Internet Marketing - Matt Bailey [63]
This tool provides a number of data points that really help establish context to the keywords, news events, regions, states and metro areas, and related keywords and keyword trends.
Keyword Discovery
www.keyworddiscovery.com
This program has been in my arsenal for years and is one of the first places I go for data. The strength of the data is also knowing search trends, by week, for specific terms. This provides valuable insights for marketers who have to report traffic fluctuations and prepare for wide swings in high- and low-demand cycles.
Microsoft Advertising Intelligence
http://advertising.microsoft.com/learning-center/downloads/microsoft-advertising-intelligence
Microsoft Advertising Intelligence created a keyword-research tool, primarily aimed at PPC advertisers. The integration of Ad Intelligence as a tab in Excel made this tool one of the most intriguing and functionally intelligent tools available. Being a spreadsheet junkie, I’m excited about the prospect of having Microsoft Excel tied directly into the Microsoft adCenter.
Using the commonly used functions in Excel to manipulate the data is easy, and the data includes query time, demographics, and geolocation. You can extract the keywords from an existing website or create your own list of words. A very nice feature that distinguishes the Microsoft product from the rest is the number of tutorials to help you sift through the data and put it to use.
The first concept when working with a keyword-research tool is to realize that the keyword counts are rarely, if ever, accurate. The keyword counts are usually based on aggregate data from ISPs, search engine API data, third-tier networks, installed toolbars, and other sources. As such, you will never get the exact number of searches made on a particular search engine for a specific word.
The second most important thing is the ability to find, filter, and focus on the data. Lists of search words are a fine place to start. Use those lists to develop a strategy and an understanding of the searcher and the market. The next most important function of a keyword-research tool is the ability to view the data in different ways. Having the ability to manipulate the data in a way that helps you understand the concepts will help you better organize a strategy and find important trends.
One of my primary keyword tools is Keyword Discovery (www.keyworddiscovery.com). Most tools work similarly: type in the desired word or phrase, and all the variations including that word are listed in order of search popularity (see Figure 6-5).
Figure 6-5: Top related keyword phrases for soccer
In this simple graph, keywords are listed in order of the search phrase that is used the most to the search phrase used the least. In Figure 6-5, the numbers of phrases used by searchers number in the thousands, because all the combinations that use the word are shown. This not only shows the magnitude of the number of search phrases employed by searchers but shows the multitudes of motivations for the search.
The majority of keyword-research tools all start this way, by listing the most popular search phrases first and then subsequent phrases by decreasing numbers.
Focus on Ratios, Not Number of Searches
One important thing to remember is that keyword-research tools are not going to be accurate. There are a number of reasons for this, because most gain their data through third-tier search engines, ISP data, and other sources. Even getting keyword search data through Google or Bing will provide estimated data only for that specific search engine, not the actual volume of search queries. Even though Google provides larger numbers than most keyword tools, the numbers are typically rounded off. Remember that Google is an advertiser as well, so getting businesses to bid on popular terms is part of the advertising