
However, on their website, you will find an exciting list of free tools, including a word cloud generator.
With TextMagic, it is possible to create word clouds without having to register.
The generator takes about two seconds to create your word cloud after uploading a TXT file or directly entering and pasting your text data.
Below the word cloud visualization, you will find a list that shows the frequency of all the words in your text, shown as a percentage. You can remove any comment with just one click.
TextMagic, the free word cloud maker, offers multiple themes to customize your word cloud, looking clean and friendly.
Conclusion
We could have added many other free keyword cloud generators to this list, such as Wordle, Tagxedo, Google Word Cloud tools or PresenterMedia.
The most important thing for your business now is to try out some of the solutions mentioned in this article and choose the most suitable tool for your needs.