Keyword confused: how to merge and decide on keywords

[happydz]

Hi everybody
I'm beginner in internet marketing, as the fist step I take was learning how to use keywords tool, so I found tens if not more of keywords tools online (free and paid) and every tool has its own way characters, so here I got confused; how to mix up more keywords tool all together to gain good keyword for my website?

[aristotle]

You don't need a keyword tool to know what your site is about. If your site is about blue widgets, then normally your main keyword will be "blue widgets".

[FranticFish]

I've never seen a keyword tool apart from Google's that had anything like a big enough data set to give you useful, actionable information. They miss keywords out (because the data set is too small) and they also vastly over-estimate demand for all but the biggest volume keywords (because they multiply their numbers up by a huge factor to cope with having a tiny data set).

Even Google's own Keyword Planner Tool (in AdWords) is no match for a trial AdWords campaign. That's the only thing that will give you real numbers.

[Robert Charlton]

SEMrush and SpyFu can be helpful tools in gauging what your competition has found to be valuable in the PPC area... but, as FranticFish suggests, the data of all tools apart from Google can be skewed by low volume.

In my experience, you're not likely to get dependable indications of absolute search volume... but most of the tools that are in the ballpark should align with each other regarding relative search volume. I would disregard the obvious anomalies.

As FF suggests, most tools need to compensate for small data sets and will end up extrapolating from small numbers and thus multiplying errors. You will need to spot obvious blips caused by, say, a dealer in Oklahoma skewing statistics checking his own keywords ten times a day. This type of thing particularly skews the tools with the smallest sample size.

Also, make sure that you use exact match both on the Google tool and on test campaigns. Broad match PPC data used for organic targeting can be a disaster.

On certain types of queries, I've observed that different vocabulary is used in different parts of the country (assuming US searches).

[toidi]

This is going to sound harsh, but if you need to use a keyword tool, then maybe you should not be writing for the site.

if you dont know the subject matter well enough to know what the keywords are then how can you write intellegently about the subject?

Research will only produce a rehash of something that already exists.

[FranticFish]

Not sure I agree with that. Knowing the subject is one thing. Knowing the keywords that are actively being used for the subject you're writing about is only sensible.

You could spend ages researching and writing a great bit of content that is based around keywords that nobody uses. Unless you build awareness around these new keywords and create a search market for them then you'll never get search traffic on them.

The mountain doesn't come to Mohammed. If you want traffic you write copy to target keywords that are actually being used.

[TheMadScientist]

Hey, happydz

I'm beginner in internet marketing, as the fist step I take was learning how to use keywords tool, so I found tens if not more of keywords tools online (free and paid) and every tool has its own way characters, so here I got confused; how to mix up more keywords tool all together to gain good keyword for my website?

Check out the difference in the wording of the quote above and the quote that follows. Hopefully you'll "get" English is obviously not your first language -- I'm not saying what you have to say is unintelligible, but as far as English goes if you're going to write in it, especially for search engines, you should "get it right" rather than "missing things", because "missing things" makes what you have to say grammatically incorrect.

I'm a beginner in internet marketing, so the fist step I took was learning how to use a keyword tool. I found tens of, if not more, keyword tools online (free and paid) and every tool has its own way of doing things, so I got confused. How do I use more keywords all together to gain good rankings for my website?

Bing has stated grammar can affect rankings, Google hasn't yet to the best of my knowledge, but if you're really trying to rank a site, you should understand English well enough to use proper [or at least close to proper] grammar, because it can make a real difference in visitor behavior -- EG If someone can't spell a word or whatever, I have a much tougher time trusting or buying from a site when another site "gets it right" -- No offense intended, but if someone can't even type basic English correctly when they essentially have an unlimited amount of time to "get it right", I have a tough time buying from them.

[piatkow]

if you dont know the subject matter well enough to know what the keywords are then how can you write intellegently about the subject?

If you want traffic you write copy to target keywords that are actually being used.

It all depends where you are starting from. If your business model is to write about (or sell) widgets then you need to understand what keywords people interested in widgets will use. Then of course you need to find a subset of the subject where there isn't too much competition otherwise, whatever you do, your site is going to be down on page 50 of the SERPS.

On the other hand if you are expecting to make some money from the web by finding a random selection of popular keywords and writing some text containing them then don't give up the day job.

[JennyBecker]

Not sure I agree with that. Knowing the subject is one thing. Knowing the keywords that are actively being used for the subject you're writing about is only sensible.

You could spend ages researching and writing a great bit of content that is based around keywords that nobody uses. Unless you build awareness around these new keywords and create a search market for them then you'll never get search traffic on them.

The mountain doesn't come to Mohammed. If you want traffic you write copy to target keywords that are actually being used.

Totally agree with FranticFish, to pick out correct and effective keywords for a successful promotion is a bit different than just to "know" the topic.
Besides the tools already mentioned, I can recommend to perform a competitors research thoroughly and look at the keywords they use for their promotion.
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[edited by: aakk9999 at 1:50 pm (utc) on Dec 2, 2014]
[edit reason] No promotional URLs, please read ToS [/edit]