'Net Features : keyword research

20-Plus Free Keyword Tools to Know

Administrator — Tue, 04 Jun 2013 19:33:00 GMT

For websites that are interested in improving their SEO or advertising on paid search, there is one absolutely crucial thing that they’re going to need to make their efforts a success.

If you haven’t guessed what that one thing is, yet (or read the title of this post), I’ll go ahead and tell you. It’s a keyword list, of course!

Since there are thousands of ways that people can begin searching for content or a type of product or service online, creating your own extensive and useful list can be quite the chore. No worries, though, because there are plenty of great keyword research tools on the Web that you can use RIGHT NOW that won’t cost a cent.

That’s right – all of the online keyword research tools in the big list that follows are totally free. So what are you waiting for?

:: Discover 20-plus free keyword tools to know. ::

Session-Based Keyword Research

Pete Prestipino — Mon, 13 May 2013 19:15:00 GMT

Bing suggested a rather unique approach to keyword research that search engine optimizaiton professionals may seriously want to consider.

Keyword research is clearly important to the success of an SEO campaign as you need to know what content will attract users. But users aren't static (they don't search the same things over and over) - they're dynamic and your approach to keyword research, as well as content development strategies, should match.

Bing's suggestion is to supplement the keyword research you're currently engaged in and enhance with what it's calling session-based keyword research (instead of pure query-based model). While Bing throughout its post kept repeatedly and aggressively suggesting that no keyword tool exists (from any search engine) that would enable you to do this, it's doesn't take a visionary to see that Bing is obviously working on something for this implicit purpose.

The gist of the Bing keyword research approach is this - consider how your users search over an entire potential "session" with your brand. Bing provided a good example; a user that on one day searches for "adopt a dog" and the next day might search for "puppy training." There's a distinct progression in user behavior. When content marketers (and marketers in general) can expand their vision about the broader and longer experience of a user, they'll be better able to position their products, content and services to users when and how they might want them.

The suggestion also has ramifications for advertising. Brands that fit quite neatly in a particular category - a pet store for example - might soon see a tool (a Bing Ads keyword tool perhaps) which suggests a more comprehensive keyword flow and be able to opt directly into it for retargeting.

Extreme Makeover: SEO Edition

Michael Garrity — Tue, 12 Feb 2013 20:30:00 GMT

The winter weather is finally starting to subside, which means that spring is right around the corner and it’s a time for new beginnings. For business owners, webmasters and online marketers, this means doing a little spring cleaning the form of an SEO makeover for their websites.

Regularly performing a checkup on your website and giving it a bit of a facelift when and where it’s necessary are kind of essential to maintaining a solid SEO strategy. However, it can be easy to overlook at times and before you know it, a few weeks (or even months) have gone by since you last fixed things up, and by this time, you’re site may need a more extensive overhaul.

If your site is in dire need of a makeover and you’re wondering where to begin, look no further, because below we’ve listed a handful of nips, tucks and alterations that can help you totally reimagine your website for SEO.

Dust Off the Old Keyword Research Tool
Keyword research is the backbone of any SEO strategy, but it is also one of the easiest things to forget to revisit when turning up your site. That’s why the first step in an SEO makeover should be visiting the Google AdWords Keyword Tool to find the keywords in your niche that are not only most popular, but are also most suitable to your particular Web business. If this new report returns information about new keywords that you’re not currently using, make sure to find a way to work them into your site’s title tags and meta descriptions.

Clean Up URLs
One of the easiest and yet most effective ways to improve your website’s search rankings is by beautifying your URLs to make them easier for search engines to read, which means getting rid of long query strings. Clean, easy-to-understand URLs should include a hypertext transfer protocol, the website’s domain name, the subdirectory of the file or page (if applicable) and the file name of the requested resource, all of which are separated by backslashes. Moreover, different terms within directory or file names should be separated by dashes (-), rather than underscores (_); the URL should not include auto-generated IDs and/or numbers; and they should remain as short as possible. Luckily, there is a tool that helps users rewrite requested URLs on the fly called mod_rewrite.

