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dynocat
05-07-2010, 11:59 AM
Are there any free ones left?

I did most of my research 4-5 years ago and am fine with what I have for our business. Now that I'm getting a few other small businesses online, I'm finding next to no free search tools.

What am I missing?

KristineS
05-07-2010, 03:25 PM
Google has a free keyword tool (https://adwords.google.com/o/Targeting/Explorer?__u=1000000000&__c=1000000000&stylePrefOverride=2#search.none!ideaType=KEYWORD&requestType=IDEAS).

billbenson
05-09-2010, 01:42 AM
I think your stats are the best keyword tool. Say you start a new site in an area you don't know that well. Stick up a 10 page site. Use the keywords from what you feel are competitors for each page.

Put adwords on each page with 20 keywords per ad. If you don't want to spend a lot, just put the ad active for an hour a day on each page.

Thats not free, but for not much money, you should have a good selection of keywords from your stats to get you moving.

RainmakerSEM.com
05-09-2010, 09:18 AM
Have you tried Google's Wonder Wheel?

Step 1: Do a search for your niche/market
Step 2: On the left side bar, look for 'More Search Tools' -- Click it
Step 3: Find the parent keywords that Google thinks are important
Step 4: Drill down into each parent keyword to find the child(ren) keywords

vangogh
05-09-2010, 11:59 PM
The link Kristine posted to Google's AdWords tool is a great free tool. Wordtracker (http://freekeywords.wordtracker.com/) and Keyword Discovery (http://www.keyworddiscovery.com/search.html) also have free versions of their keyword tools. The links go right to the free tools. Both also offer free trials to more of their tools as well as monthly plans that are pretty reasonable.

Another free source for tools is SEO Book (http://tools.seobook.com/keyword-tools/seobook/). You have to create an account, but it's free to do so.

Harold Mansfield
05-10-2010, 09:49 AM
I've never used anything besides Google since Overture took a dump. These days I don't even use Google that much since I haven't done an Adwords campaign in over a year.

For me, no matter what the tools say, I still find it hard to get a beat on how people are actually searching because no one searches with a single word anymore, and many times search with a combination of words and phrases.
I mean people are typing in questions now, so you really have to match a good portion of that with more than a word or 2 to out rank everyone. I mean who types in "cars" anymore? or just "Real Estate"?

I feel I have a better shot per article or page (or per blog post), than I do overall.

Bill is right, your own stats are the best, they will tell you how your visitors found you...most times it's not what you were targeting or thought you wanted to target.

vangogh
05-10-2010, 11:01 AM
Google's tool is good beyond AdWords. You don't have to be running AdWords for it to be useful. Also you don't need or want to limit yourself to a single word in the tools. I'll usually type in one or more phrases.

Why the thinking that you have to type in single words when doing research.

I don't ever put much stock in the absolute numbers any of the tools show. Where I think the tools shine is in giving back similar phrases you may not have thought of and in giving you an idea of which phrases are searched more than others.

Your own stats are valuable, but remember they won't ever tell you about phrases that you are currently pulling traffic for. They can tell you how to improve what you're already doing, but they don't help you find new words and phrases for which you might also rank and draw traffic.

Harold Mansfield
05-10-2010, 11:15 AM
Google's tool is good beyond AdWords. You don't have to be running AdWords for it to be useful. Also you don't need or want to limit yourself to a single word in the tools. I'll usually type in one or more phrases.

Why the thinking that you have to type in single words when doing research.

I don't ever put much stock in the absolute numbers any of the tools show. Where I think the tools shine is in giving back similar phrases you may not have thought of and in giving you an idea of which phrases are searched more than others.


I know you can use it for word combos and phrases. The biggest issue is me, I spend more time doing everything else besides SEO so my skills are rusty to say the least.
I don't do nearly the amount of stuff that I used to do to get a leg up , it's all pretty basic stuff at this point. It's actually pretty shameful, but then again, I have never offered to help anyone with SEO outside of the basic set up and obligatory plug ins.

vangogh
05-10-2010, 11:19 AM
Makes sense. With keyword tools sometimes all you need to do is a quick check around the phrase you're going to write a page about. You can pick up a few extra words or phrases you may want to keep in mind while writing or sometimes use them to write a better title for a page. I don't think it always needs to be exhaustive research. Sometimes a couple of minutes can be enough to help a page rank better.

Business Attorney
05-12-2010, 10:30 AM
I find that keyword tools like Google's and Wordtracker are also good for giving me ideas for articles, quite apart from the SEO aspect.

If someone is searching for a term frequently relating to my subject, then my goal of having a useful website generally will mean I need to cover that topic. Of course, that will also help with SEO, but once I pick a topic that needs to get covered, I don't worry too much about the exact search term that got me started on the topic. Generally, if I write a comprehensive article containing all the relevant terms, the SEO aspect generally seems to take care of itself.

vangogh
05-12-2010, 11:01 AM
David I do the same thing. I've gone into one of the tools and searched on some general topics to find more specific angles people were searching for. The way you're writing is the same as me too. I never try to cram extra words into a post. Once I have the topic I may keep a few search terms in my mind while writing. They generally find their way into the post naturally, though maybe here or there I add a word or two I might not have because of my research.

Where I'll use the keywords most is in the page title. That I'll try to craft a bit more with the main keyphrase I'm targeting for the post.

dynocat
05-12-2010, 11:14 PM
Thanks everyone for your responses.

My problem with one particular client is they want to use words like, "fun shopping" "friendly staff" and "shopping is recreation." Cute, but won't do diddly with the search engines. :(

Looks like I have my work cut out for me. They're lucky I really like them. :) Seems like pulling teeth some days, or maybe it's that I can't do in one day what I used to do in half a day! :)

Thanks again for the tips.

vangogh
05-13-2010, 11:05 AM
That'll happen with people who aren't so savvy when it comes to seo. Some people insist on ranking for something that no one searches for. You can either explain to them why it isn't important and show them what phrases are important or you can work to get them to rank for those phrases, though in the latter case I'd explain beforehand how those phrases aren't going to bring any traffic to the site, but if they insist you'll be happy to spend their money ranking for those phrases.