10 of Google's Free Tools for Keyword Research

Choosing the just the right keywords for your site is truly the key to successful SEO. They define your whole Internet marketing campaign – it revolves around keywords. Thus, if you really want to hit the bull’s eye with your SEO efforts, performing a thorough keyword research is where you’d start.

There is a gazillion of keyword tools out there that help you research keywords from various perspectives. But today we’ll talk about free Google tools that allow you to get valuable keyword intelligence without spending a penny. Some of them you probably heard of, while some names might not ring a bell. In any case, the more keyword research methods you use, the better targeted your search terms will be. So, it won’t hurt to add these Google keyword tools to your SEO toolkit.

1 - Goolge Adwords Keyword Tool

This keyword tool is well-familiar to most SEOs and Internet marketers. It was initially intended to assist Google Adwords advertisers with getting the highest-paying keywords for their PPC campaigns. And it has become a truly indispensible source of keyword ideas for almost every SEO professional.

The app will suggest keywords based on the initial list of search terms you provide or based on your website’s content. It will also tell you the competition rate for each keyword, as well as the number of searches it gets on Google per month.

A keyword’s search volume (aka search popularity) may vary depending on the match type you specify. The tool offers 3 match types – broad, [exact] and “phrase”.

- Broad match will bring you all the phrases that contain your keyword plus synonyms. For example, “designer sunglasses” will be considered a synonym for “designer shades”.

- Exact match will show the number of searches for an exact term, excluding synonyms or longer phrases with that keyword. For instance, it will tell you how many times the exact phrase “designer shades” was looked up on Google.

- Phrase match will also include longer phrases that contain the initial key phrase you specify. For example, ‘buy brand-new designer shades’ and ‘designer shades in different styles and shapes’ will be considered matches for the phrase “designer shades”.

Google Adwords Keyword Tool also groups suggested keywords into appropriate categories, which helps you easier find the ones that are more suitable for your website.

2 - Google Suggest

You must have seen this many times. Once you start typing a search term on Google, you get suggested how to complete your key phrase. These suggestions are not random – they are based on popular terms people search for on Google. To get some unique keyword ideas for you site, start typing your initial keyword and copy the suggestions that appear. You can make a screenshot and convert it into a different format later. Or you can simply write down suggested keywords on a piece of paper – up to you.

The downside of this method is that it’s not very convenient to switch between windows and programs or to take notes manually. Besides, you have to type in each keyword that you want to get ideas for.

3 - Related Searches

The Related Searches section on Google is yet another valuable source to tap into for more keyword ideas. Related searches normally appear at the bottom of a page when you google something up and look like this:

To get even more out of the Related Searches section, hit the More search tools link in the menu on the left and choose the Related searches mode. This time, an extended list of related searches will get displayed at the top of search results:

Besides, each of these prompted terms is clickable. If you click on it, a list of keywords associated with this particular term will be produced. Thus, you get an almost never-ending string of keyword ideas.

Besides, the Related Searches method can also be used inside Rank Tracker, if you choose.

4 - Google Wonder Wheel

Google Wonder Wheel is yet another option you can use to get more keyword tips. It is located right below the Related searches button in the All results menu. Wonder Wheel is a way to graphically present keywords that are related to one another. It is not much different from the Related Searches option, but presents data in a more fun and refreshing way:

The wheel in the center contains your initial search term and is surrounded by related terms. If you click any of those associated keywords, another thematic wheel will appear, with the word you clicked on in the center. This method allows you to easily group words into thematically-related clusters and makes your keyword research easier, not to say, more fun.

5 - Google Sets

Google Sets is a not-so-well-known keyword app by Google that produces sets of things based on the initial terms you enter. You can choose to get suggested a large or a small set of related terms. But even after it has been generated, you can opt to grow the set or shrink it.

6 - Google Trends

Google Trends allows you to see how the popularity of different search terms changes over time. It reflects seasonal fluctuations in certain keyword’s search popularity, and allows you to see which one of your targeted keywords is looked up more often in comparison with a synonymous term. It basically helps you predict seasonal traffic changes and prompts you when a keyword becomes more or less “trendy”.

Besides, it will show what countries certain search terms are most popular in. You can get info on up to 5 words within one single graph that allows you to easily compare them.

Please, note that the table does not show exact search volumes of words. It shows the relation to one another and uses the first keyword you enter as a starting point.

Another valuable insight this tool provides is top 20 most searched for terms on the Web. This way you can define hot topics to write on and discover keywords that will help you optimize your site or blog for Google News.