Refine the Site Architecture
This is the big one, as refining your site’s architecture not only makes it easier for search engines to crawl your content, but it also makes the site more user friendly and increases load times, so it’s a great idea all around. For starters, you should make sure the site follows the basic rule of thumb that it takes no more than three clicks to reach your deepest content. Other handy little tweaks you can make include making it possible to access your homepage in one click from any other page on your site (which could include placing a link your logo image), cross-linking related pages to open the navigation flow (for both users and search engines) and by utilizing text-based links for your menu and page navigation buttons, since that’s the only thing that search engine crawlers can read, which is particularly important for the more crucial aspects of your website.

Purge Your Link Collection
If you like back to all of the websites that link to you, that tells Google that all of your inbound links are not earned, as sites with real authority don’t have to practice link sharing. You may also have a list of outbound or internal links on your site that go to broken pages, downed websites or other places that you may not want them going to various reasons. An SEO makeover is the perfect opportunity to perform a full-scale link checkup on your website to make sure that your site provides only the best and most necessary links for visitors and search engines. Remember, the number of outbound links you have doesn’t matter, as long as you’re linking to authoritative (and working) sites.

Weed Out Irrelevant Content
Finally, you should also do a site-wide examination of all of your content to ensure relevance and quality and help you move up the search rankings, as better content means more visitors and links and, thus, more attention from Google and Bing. Review your blog posts, Web pages and other copy to suss out anything irrelevant or outdated and make changes as necessary. This includes (but is not limited to) updating titles and headlines to include keywords and adding links to trending topics, which can help you get more relevant content and increase your search engine placement.

Bing Organic Keyword Research Tool Built to Impress

Pete Prestipino — Thu, 01 Mar 2012 15:00:00 GMT

Bing announced several new features in its Webmaster Tools offering this week. Most notable was the introduction of an impressive keyword research tool.

Available only within Webmaster Tools (WMT) accounts, Bing's keyword research tool (see a screenshot below) provides search marketers the ability to see query volume data and related phrases across different countries and languages. The keyword research tool holds data on six months' worth of queries, so users will be able to select a date range and see query volume fluctuations. There is, however, a two-week latency so you may not see the most recent data available.

What is interesting about the tool is that it leverages "raw" organic query data, meaning it is not "rounded" (modified) in any way. adCenter CPC data is also shown to help advertisers understand the cost of paid ads for keywords and phrases they choose to promote their website under. By hovering over one of the related phrases, Bing shows the average cost per click and average bid for both the MainLine (ads that appear above organic listings) and Sidebar (ads appearing to the right of organic listings).

There are a few other noteworthy features of the tool including a "history" option which shows the last 25 queries entered into the keyword research tool, and the ability to click on any phrase in the list and "pivot" to data around that phrase and related keywords. But that's not all. Search marketers can even sort by impression count (i.e. lowest to highest).

Bing also announced the introduction of Bing Webmaster Tools API which will enable developers to use Bing WMT data in other applications.

Related Bing News from Website Magazine

- Bing Linked Pages Rolling Out

- Tracking Real Time Trends with msnNOW

- SEO Data Mechanics: Titles and Descriptions

SEO: The International Language of Success

Mike Phillips — Tue, 22 Mar 2011 19:00:00 GMT

If there's one characteristic that all cultures share it's the quest for information. So, it should come as no surprise that the most heavily trafficked websites across the world are search engines. Whether your business is one of providing information (such as a news site or blog), a service provider (software or app developer) or e-commerce (selling tangible products), it is important to appeal to searchers and the search engines by capitalizing on the information that people want. This means finding trending topics and searching for the right keywords -- whether for use in blog post titles, social media updates, or marketing and advertising copy.

