Keyword Estimation Tools – Don’t Let the Numbers Fool You
One of the most popular ways to find out about consumer demand online is to use a Keyword Estimation Tool. In the past, Overture had a tool that was the preferred way of getting information on what people were typing into the Yahoo network. This tool had some drawbacks, since it lumped together singular and plural words. Therefore, people who were using the tool to optimize a site about “teeth whitening” would often be led to believe that all the demand was for “tooth whitening.” Several paid tools used Overture’s data as a basis for keyword estimation, and you could often reverse engineer their algorithm (they would divide by .35 and round up, for instance) to see what they thought the total global search volume was for a term. Later on, Google’s Adwords Keyword Tool was available to the public, and it broke out singular and plural terms while simultaneously showing a much larger slice of the search engine pie. Therefore, if you haven’t done keyword research since 2005, you might want to upgrade your SEO since your assumptions are based on skewed data.
One of the chief drawbacks in keyword estimation is that the numbers aren’t always accurate. For one thing, Google’s tool defaults to Broad Match, which allows for synonyms and related terms to be added to the overall search volume. The actual number may be off by several hundred thousand searches per month. You can segment searches down to Phrase Match (which shows the keyword combination that may have words before and/or after it) and Exact Match (that search phrase and no other words) but there is still a flaw in the results. The problem? People may input multiple search queries before making a single click. A document from Bing indicates that people could be typing in (or refining) 4 queries for each clicked result. Naturally, the short-tail keywords in a list should be seeing the bulk of the searches, while long-tail terms may represent the refined result which is closing in on a click. Therefore the conversion value of a long-tail phrase is even higher than it was judged previously.
Search behavior also changes over time. If you look at most Google Trends Graphs, you may be led to believe that search patterns stay the same but search volume is decreasing across all sectors. To a certain extent, the economy has sapped interest in most things that cost money, but there is another reason for keyword search trends to be shrinking. This is because people are making more specific searches. Search engines are effectively training people to make better queries, so they might be starting a three or four word query today as opposed to a two word phrase in the past. From a webmaster standpoint, this means that you should be expanding your content to account for all phrase variations that are relevant to your service offering.
One last tip for keyword researchers is that singular keywords have been found to represent the end of a buying cycle, whereas plural terms are used by window shoppers or people looking to research products more fully. This isn’t always a bad thing, since you can tailor your site to offer a wider range of choices for plural keyword users, while getting specific for singular shoppers. You can also model your customer behavior to understand that the window shoppers may be in the sales pipeline, so an attractive offer or unique site aspect may result in better sales over the next few weeks. Offering a coupon code signup, layaway option, or online rain check might be one way to grab people who don’t plan on making a decision right away.
As with all methods of online information gathering, people looking to optimize their websites should understand that Keyword Estimation Tools are for statistical purposes only, and represent a sample of the buying public. Anyone who has mapped month-to-month keyword demand can see that consumer searches are based around trends, seasonality, news events, and necessity. Your website should be built for long-term keyword success, but every once in awhile you should check with your keyword tool to see if any new terms, model numbers, or abbreviations are being used. By understanding more about the people behind the list of keywords, you can have a more realistic expectation of your traffic and the income that it will create.
One of the chief drawbacks in keyword estimation is that the numbers aren’t always accurate. For one thing, Google’s tool defaults to Broad Match, which allows for synonyms and related terms to be added to the overall search volume. The actual number may be off by several hundred thousand searches per month. You can segment searches down to Phrase Match (which shows the keyword combination that may have words before and/or after it) and Exact Match (that search phrase and no other words) but there is still a flaw in the results. The problem? People may input multiple search queries before making a single click. A document from Bing indicates that people could be typing in (or refining) 4 queries for each clicked result. Naturally, the short-tail keywords in a list should be seeing the bulk of the searches, while long-tail terms may represent the refined result which is closing in on a click. Therefore the conversion value of a long-tail phrase is even higher than it was judged previously.
Search behavior also changes over time. If you look at most Google Trends Graphs, you may be led to believe that search patterns stay the same but search volume is decreasing across all sectors. To a certain extent, the economy has sapped interest in most things that cost money, but there is another reason for keyword search trends to be shrinking. This is because people are making more specific searches. Search engines are effectively training people to make better queries, so they might be starting a three or four word query today as opposed to a two word phrase in the past. From a webmaster standpoint, this means that you should be expanding your content to account for all phrase variations that are relevant to your service offering.
One last tip for keyword researchers is that singular keywords have been found to represent the end of a buying cycle, whereas plural terms are used by window shoppers or people looking to research products more fully. This isn’t always a bad thing, since you can tailor your site to offer a wider range of choices for plural keyword users, while getting specific for singular shoppers. You can also model your customer behavior to understand that the window shoppers may be in the sales pipeline, so an attractive offer or unique site aspect may result in better sales over the next few weeks. Offering a coupon code signup, layaway option, or online rain check might be one way to grab people who don’t plan on making a decision right away.
As with all methods of online information gathering, people looking to optimize their websites should understand that Keyword Estimation Tools are for statistical purposes only, and represent a sample of the buying public. Anyone who has mapped month-to-month keyword demand can see that consumer searches are based around trends, seasonality, news events, and necessity. Your website should be built for long-term keyword success, but every once in awhile you should check with your keyword tool to see if any new terms, model numbers, or abbreviations are being used. By understanding more about the people behind the list of keywords, you can have a more realistic expectation of your traffic and the income that it will create.
Labels: keyword estimation tool
posted by Patrick Hare at
9:44 AM
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