7 - Google Trends for Websites

Using Google Trends for Websites you can see how the amount of traffic to a particular site changes over time, what other sites those who visit the site you’re analyzing also go to, and what related keywords they look up. The app provides the following statistics:

- The number of visitors to your site and seasonal traffic fluctuations
- The websites those who came to your site also visited
- The keywords those who came to your site also looked up
- The countries your visitors came from

This way you can analyze traffic to your own website or get insight into what’s going on your competitors’ sites. Not to mention this tool is sure to bring you some totally unique key terms your target audiences really search for.

8 - Google Insight for Search

Google Insight for Search is quite similar to Google Trends but provides a wider range of analytical data.

It also shows how keyword trend change over time, tries to predict searchers’ behavior and displays search tendencies in different countries.

It gets you the following statistics:

- Relative popularity of up to 5 search terms and how it changes over time
- Top 10 most popular related searches
- Top 10 fastest-rising searches
- Top 10 countries where the search term is most popular
- Search popularity forecast for 1 year

Before you analyze your keywords, you can set a certain region, timeframe and the span of the Web (Web Search, Image Search, News Search, Product Search) you would like to get analytical data for.

9 - YouTube Keyword Tool

Nowadays a lot of Web marketers employ YouTube immense capabilities to promote their businesses online. YouTube Keyword tool will pinpoint the most popular terms that YouTube users search for. It is very much like Adwords Keyword tool. You can get keyword ideas based on (1) the initial list of keywords you specify, (2) you video’s URL or (3) different user parameters that you specify, such as, age, gender, geographical location, interests, etc.

Just like with Adwords Keyword tool, you can see how many searches a term gets per month. Again, beware of different match types that may influence search popularity statistics.

10 - Google Analytics

And, finally, good old Google Analytics. In case you are just starting a website and do not use Google Analytics yet, you might not know what I’m talking about. Google Analytics is a popular free Web marketing tool that allows you to track your site’s performance and provides diverse analytical data regarding your site.

It also shows keywords that visitors actually used to arrive at your website. Such data is helpful for 2 reasons:

- You can see what keywords on your site bring the most direct traffic
- You can get some more keyword ideas you might have been missing out on

In order to see keyword-related statistics, go to Traffic Sources in the left-hand side menu in your Google Analytics, then choose Search Engines and add the Keyword column to the analysis table.

SEM Blog - Search Engine Marketing Blog

10 of the Best Link-Building Tips for an E-Commerce Websites

High-quality and abundant backlinks are by far the sure-fire way to drive your website to the top of search engine organic listing. No matter how Google updates its algorithms further, backlicks will always be the main ranking factor (unless social media push them back).

However, quality backlinks are not that easy to get if your website is a 100% e-commerce store. But the more challenging the task is, the more attractive it is.

Here are 10 of the Best Link-Building Tips for an E-Commerce Websites.

1 - Start blogging

Corporate blogging is an awesome opportunity to be more human and personal to your customers and create quality content people will be willing to link to. Once you start blogging, other people in your industry will comment on your posts, share them in social media, thus adding you backlinks and spreading the buzz about your e-commerce store’s blog around.

2 - Post on niche forums

We’re not talking about spam here. As an owner of an e-commerce store, you’re an expert at what you sell, so you can provide value to people by answering their questions. A link to your website in the forum signature section will be a bonus for your efforts.

3 - Get involved in niche organizations and local business associations

Thus you’ll be able to establish good business contacts offline, sharing experience and getting new ideas, partners, customers and friends.

4 - Donate to local charities and nonprofit organizations

Find charities and nonprofit organizations which link to their donor’s websites.

5 - Sponsor/organize contests and giveaways

Organizing contests or just sponsoring them is another great way to attract some links. Search for bloggers who actively organize contests for their readers.

6 - Create a coupon code

Coupons are very popular, and almost every buyer tries to find a coupon code of a store before doing a purchase from it.

7 - Offer products for review

Search for influential websites owners in your niche who write about different product and service providers, and submit your product for review.

8 - Issue news releases

Submit news/press releases to online press release distribution services. You’ll be amazed at how quickly your news item with a link to your website will spread around the web!

9 - Submit your online store to directories

Spread the word about your website in search engine directories (e.g. Yahoo! Directory), social shopping websites and other directories that provide thematic grouping of e-commerce websites.

10 - Plan and track your link-building efforts

At the end of the day, your link-building campaign will be successful only if you plan it carefully and further track the results. There’s special SEO software that can assist you in your link-building efforts.

• Reference/Source: 10 Link-Building Tips for an E-Commerce Store

SEM Blog - Search Engine Marketing (SEM) blog.

10 of 15 Keyword Research Tips for finding the Best Niche Phrases Faster

These days most professional search engine marketers all have access to the most common research tools.
For this article, we'll explore one of my favorite research tools, Wordtracker.com.

But before we get started, have you ever wondered why some people experience limitations initially in performing effective keyword research? What are the most common elements can that block some people from doing fast and effective keyword research? Why can't some people find the best results as quickly as others?

