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Keywords Revisited: Free Research Tools
By Kevin Lee
March 16, 2004

In an earlier article, I covered how to tap your log file as a source for valuable keyword data while using that data for tuning your e-commerce site. But log files show only how searchers found your site.

You need third-party keyword research tools and resources to build and expand keyword lists for search engine marketing (SEM). Each popular external keyword research tool has a place in keyword expansion. If you're not thinking about expanding your keyword list, consider this:

• The percentage of longer search phrases, as opposed to one or two words, is increasing. Regardless of portal, there's a trend toward longer search strings. Several sources suggest over 40 percent of searchers use three or more terms.

• Broad-match listings alone don't provide the best user experience, nor the highest return on investment (ROI). Break broad listings down into individual, more specific listings. You'll have more targeted creative and a better-tuned landing page -- and, therefore, a better site experience.

Free Tools

Overture's Search Term Suggestion Tool. This keyword tool is an invaluable asset to search engine marketers. The key to using it efficiently is understanding exactly how and what results it provides.

Enter a search term or phrase. The tool returns keyword expansion data with up to 100 results for each query, including the number of times the word or phrase was searched during a recent month. Results are phrase permutations of the original search. So "lawyer" will not result in related terms and synonyms, including "attorney," "legal advisor," "paralegal," and "barrister."

Results include only keywords and keyword phrases searched at least 25 times during the prior month. So number 100 sometimes gets thousands of searches a month. When this happens, drill down using longer phrases to see more granular results. The longer phrases should include the original word or phrase.

Though less popular, these lower-traffic keyword phrases could be extremely valuable to your campaign and right on target for the product or service you provide. Often, granular results provide high ROI. With Overture's policy of placing standard match searches ahead of phrase or broad match, ignoring deep keyword research results hands high-ROI traffic to the competition.

Continued on Page 2: Google's AdWords Keyword Suggestion

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