12 Google Keyword Tools You Can Use
April 8th, 2010 | Link-Assistant.Com | Posted in category Google Keyword Research SEO Tools
Keyword research is undoubtedly the most important part of SEO. Target the wrong keywords and your whole campaign is screwed. Optimize for the right terms and you'll hit the jackpot (if you manage to rank well for them of course).
There're plenty of keyword research tools out there designed to help you choose the right direction and lead your site to success. Today we're going to take a look at Google keyword tools that you can add to your arsenal. Some of them are well-known and widely used, others are less popular but still useful, and all of them are absolutely free. So let's get started.
1. Google AdWords Keyword Tool
I'm pretty sure you all know this one, but it's hard to imagine a list of Google keyword tools without it. Primarily designed for PPC advertisers, Google AdWords Keyword tool has also become an invaluable resource for SEOs.
The tool generates keyword suggestions based on your seed keywords or on your site's content. Together with the list of suggested keywords you also get to know how many advertisers compete for each search term, as well as how many people search for it on Google (and partner sites) monthly.
- Google AdWords Keyword Tool
When you check the search volumes keep in mind that they largely depend on the match type you're using. There are three match types available: broad = keyword, phrase = "keyword" and exact = [keyword].
Broad match will include all search phrases with the keyword in them as well as its relevant variations (synonyms).
e.g. the broad match for 'car rental' will include 'rental cars', 'rent a car', 'automobile rental', etc.
Phrase match will show you the data for search strings where your keyword appears exactly as it is.
e.g. the phrase match for "car rental" will include 'cheap car rental', 'luxury car rental', 'car rental service' and other phrases where the words 'car rental' appear exactly in that order.
Exact match will show you the data only for the exact search term without any variations.
e.g. the exact match for [car rental] will only include that keyword 'car rental'
When you evaluate the search volumes for a keyword, it's best to use phrase or exact match because they give you the most accurate picture.
2. Google Search-Based Keyword Tool
This tool was also designed for PPC advertisers to explore new keyword opportunities they might be missing out on. Still the data it provides can be just as useful for organic keyword research. The tool generates a list of keywords based on your website content and the seed keywords you provide. It then groups the keyword suggestions into relevant categories and lets you explore the generated keyword list to see what new keywords you can start advertising and/or optimizing for.
- Google Search-Based Keyword Tool
Just like in AdWords Keyword tool, here you'll also see how many searches for these keywords are performed monthly and how stiff the competition is. Besides, the search based keyword tool also shows you what page generated the keyword suggestion, presumably this is your most relevant webpage to promote for that keyword.
This is one of the simplest keyword research tools on our list. When you run a search on Google, as soon as you start typing you get suggestions on how to end your query.
- Google Suggest
These suggestions are based on popular queries made by real users. There sure to be a couple of new ideas for your keyword list. Simply go to Google, start typing your seed keywords and write down the suggestions as soon as they appear.
This way of getting keyword suggestions is a bit awkward because you have to either put them down on paper or memorize a couple of keywords -> switch over to a text editor and type them in -> switch back and retype your query. Instead you can try using Google suggest with Rank Tracker – you feed in as many keywords as you wish and get all suggestions for them automatically.
Yet another source of keyword inspiration from Google. Each time you run a search, you'll see 'Searches related to [your query]' section at the end of the page.
- Google Related Searches
To get even more keyword suggestions click the 'Show options' link in the upper left-hand corner and switch over to the 'Related searches' view. Once you do that, an extended block of keywords related to your query will pop up on top of search results.
- Extended Related Searches
You may click any of the keywords in the box to get the list of search terms related to it. Just like with Google Suggest, you can research new keywords via related searches in Rank Tracker.
Right below the related searches there's another advanced search option that will help you dig up new keywords called Google Wonder Wheel. It adds a visual component to your keyword research turning it into a fun game. The tool provides keyword suggestions in a form of sun-shaped wheel with your initial query in the center and related search terms at the end of the beams.
Google Wonder Wheel
When you click a word at the end of the beam another keyword wheel pops up with your selected search term surrounded by related keywords. The keyword suggestions you get with Wonder Wheel are packed into relevant groups which helps you break down your keyword list into categories.