As Web professionals we have great opportunities in international markets, as the Web has few borders. In addition to standard keyword research as it applies to your industry, addressing those topics of interest to audiences worldwide can place your brand in front of potential consumers across the world. With that in mind, below you will find a few websites where the world goes for information. These are valuable resources for finding what's buzzing on the Web and the information people care about. With this information, we can craft our content and products to relate to anyone, anywhere.

Use these resources to find possible keywords, content ideas and inspiration for expanding your business across borders. Each of these websites provides information relating to world news and politics, finance, entertainment and sports, and more. When crafting content, remember that searchers are not just looking for text -- videos and photos are among the most visited sources of content online, worldwide.

Twitter.com: Alexa Rank 9

Twitter is one of the most popular websites in the world and provides an excellent opportunity to find the most current worldwide trends. Take advantage of the "Trends" option that can be sorted by country and region.

Percent of site traffic
US 36.8%
Japan 10.4%
India 6.1%
China 5.1%
UK 4.2%

Regional Alexa Traffic Ranks
Nigeria (80)
US (98)
Canada (110)
Japan (131)
UK (145)
South Africa (151)
Egypt (161)
Venezuela (171)
Australia (196)
Italy (222)

BBC.co.uk: Alexa Rank 40

The BBC does an outstanding job of covering world news. Of course, most of the traffic comes from the UK but the BBC also attracts audiences from all over the world.

Percent of site traffic
UK 34.1%
US 15.7%
India 4.7%
Canada 2.5%
Japan 2.3%

Regional Alexa Traffic Ranks
UK (5)
Ireland (12)
Nigeria (13)
Pakistan (16)
United Arab Emirates (18)
South Africa (20)
Finland (22)
Canada (33)
Australia (34)
Sweden (36)

CNN.com: Alexa Rank 48

CNN is most widely used in the United States and Canada but spans across other countries as well. The CNN International edition is handy. CNN's Facebook integration can show what those in your network find interesting.

Percent of site traffic
US 61%
Canada 3.8%
India 3.0%
Japan 2.3%
UK 2.1%

Regional Alexa Traffic Ranks
US (16)
Canada (22)
Nigeria (35)
South Africa (36)
Philippines (39)
Malaysia (56)
Netherlands (65)
South Korea (67)
Thailand (68)
Australia (71)

Reddit.com: Alexa Rank 143

While Reddit is decidedly bent toward the offbeat and humorous side of the Web, it does provide many sortable categories (such as world news, politics and technology) that can be useful for finding trending topics. Reddit also has a sizable international audience.

Percent of site traffic
US 46.2%
India 12.2%
UK 5.0%
Canada 4.8%
Pakistan 3.1%

Regional Alexa Traffic Ranks
Pakistan (51)
US (54)
Canada (54)
UK (94)
Philippines (102)
India (103)
Australia (113)
Romania (129)
South Africa (158)
Bangladesh (184)

Reuters.com: Alexa Rank 220

Reuters is another news site that provides many different editions, accessible through an easy-to-use drop-down menu. Choose a section then use a translation tool to discover what's trending in that particular part of the world.

Percent of site traffic
US 36.8%
Japan 10.4%
India 6.1%
China 5.1%
UK 4.2%

Regional Alexa Traffic Ranks
Nigeria (80)
US (98)
Canada (110)
Japan (131)
UK (145)
South Africa (151)
Egypt (161)
Venezuela (171)
Australia (196)
Italy (222)

Finally, if you have time for some browsing and/or blogging, don't forget about Blogger.com (Alexa Rank 7) and Tumblr.com (Alexa Rank 59). It can be difficult to drill down to find what you want in these sites but they are both extremely popular with the international community. Also, while not yet as respected as sources of content by search engines, they provide some opportunities to network and to get content in front of a very large and diverse audience. Setting up blogs through either of these sites is very easy and practiced by some very large media properties, including The Economist.

