DailyBlogr - Tips to use Googles Keyword Research tool effectively

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One of the most popular tools used by SEOs in Keyword Rsearch is undoubtedly the Google AdWords tool. There are many other tools available, like WordTracker, Yahoos KW research tool etc, but Googles is most reliable as SEOs consider Googles data more accurate.

Oh! Wait, if you dont know what Keyword Research is, its the process of finding out the most popular and searched phrases on the search engines so that one can optimize their website around those phrases increasing the chances of getting search engine hits from them.

Lets see how to make the best of Googles Keyword Research Tool.

1. Filter out gems from the data dont just believe it blindly

One grave mistake what many people do, is just blindly believe the tool. Lets take an example. If you search for red apples this is the result the tool shows.

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Filtering out whats of interest to you is very important. As a first step I would sort the keywords in descending order of Global Monthly Searches (unless yours is a regional website), so that I get the most searched keyword on top with the ones that follow beneath it.

2. Find keywords that are related to your website content

Now, Google doesnt know if your website is about the company apple, or a fruit shop. It is for you to figure out. For this, we have the categories tab on the left hand side. Google shows you a set of categories in each of which youll get suggestions for the selected keyword. If youre interested in the fruit apple, then select Food if its the company Apple, then go for Technology or something similar. This is where your thinking comes into play.

3. Dont go for the numbers, they could be deceptive.

The problem with this data is that the numbers could be very deceptive. Google might have wanted to make this as simple as possible, hence youll find every broad match data that you can find from the search engine data. To nullify this, what Id suggest is you take a look at the numbers (search volume) and match it with an actual google search (if not obvious from the keyword itself).

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In the above example, the top keyword suggested is dried fruit. While many of us can actually figure out if this is a broad match or not, others can take do a Google search and figure out how difficult the competition is.

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Dried Fruit has a competition of 3,780,000 websites already, so you might want something more specific and meaningful (unless you have a PR 7/8 page).

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Organic Apples has lesser competition of 599,000 pages and the keyword is more sensible.

4. This isnt the most accurate data about search number, use your judgment

The AdWords tool is primarily built for SEM campaigns helping folks figure out what keywords to bid for and what to avoid. Its not actually intended for SEO. What it can do is basically give you clues about what keywords might be useful for your campaigns.

So bottom line is while using the tool, dont just blindly go for the data. Use your judgment and figure out what works for you and what doesnt. And also, dont stick to just one tool, use multiple tools to figure out what are the interesting keywords, and see if it matches your content. If yes, go ahead with the rest of SEO processes.

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