6. Google Sets
Google Sets is an experimental keyword tool at Google labs that creates sets of items based on a couple of seed keywords. You simply enter one or several words and the tool generates a list of related terms.
Google Sets
You can choose between a smaller and a larger set of keywords to generate. Clicking a keyword in the predicted items list triggers a Google search for this term.
Google Trends lets you see how often certain topics have been searched for over time. You can use it to spot seasonal drops or rises in the searchers' interest in your targeted keywords, predict traffic volumes and see in what countries your search term is most popular. You can analyze up to 5 different keywords and compare the search graphs for them.
Google Trends
Keep in mind that the graph doesn't indicate the actual search volumes. It's a relative metric that shows you whether the searches for a particular topic are up or down, and lets you see what search term is more commonly used if you compare synonymous keywords.
Another interesting thing about Google Trends is that it shows you which search terms and topics are most popular at the moment. When you go to the home page of the tool you'll see lists of 10 hottest topics and 10 most popular keywords.
Google Trends: Hot Topics
These keywords are most likely to trigger news and real-time search results in Google SERPs. You can use the 'hot lists' to you spot trending topics and keywords that you can use to optimize for Google news.
With Google Trends for Websites you can analyze the visitors to a particular site to see what other websites they are also likely to visit and what related keywords they search for. The tool provides the following data:
- Unique visitors to a site and traffic trends over time
- Geographic location of the visitors
- What related sites they visited
- What related keywords they searched for
- Google Trends for Websites
You can analyze your own site and the sites of your competitors to see what related search terms you may have been missing out on.
Google Insights for Search is a more advanced version of Google Trends that serves pretty much the same purpose – analyzing search trends, searcher's interests, demographics and how they change over time. The tool provides you with the following data:
- relative search trends and traffic fluctuations for keywords (you can compare up to 5 keywords)
- search trends forecast for 1 year
- most popular related terms and rising searches
- regional interest in the keyword (i.e. countries and territories where the term is most popular)
- related categories, their search trends and how the traffic trends for your keywords compares to the searches in its related categories
- Google Insights for Search
You can filter the results to get the data for web, image, product, or news search; select a specific time range or explore the trends in particular countries. You can find some good examples on how you can use this tool here.
If you're into video optimization YouTube keyword tool can help you identify what keywords are popular with YouTube users. The tool shares the interface with AdWords keyword tool and is just as straightforward and easy to use. There are 3 ways to generate keyword ideas with this tool:
- you can enter some seed search terms
- you can specify the URL/ID of your you tube video and the tool will show you the list of related keywords
- you can explore what keywords are popular with your target audience: you specify the gender, age, geographic location and the interests of your prospects and get a list of keyword ideas
- YouTube Keyword Tool
Here, you'll also get to know how many people search for each keyword monthly. Just like with AdWords Keyword tool, keep in mind that there's a huge difference in search volumes depending on the match type you use.
11. Google Analytics
If you're using Google Analytics for tracking you can get some insights as to what search terms people are already using to find your site. In the left sidebar navigation go to 'Traffic sources' -> 'Search Engines' -> and add 'Keyword' column to the analysis chart (see detailed instructions here). You'll get a list of keywords you already rank for. See if there are any new terms you haven't thought of before that you can add to your keyword list.
12. Google Search
Finally, Google's search engine can also be used as a tool for keyword research. You can use advanced search operators to find new keywords, related terms and get content ideas.
- Find synonyms
The ~ operator when placed before your keyword will include synonyms and related terms into the search results. For example a search for [~stock ~quotes] will return results for NASDAQ Stock Market, stock market, financial quotes, stock market quotes, stock trading, market share, share prices, etc. You'll see these related keywords bolded in the search results.
- Use wildcard operator
The wildcard operator * used in a search query tells Google to substitute it with any words that can be used in the phrase. This operator is good for finding long-tail search strings, 'how to' phrases, etc. If you search for [how to * keywords] you'll find the following keywords in the search results: how to find keywords, how to choose keywords, how to use keywords, how to research/identify keywords, etc.
You can also combine the synonym and the wild card operators to get even more keyword ideas.
Hope these tips will help you get more productive with your keyword research and will uncover new opportunities to tap into.
Happy keyword hunting, everyone!
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