Let's talk about this first. Then I'll share some quick and easy "how to" tips that I hope will help you.

A few years ago, I wrote an e-book called Wordtracker Magic and now I have just completed volume two which is called, Wordtracker Magic 2.0 - Keyword Forensics .

I've spent time helping to teach students about how to quickly tap into the best keyword phrase trends and niches very quickly. Let's start by outlining a couple of the more common errors some people can make initially, when first using Wordtracker. For a while, I actually had the privilege of working with Wordtracker support and answering peoples keyword related questions on a regular basis, a few years ago. That was a great learning experience.

What I learned was that often, people were sometimes not finding the best niche phrases available, simply because many people naturally tended to want to "guess" at keywords, rather than fully explore the existing fresh data.

Some people say and use the word "research," but then tend to want to rely on their own "logic" or recent real world experience to examine specific phrases. In short, whether we admit it or not, there is a tendency for some of us to "guess at the keywords" that we *think* that make the most sense, but at the same time we miss a wealth of information in the process of having such a narrow focus.

Let's give you a few creative examples to get you started.....

1 - If you are a real estate agent, instead of using an obvious logical phrase like "real estate" (with 323 million competing pages on Google) or using a keyword acronym such as MLS (over 40 million competing pages on Google.)

Let's try a researching a single "root word" term like "listing" just all by itself.....leaving Wordtracker to do the hard part.

Here are a few examples which I grabbed in under 3 minutes of Wordtracker research:
(each example here with under 1000 competing pages)

At the time of writing this article.....

"house listings parry sound" - Currently only has 90 competing pages for this exact phrase.

"Wyoming MN home listings" - Currently only has 197 competing pages for this exact phrase.

"michigan real estate listing" - Currently only has 197 competing pages for this exact phrase.

"Wisconsin Home listings" - Currently only has 697 competing pages for this exact phrase.

"Central Virginia land listings" - Currently only has 95 competing pages for this exact phrase.

"north oaks minnesota home listings" - Currently only has 233 competing pages for this exact phrase.

2 - If you are an affiliate marketer.

Instead of researching the exact product you want to explore in a phrase (for example "candlestick holders,") try using a single word like "holder" to determine exactly what type of "holders" are in highest demand with lowest competition.
You may discover many other products with much better windows of opportunity.

Examples using a root word of "holder"....(my research time here was 90 seconds - each phrase under 10 competing)

"motorcycle wheel holders" KEI 676.0 Competing pages on Google 1

" southwest pot holders" KEI 768.0 Competing pages on Google 3

"hanging vine holder" KEI 924.5 Competing pages on Google 2

" folbe fishing rod holder" KEI 1156.0 Competing pages on Google 9

" .30 Remington shell holder" KEI 1444.0 Competing pages on Google 1

3 - Try working with descriptive verbs.

Instead of researching a specific product using comprehensive search, try researching descriptive verbs like "new" or "old" or "rare" or "limited" or "reconditioned" or "polished" or "bronzed" or whatever...? Try using any type of descriptive terms to explore all kinds of interesting data.

4 - Did you know there are differences between the written word and spoken dialogue?

Instead of researching common descriptive terms, try exploring natural sounding "dialogue." Try to remember to explore "words" based on dialogue, not just on written copy. Your customers often will say things to you in their dialogue that give you a great starting place to explore data.

5 - Don't forget to research and explore the world of color.

What happens if you enter a single term representing a color like "red," or "aqua" or green or any color?

6 - Explore any type of data at all in terms of a root word.

Don't forget to explore everything and anything that comes to mind. From a topic you notice on the news to something that may not even be a word at all. What happens if you try to explore a number or a price like $9.95 instead of a word?

7 - Instead of just thinking of your research as "keywords" try thinking in terms of your audience's "topics of interest."

8 - Instead of researching keyword phrases try watching for "behavioural trends" or keywords that "tell a story."

Examples of keywords that are telling:
"miniature doll instructions" KEI 961.0
"golf swing instruction dvds" KEI 1741.0
"how to build secret compartments" KEI 280.3
"building a basement in your home" KEI 512.0
"easy build shed kit" KEI 520.0
"How to Build an Icehouse" KEI 661.0
"build a reptile rack" KEI 676.0
"how to build military bunkers out of sand bags" KEI 729.0
"how to build custom furniture" KEI 1444.0

9 - Consider any type of tools that you might research using terms like "calculator" or "maps" or "directions."

10 - Consider exploring topics related to specific seasons, which may be appropriate for your Web audience.

Please visit searchengineworkshops.com to view all 15 Tips. Thank you.

• Reference/Source: searchengineworkshops.com by John Alexander