Manage Subscriptions · Subscribe Now · F.A.Q.'s
HOME · Tuesday, May 13, 2008
Search Engine Optimization
Quick Keyword Research Tools
Try Google Suggest and Yahoo! Suggest
At the core of many search engine optimization campaigns is keyword research. In order to target what Internet users are looking for, the choice of words they use to describe those things must be known. By following tendencies in keyword choices, a website can target searches for those terms to capture traffic from search engines, internal searches and even social media entities.
There are many keyword research tools of varying size and complexity, but often only a quick and simple reference is needed. When a large number of pages is being optimized (as they often are in ecommerce situations, such as creating or improving product pages) the subject is obvious, time is of the essence, and only a cursory amount of keyword research is needed. An effective and basic tool for this scenario is actually right at your fingertips: Google Suggest.
Google Suggest began as a separate interface within the Google itself as an experimental page that would offer a dropdown menu of suggestions relevant to a term (or even a few keystrokes) typed into the Google field. Its primary use was to auto-complete searches for users to speed up the process of searching, but the auto-complete suggestions are derived from popular search phrases used in Google, with the more popular terms displayed at the top of the list. According to the Google Suggest FAQ (Labs.google.com/suggest/faq.html), "Google Suggest uses data about the overall popularity of various searches to help rank the refinements it offers...Google Suggest does not base its suggestions on your personal search history."
What's even handier is that Google has added Google Suggest into the Google Toolbar search box, which can be downloaded free for all popular browsers. So, while looking at a given page in your browser, you can use Google Suggest right at the top of the browser to test and compare various keywords.
The tool works great for comparing keywords or terms that start with the same word or keystrokes. It has limitations, though. You can't, for instance, compare "laptop computers" with "notebook computers." But for quick and easy keyword research, this Google tool is sweet.
Yahoo! has a similar tool called, quite creatively, Yahoo! Suggest. There are varying reviews on its usefulness as compared to Google Suggest, but I've found it to return a lot more junk than Google Suggest. Still, it is another quick tool to keep in mind when doing cursory keyword research. While neither of these interfaces is a replacement for more advanced tools like Keyword Discovery and Wordtracker, for fast keyword reference, keep the Suggest tools in mind.
Blinklist | Del.icio.us | Furl | Ma.gnolia | Newsvine | Spurl | Reddit | Technorati
Published on Wednesday, May 07, 2008
Comments:
I find it interesting that Yahoo seems to have gone this route first with Yahoo Search Assist. It's a valuable tool for keyword research and useful tool for people trying to remember what on earth they should be searching for.
Chris
www.keywordcreation.com
Posted by: Chris
Thursday, May 08, 2008
Please include links to the referenced sites in the future. It appears Yahoo! Suggest is no longer a current service. At least it's not appearing in search results.
Posted by: CHebert
Thursday, May 08, 2008
CHebert,
The Yahoo! function is actually called Search Assist. To use it, start by doing a Yahoo! search of any kind (through the Yahoo! home page or a tool bar etc.).
When the results page comes up, there will be an option to enter search terms at the top of that page. Right next to that search box is the word "options," click on that word and choose "preferences."
From there you will see the "Search Assist" option and you should change your preference to "Always." I think it defaults to "More," which only shows suggestions when it thinks you need help.
Once you've changed your preferences you'll see a large gray box with suggested search terms. If you want to keep using it, you'll need to allow cookies.
Dan Lambert, MBA
Freelance Copywriter
www.BackupWriter.com
Posted by: Dan Lambert
Thursday, May 08, 2008
Ecommerce Articles
- Browse All Articles
- Browse our complete archive of ecommerce articles.
- Accounting, Management & Legal
- Ecommerce articles related to managing a small business including ecommerce accounting, business strategy and legal considerations.
- Conversion & Usability
- Online business articles about converting web site visitors into customers and how to gauge and improve your business website's usability.
- Development & Programming
- Articles to help designers, developers and programmers create successful, search engine friendly ecommerce websites and improve existing ones.
- Hosting, Infrastructure & Software
- Articles for ecommerce businesses about ecommerce web hosting, business infrastructure, business strategy and helpful ecommerce & small business software.
- Interviews & Profiles
- Interviews with prominent ecommerce business personalities and profiles of successful online businesses.
- Inventory & Shipping
- Ecommerce articles about inventory management, ecommerce order fulfillment and product shipping considerations.
- Marketing & Revenue Growth
- Articles relating to online marketing, email marketing and using the Internet to growing your business.
- Search Engine Optimization
- Search engine optimization articles for ecommerce business owners, strategists, marketers and developers.
- Shopping Carts & Online Payments
- Articles covering ecommerce shopping cart platforms and options for choosing an online payment gateway.
- Training & Education
- Tutorials and articles providing training and education for ecommerce business owners and developers of ecommerce websites.
Search Articles
Ecommerce Community
- Ecommerce Blogs
- Read our blogs about ecommerce topics written by industry professionals.
- Community Forum
- Connect with other ecommerce professionals to trade advice and answers in our community forum.
- Podcasts
- Check out our ecommerce podcasts covering topics ranging from interviews to tutorials.
- RSS Content Feeds
- Subscribe to our RSS feeds and have fresh ecommerce content delivered to you.
Ecommerce Resources
- Free Email Newsletter
- Sign up for Ecommerce Notes, our free email newsletter for ecommerce business owners and developers.
- Ecommerce Directory
- Browse our directory of ecommerce products and services, or submit your own listing in our directory.
- Ecommerce Glossary
- Familiarize yourself with terminology or submit terms to help others with our Ecommerce Glossary.
- Events Calendar
- Find out about upcoming ecommerce events or invite other ecommerce professionals by posting your own event.
- Press Releases
- Browse ecommerce related press releases and post your own press release for distribution.
- Ecommerce Store & Back Issues
- Pick up back issues of Practical eCommerce magazine along with other merchandise from Practical Ecommerce
About Practical eCommerce
- Frequently Asked Questions
- Look at frequently asked questions regarded using our website, subscribing to our magazine and more.
- Advertising Information
- Information about advertising in Practical eCommerce magazine, on our website, or in our email newsletters.
- Editorial Sharing
- Learn about options for sharing our content with your visitors, customers or employees.
- About Us
- Learn more about Practical Ecommerce magazine and meet our staff.
- Contact Us
- Contact Practical Ecommerce at any time for more information. We'd love to hear from you.
Copyright 2007 Confluence Distribution, Inc. and Practical eCommerce.
All Rights Reserved.
As a copywriter who writes a lot of Web content, I place a lot of value on tools like Yahoo! Suggest that tend to return a lot of junk. Especially when you are working with pay per click, it’s good to know what junk is showing up in the search terms, so you know which phrases to avoid. You can set up your pay per click campaign to disregard hits that contain your keyword if they also contain words or phrases that you deem as junk.
Dan Lambert, MBA
Freelance Copywriter
www.BackupWriter.com
Posted by: Dan Lambert
Thursday, May 08, 2008