Two Best Keyword Tools for Keyword Research
Google Keyword Tool (free option)
I’m not going to provide detailed instruction on how to use the Google keyword tool here (because I’ve covered that in my post Google Keyword Tool: The Ultimate Step-by-Step Guide), but I will briefly show you how to use the tool to get the information you need to start your competition research.
I’ve had a bad cold lately, so one of the keywords that’s been on my mind is “cold remedies” (as in “give me some remedies for this frigging cold, quick!)
When I type the term “cold remedies” in to the Google keyword tool, here are the results I get
As you can see from the screenshot above, the term “cold remedies” is searched 9,900 times per month on Google.
Note a few things from the screenshot:
I made sure to select “Exact” from “Match Types” on the left-side of the screen. This will show me the average number of times the exact term “cold remedies” is searched on Google each month.
If I had just kept the default match type on (“Broad” match), the search volume would be MUCH higher. But it wouldn’t be an accurate reflection of how many people for “cold remedies” each month, because Google includes lots of related search terms with its broad match results.
ALWAYS select “Exact” as the match type when doing research on the Google keyword tool!
Google says the “competition” for this keyword is “High”. That doesn’t mean the SEO competition is high – it means the pay-per-click competition is. In other words, lots of advertisers are paying to have their ad shown on the right side of the screen when someone searches on “cold remedies”.
High advertiser competition is a good thing if you’re setting up a website targeting this keyword and want to monetize the site with Adsense ads – because high advertiser competition means the cost-per-click will be higher, and you’ll get paid more every time someone clicks an ad on your site!
Global monthly searches is 9,900. This means that 9,900 people search Google for the exact term “cold remedies” every month (on average). This is a great number of exact-match searches to target for a niche website.
The average CPC (cost-per-click) for the term “cold remedies” is $6.21. This is a relatively high CPC, and would mean you would get paid $4.22 (based on Google’s Adsense revenue share).
So judging by the Google tool results, this keyword has some promise – it gets a good amount of exact-match searches each month, and has a high cost-per-click.
But that tells us nothing about the search engine competition. If the keyword “cold remedies” gets lots of searches and has a high CPC, lots of website owners must be trying to rank on the first page of Google for that term, right?
Not necessarily. I’ve seen a good amount of keywords that have little competition and a decent amount of searches each month (like the keywords that my surgery and niche health websites are built on). And as Google has reported, 25% of the keywords searched on Google every month have never been searched for before!
But the simple fact is you can’t tell how hard it will be to rank for a particular keyword by looking at data from the Google keyword tool. You need a tool that quickly and accurately gives you key indicators on the search engine competition for a keyword.
I’ve researched – and used – many keyword research tools, and the ones that give the best data and save the most time are paid tools. Fortunately, some of the best tools don’t cost very much, especially when you consider the huge amount of time you can save by using them. I actually don’t see these tools as an expense – I see them as an investment because they help me make money faster!
The main keyword research tool I’ve used in the past is Market Samurai (and I’ve dabbled a little in Micro Niche Finder). But recently I started using a new tool called Long Tail Pro, and it has quickly become my favourite tool.