Blogger.com: Alexa Rank 7

Percent of site traffic
US 19.5%
India 10.0%
Brazil 5.6%
Indonesia 5.1%
Spain 3.6%

Regional Alexa Traffic Ranks
Indonesia (4)
Malaysia (4)
Bangladesh (4)
Greece (5)
Nigeria (5)
India (6)
Spain (6)
Pakistan (6)
Philippines (6)
Venezuela (6)

Tumblr.com: Alexa Rank 59

Percent of site traffic
US 36.1%
Japan 6.0%
UK 5.0%
Brazil 4.4%
India 4.0%

Regional Alexa Traffic Ranks
Philippines (13)
Singapore (26)
US (32)
UK (37)
Canada (37)
Brazil (41)
Chile (42)
Mexico (45)
Australia (45)
Venezuela (49)

Website Magazine Hot Tip: YouTube Keyword Research

Mike Phillips — Fri, 08 Oct 2010 18:30:00 GMT

As online video becomes more prevalent on the Web - on individual websites, social media sites and, perhaps most important, search results - website owners need to know that video is not just a shoot-it-and-upload-it solution. This is content and it needs to be optimized.

Have a look at YouTube's Keyword Tool. It's pretty simple - just add your keyword or phrase into the box and click "Get keyword ideas." You will get a list of related keywords and their monthly search volume on YouTube. This is significant, in that these keyword suggestions will differ than those from a standard search. On YouTube, the content is different, so people search using different terms. These are the keywords you will want to target and use in your video titles, descriptions and tags. Like Google's External Keyword Tool, you can select between Broad Match, Phrase, Exact and Negative.

Another interesting feature of this tool is the ability to search for keywords and phrases by using an individual video's URL. Just copy the URL of the video in question, paste it in the box and you will see a list of keywords and phrases related to that video. This is a nice option to use when optimizing video to make sure your video in the same space as competing videos.

Also, demographic keyword targeting is available. You can select to target males of females within certain age groups and regions, and even according to their interests.

Video is becoming a major part of every Web property's marketing mix. As such, this content should be optimized like any other. Take advantage of this tool, straight from the largest repository of online video in the world.

The Greatest Keyword Tool of All Time

Administrator — Wed, 11 Aug 2010 17:50:00 GMT

Google is set to release an updated version of its Keyword Tool which will combine features of the Keyword Tool (primarily for AdWords users) with features of the Search-based Keyword Tool (which is based on actual Google search queries) to create one of the most comprehensive and valuable keyword research tool on the Web today. It might just be the greatest keyword tool of all time.

The new Keyword Tool offers flexible search options, enabling users to search by any combination of keyword, website/URL, and category and receive a single set of results. Users will also be able to filter result by word or keyword match type, and even view statistics for mobile search and use data filter based on local search, as well as search and ad share. It might just be the greatest keyword tool of all time.

Google also added some new features based on user feedback including the ability to remove duplicate keywords (which appear with an "Already in Ad Group" message) and the ability to add negative keywords automatically to your account from your keyword idea list.

The depth and value the upcoming tool provides kind of makes me wonder about the viability of commercial keyword research services. If Google dominates the search and ad space, what do the others know that Google doesn't? Do you even need to consider using alternative providers? Is Google's upcoming keyword tool the greatest keyword tool of all time? Share your comments below.

Keyword Research - A Foundation for Local SEO

Pete Prestipino — Thu, 24 Apr 2008 15:11:00 GMT

Whether you’re new to local Search Engine Optimization (SEO) or have added some localized SEO pages to your site, finding the right keywords to optimize will determine whether they help drive targeted traffic to your site effectively or not. For most any Internet marketing strategy, keyword research is the foundation for success! These tips will help you find the perfect keywords to help your business achieve results with local SEO....(read more)

Try Wordtracker For Seven Days

Administrator — Fri, 28 Mar 2008 13:02:00 GMT

Keyword research powerhouse Wordtracker is offering a 1-week trial of their entire service....(read more)