Over the years I have tried and used a variety of paid and free keyword research tools each with their own pros and cons. Which one do I suggest? It depends. It depends on your current needs, your budget, your available time, and your current understanding of keywords.
One of my favorite keyword research tools was initially a one time $97 cost, but it’s no longer around in that format. So consider your shortest path the frugal marketer who’s always looking for her own solid but low cost shortest path which I’m happy share with you - or have you share with me.
How did I find most of my resources? It’s often serendipitous. For example today while on the Warrior Forum (a good place for research and to gain insight) I followed a thread on membership sites, which lead to some good comments, which lead me to Anthony Hull a forum member’s twitter posts to see what he had to say, and I found a new keyword research tool called PPC Web Spy by internet Marketer Brad Cullen who owns Bryxen Software.
Now someone may say…why follow the whole path? Because I generally find some other great resources connected to the same person, as well as, it helps me stay on top of internet marketing trends of what’s hot, where’s the focus for newbies. One tip I do have is to be sure to set your timer so that you surf the internet for a specific period of time, or else it becomes a distraction and you will loose focus.
Keyword Research Tools:
1. Google Search Based (Free) Keyword Tool. This is a great place to start because it’s both free and Google is the leader in search and PPC (pay per click). The con is that if you haven’t spent much time in the keyword research area you may find it both overwhelming and incomplete at the same time. Overwhelming because of the data, and incomplete because it doesn’t give you the complete picture. FYI, if you have a Google Adwords Account the window will most likely open with one of your own keywords and be ready to search for more.
Here is the initial screen
Step 1. Type in the website you are wanting to use to create keywords, and then add some of the keywords you are interested in. Google will create a list as soon as you click, “find keywords” I typed in “DIY” and “yourshortestpath.com” This version of the tool shows you general volume, how competitive the PPC keyword is and potential PPC cost.
In a later tutorial we will go more into detail on how to fully use this tool. This is simply to make you aware it exists and get you started.
2. Here’s a different interface called the Google Adwords (Free) Keyword Tool:
Notice with this version you received the previous month’s results and average search volume this helps you understand current trends with the keyword. Some words are very seasonal, others are not. This search tool did not immediately show you potential PPC cost. This is a better tool if you are simply looking for potential keywords.
3. Here is the keyword tool I found called PPC Web Spy Standard Version. What is interesting about this tool is that you use the browser interface to search for a word which would bring you the list of website that contain that word. This tool is downloaded to your computer and would allow you to see the keyword lists that individual Google Ads are using.
This is a great way to see what others are doing and what potential keywords they thought of that you didn’t even have an inkling. What you can’t see is how successful they’ve been with these keywords.
This tool is currently free in cost that I see as a lead generation tool, and you need to supply your name and email address which means you will be marketed to by Brad Callen in an up sell for other products and there is an OTO upsell (one time offer). On the other side of the coin…it has some great features that I haven’t seen made available for free by any one else. Do watch the video and to make your own decision before proceeding.
Here is a screen that shows the results. Again, it is specific results for a PPC Ad that was run on Google, it will show the first 10 “purchased” keywords, the position of the ad, average CPC (Cost per click), Max CPC, clicks per day this ad receives, and cost per day.
It doesn’t show overall volume of the keyword or trending of the keyword, and you don’t see the ad which had the copy the person clicked on. So I recommend that when you save this data to pay close attention to the Ad headline and copy because the keywords are simply what someone typed in to the browser to search on. HINT: this is where the gold comes in - you can both see the actual copy on the PPC ad on Google and the keywords a person is using. Both are necessary.
I would use this tool in conjunction with other keyword tools.
Have any additional keyword tool resources you want to add? - leave a comment.
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