How do I balance conflicting keyword research tools?
-
We've been using Wordtracker for years to find viable long tail keyword options. Lately, we've begun to doubt the true usefulness of this tool. We have implemented good optimization efforts using relevant keywords that Wordtracker suggests as reasonably well-searched with relatively low competition. Even when we rank well for these words, we get no traffic for them.
Subsequent checking of these words in Google AdWords reveal that Google has found no searches for these words at all.
Suspicious, we've begun cross-checking our keywords in AdWords and the Moz Keyword Difficulty tool. But now I keep getting contradictory reports.
For example, a keyword I recently checked reported thus:
In Wordtracker: high competition and low search
In AdWords: high competition and decent search
In Moz: only moderately competitive
Who do I believe? How do other people weight the opinions of the various keyword research tools?
-
Thanks for the input. For the sake of clarity (specifically, my clarity), could you give me an example of a keyword 'theme'?
Thanks again.
-
Keyword tool is the best on the market to be honest with you but word tracker I have tested in the past the data set is not the best at all.
But one thing Google keyword tool fails at is searches rising in volume, it takes a while for fresh data to be added to the tool from what I have seen, I have seen it some times off by 1/10 for big rising terms, but that is expected I guess.
-
Actually all of them are going to be inaccurate if you are using them for traffic numbers. The best tool is still the Google Keyword Tool, but it's numbers are averaged over the last few months and then rounded. They have been know to grossly over and under estimate natural traffic many times over. Use any tool as a gauge of it's importance in relation to other keywords, not of exactly how much traffic you might get.
For long tail, if you can find it in a keyword tool, it's mid tail, not long tail. The good long tail traffic is received when you write on topics that are relevant to the end user, answer questions, etc. These are impossible to know via a tool, if you want to know for sure the best tactic is to ask your users. Surveys and just conversations are the best inspiration for content ideas.
-
Yes, and no.
If you are gunning for a commercial product then the adwords cost of keywords might be an indirect indicator of the competitiveness of the SERPs.
However if you are gunning for an informational SERP then it could be irrelevant. For example... there are no ads in the SERP for "periodic table" but the organic competition is relatively high.
When I am gunning for an informational SERP I use keyword research tools to learn about volume. For competitiveness I examine the content of the top sites and decide if I can beat it.
Attack their content, not their links.
-
For volume, I stopped using wordtracker because I thought it made more sense to get the data straight from the source, so-to-speak. I use google to get that estimate. Google doesn't really show keywords without decent volume so that may not be the best tool for long tail. We typically only do keyword research to identify 'themes', as opposed to specific long tail.
For competition, there are many other tools to guesstimate. I personally just use google search operators (intitle: and intext:). It's not perfect or precise but I think you could poke holes in the methodologies of any other tool as well. My goal is to get a rough comparison between keywords.
Hope that helps!
-
Thanks for responding.
I've read that the competition ranking in Adwords is based on the cost of using that keyword in a ppc campaign. Does it remain a useful metric if I'm focusing on organic search?
-
I believe the Adwords tool. Because lots of people are using it to plan their spending on Google it is in Google's best interest to provide useful data.
The caution with using their tool is to understand what the data means - such as know the difference between exact match and broad match.
Got a burning SEO question?
Subscribe to Moz Pro to gain full access to Q&A, answer questions, and ask your own.
Browse Questions
Explore more categories
-
Moz Tools
Chat with the community about the Moz tools.
-
SEO Tactics
Discuss the SEO process with fellow marketers
-
Community
Discuss industry events, jobs, and news!
-
Digital Marketing
Chat about tactics outside of SEO
-
Research & Trends
Dive into research and trends in the search industry.
-
Support
Connect on product support and feature requests.
Related Questions
-
Multiple keywords one page.
I want to focus on these 4 keywords. E-waste management
Keyword Research | | themesh
E-waste recycling
E-waste solutions
Brand name Do I need to create a separate page for each or can focus them from home page itself, With title tag like this E-waste Management and recycling company in _Cityname _| Brandname:0 -
Tools to group large list of keywords
Hi Guys, Was wondering if anyone knows of any tools which can group large lists of keywords. Currently using http://www.wordstream.com/keyword-grouper Any other good tools to check out? Cheers.
Keyword Research | | jayoliverwright0 -
Acne related keywords in Google.fr
Hello everyone, I am setting up a website with domainname.fr to rank in google.fr with Acne related keywords. Can anyone give me Competitive keywords which can bring more than 10K visitors per month?? Help will be very much appreciated. P.S: Actually, my uncle is having an offline acne product shop in France. He asked me to setup a website in Google.fr so that he can make some money.
Keyword Research | | artemmin0 -
Keyword research
i am trying to figure out what would be good keywords to optimize for an orthodontist. i looked up the keywords "his city + orthodontist" or " his city + braces" and the google adword tool tells me there are no monthly searches for those terms. i am not sure what i can optimize for if no one is searching for the most obvious keywords.
Keyword Research | | dad7more0 -
Combining keyword phrases
http://www.drillingtrader.com I am wanting to combine; oilfield classifieds
Keyword Research | | drillingtrader
drilling classifieds
oilfield services classifieds A keyword phrase generator reflected; oilfield classifieds drilling classifieds oilfield services classifieds [oilfield classifieds drilling classifieds oilfield services classifieds] or oilfield classifieds drilling classifieds oilfield services classifieds "oilfield classifieds drilling classifieds oilfield services classifieds" or oilfield classifieds drilling classifieds oilfield services classifieds +oilfield +classifieds +drilling +classifieds +oilfield +services +classifieds I don't know which keyword phrase would be most effective, nor do I understand if I am to combine the two lines, utilized in a keyword phrase or just one.0 -
Ways to research/brainstorm keywords for a unique non-profit?
We're looking for ways to drive traffic to our site through targeted keywords, but because our non-profit is unique (micro-loans for students in developing countries) it is unlikely that people will be using such a keyword. We're looking for other keywords to target searchers who might be interested in giving micro-loans for students or at least are interested in microfinance in general. Eventually we do want to win for keywords like "microfinance" but these are a little competitive for us right now. Any suggestions/ideas? NOTE: We're running a blogging contest soon which should be a great opportunity for links with specific anchor text.
Keyword Research | | vittana_seo0 -
Google Analytics - Long keywords
Hi All, Question for you Google Analytics pros. In the keywords section of my account I see the various words that have been used to find my site. The top entry shows a big long line of text from my site and I wondered why this appears on the keywords. e.g Lets say I had "Today I went to the shops and bought a football" In the keywords I would normally expect to see 'football', 'shops' etc but instead I am actually seeing things like " went to the shops and bought a football". What causing this? Thanks all
Keyword Research | | wedmonds0 -
Keyword research is tough isn’t it ?
I am only just realising that the Google Keyword Tool I use is aimed at Adwords customers and where competition is stated as low, they mean competition for adverts. When I have a ridiculously low amount of links and an equally low Domain Authority finding keywords is not easy. I presume there is some correlation between the SEOMOZ Keyword Difficulty score and the amount of Adwords traffic, but even very low Adwords Traffic Search Terms still seem to be moderately competitive. I guess its a case of plugging away with the Keyword Difficulty tool.
Keyword Research | | jp_cp1