March 2, 2007 13:47
Category: Optimizing
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Keyword research tools allow you to discover keywords you never though important or relevant for your website. If you're a smart web marketer and can decide for yourself which sets of keywords are useful for your website, you may check with simple title-tag search in Google to find out how popular are they in terms of pages optimized with them (see my article on keyword selection).
The downside with simple guessing of relevant keywords is that you really do not know whether at all the keywords are frequently used by viewers as search terms. This is where the advantage of using keyword research tools lies. These tools will not only unearth hundreds of un-guessed keywords for you, they'll also inform you how 'useful' they are should you choose to use them.
The 2 most talked keyword research tools are Wordtracker - out there since early-1999, owned by UK-based Rivergold Associates - and Trellian-owned Keyword Discovery. Both are paid tools and each offers you handsome keyword data to work on.
A third popular tool is one from Web CEO, but in this case the keyword research tool is part of a complete package of search engine marketing, including optimization advice, search engine submission, ranking check, link popularity analysis, traffic analysis, finding potential link exchange partners, and above all PPC campaign managing. Web CEO is an excellent help, and in fact it has a free edition as well for small websites.
My favorites are Web CEO and the free keyword research tools that, depending on your needs, are equally good to help you get going. Since your need for keywords will both be for organic search and paid placement, most free keyword tools do a good job of both.
Here is a selection of free useful keyword tools. It's likely you're aware of some of them.
This keyword research tool is Google's help to let you find out potential keywords for AdWords ad campaign. It's possible to argue that Google shows only those keywords that are being presently bid on, but perhaps Google does churn its non-PPC database as well to come up with keyword variations.
Whichever way you look, there's no denying Google's keyword research tool is quite handy. For each keyword displayed, you get to know its search volume and the trend, cost and ad position estimates and negative keywords, the last 3 especially useful should you opt PPC campaign.
In site-related keywords option, if you mention the URL of your competition's website, Google's keyword tool will extract all combinations possible based on those used there. Though Google's keyword research tool is geared toward facilitating AdWords campaign, for discerning website owner, it's a valuable help.
Google Suggest
An easy-to-use interface, where as you type in the search box, Google automatically offers alphabetical suggestions in dropdown format. Likely keywords, limited to 10, that come in the dropdown list also show number of results against each of them. Google Suggest is like a ready reckoner and a good assistance, but the downside is that one needs to first work out a basic list of likely keywords in order to reap its benefit. Also, number of result pages is hardly a correct indication of real popularity of a keyword in absence of search volume and other data.
Google Suggest Keyword Suggestion Scrapper Tool
A take-off of Google Suggest is Google Suggest Keyword Suggestion Scrapper Tool developed by SEO Book, that presents not only a refined list of Google Suggest, but also an Overture Suggestions list. Click the keyword in either list, and you'll be taken to more comprehensive options linking to SEO Book keyword suggestion tool.
If you diligently use SEO Book tools, you'll lead to Wordtracker's free keyword suggestion tool and also Keyword Discovery's free search term suggestion tool. If you click on Overture suggestions, you'll further be able to get a grand view of results from Yahoo!, MSN, Google, Wordtracker and Keyword Discovery.
Other free keyword tools
There are quite a few free keyword research tools that dot the web landscape. Many webmasters routinely refer them for arriving at popular search terms that are relevant to their websites. Let's a take a peek at them:
- Digital Point keyword suggestion tool combines Wordtracker suggestion tool and Overture bid tool.
- Good Keywords V2 keyword search suggestions and related terms is a free Windows software from Softnik Technologies.
- Overture Inventory - this is well known, now owned by Yahoo!. Several sites use Overture tool to offer list of likely keywords, for example, Global Promoter.
- Marketleap search engine marketing tools include keyword verification, search engine saturation and link popularity check.
- 7Search keyword suggestion.
Conclusion
Although there is no apparent dearth of free keyword research tools, it is suggested not to many options at a time, because the database each tool uses vary a great deal in terms of its source and relevance with respect to latest search terms. To that extent, Google's free keyword tool and that of Overture can be considered more dependable compared to others.
Perhaps the ideal option will be to make use of SEO Book's free keyword research tools or the one offered by Digital Point, because they combine the results of major search and PPC platforms. A good reference point is SEO Book's SEO & PPC Competitive Analysis & Keyword Research Tools.
