Google's Starting to Show Some Numbers
Don't miss a thing. Subscribe to the 1Cat.biz RSS feed. Thanks for visiting!
Today when I logged into my Google AdWords account, to tweak a few of my campaigns, I was greeted with the most wonderful data I've seen from Google in a long time. (Not including all the 1st page rankings I've been getting lately, of course.)
What is this delightful little tidbit of info you ask. Well, if you've ever used the Google AdWords Keyword Tool for doing keyword research you know that in the past Google did not display numbers in the monthly and annual Approximate Search Volume columns. Before they just displayed graphs. So, while you could tell whether or not a keyword had search volume you never really knew what the actual number was.
As Google Puts it…
"Search volume statistics in the Keyword Tool
You can now see statistics on the approximate number of search queries matching your keywords. This data allows you to better plan your budget and pick keywords most likely to return quality leads, which in turn can help improve your ROI."
In addition to adding real numbers they also included the option to view more columns simultaneously that include information like search volume trends and when the highest volume occurred over the last 12 months.
This is really great information from arguably the best source for information on the web.
The best part is that it's available to you for free. Even if you don't run pay-per-click campaigns you can still set up an AdWords account and use this awesome, free keyword research tool. Use what you learn from it to help you choose better keywords for all aspects of your on-page, search engine and Web 2.0 keyword targeting.
Good job Google!
1Cat.biz Tags: keyword research, keyword tools, pay per click |
|
Hi Barry
Thanks for the article. I wonder if you could expand a little on how the Adwords analytics features are useful for sites that are not (yet) running Adwords campaigns? I'm already using Google Analytics and Webmaster
There are so many options for Keyword analysis, it's hard to know which to choose! For example, I've downloaded the free version of Web CEO, but we're writing for such a niche market that it's difficult to get meanignful stats
Thanks again, Jon
Jon - Beauty Salon Marketing UKs last blog post..Getting through the Credit Crunch - now available as PDF download
Jon,
The Analytics link in AdWords just takes you to Google Analytics. There's no difference it's just a another way of accessing the same info.
This article was referring to the AdWords Keyword tool. This information can be useful for a number of reasons. Two of the most obvious being…
1. It shows you how many search results there are for the keywords your targeting.
2. It can help you come up with better target keywords. (i.e. More results)
What's missing is a results to search ratio or a keyword effectiveness index, which you get from other tools like, WordZe or WordTracker. But, it's still a good place to start basic keyword research. I think the source of the information is an important factor that cannot be overstated.
Hope that helps.
Barry O.
Hi Barry
Thanks for the clarification. So many tools available, there isn't time to try them all out, so posts like these are very helpful in narrowing down the options.
As you say, the source of the info is very important - especially in the UK, where Google has something like 90% of the market!
Cheers, Jon