Keyword Tool Guide

Last week we discussed where keywords are found and were they should be applied.  We learned the benefit of using them on our website and the disadvantages of using them in excess. This week, I want to share with you exactly how to research keywords using the most popular website tools.

This article is a definite Google keyword tool guide and explaining precisely how to use that tool. So with that let us begin.

Google Adwords keyword tool can be found at https://adwords.google.com/select/KeywordToolExternal

The tool is multi functional in that we can research and get keyword ideas on a single keyword phrase we type in the search field or we can research our own website and Google will suggest keywords for us. Let’s take a look at the prior and the basic interface of the tool.

By default the “How would you like to generate keyword ideas?” column selection is set at “Descriptive words or phrases”. Please make sure it is selected to follow along in this section of website tools guide.

In the middle column is where the meat of the tool can be found. Just below the “Enter one keyword or phrase per line:” heading is a user interactive field. Here you can enter one keyword or phrase per line or enter multiply phrases or words on each line. Simply hover over the field and you should see the typing cursor flash or you can hit the tab on your keyboard 5 times for the same result. This indicates the field is ready to accept the words and phrases you dictate to it.

Below that interactive field you will see the sentence “Type the characters you see in the picture below.”  This security feature is there to stop automated programs from using the tool excessively. The security key is an image and a typical program cannot detect the words in the image.

You can either type the security characters you see or create a Google Adwords account via https://adwords.google.com/select/KeywordTool once your account is created you will no longer be required to type in the security key each session you use the tool. If you already have a Google account you can simply add Adwords via Google Adwords help found here https://www.google.com/accounts/ServiceLogin?service=adwords&cd=null&hl=en-US&ltmpl=signup&passive=false&ifr=false&alwf=true&continue=https%3A%2F%2Fadwords.google.com%2Fum%2FSignupToken.

Now back to the interface simply type in a phrase or word in the search field hover your mouse “Get Keyword ideas” button. The button has a roll over effect applied to it and will turn from blue to yellow when you roll over it with your mouse. For this tutorial a keyword tool guide, type in the keyword phrase ‘deer pictures’ then click get keyword ideas.

By default the following columns that are bolded are displayed:

Keywords, Estimated Ad Position, Estimated Avg. CPC, Advertiser Competition, Local Search Volume: February, Global Monthly Search Volume, Highest Volume Occurred In, Match Type

‘Keywords’ column is a list of keywords that are related to the phrase you entered.

Estimated Ad Position displays the range of positions likely to show your ad when a user searches on the associated keyword.

Above you’ll see a field labeled Calculate estimates using a different maximum CPC bid. If you leave this field blank, the column will default to positions 1-3. Enter a new maximum cost-per-click (CPC) to see how the estimates change.

Estimated Avg. CPC column displays the monetary estimated cost per click you would expect that certain keyword to produce per click.  This is beneficial for if you were to use Adsense campaign on your website or if you’re a company how much would end up paying Google through an Adwords campaign each time someone clicked on your advertisement.

Advertiser Competition column shows the number of advertisers bidding on each keyword relative to all keywords across Google. The shaded bar is a general guide to help you determine how competitive ad placement is for a particular keyword.

Local search volume column displays the amount of searches performed in Google search engine and other networks. The data is specific to your country and language and adjusts when you change your match type.

Global monthly search volume column displays a monthly estimation of a specific search term over a 12 month period. This unlike Local Search is not based on any region or language. It is comprised of all the global searches performed in Google for the target keyword. This can give an over exaggerated estimation if you are trying to promote a business in a certain country.

Highest Volume Occurred In column displays the month the highest volume of searches were performed for the user specified keyword. This is a good indication for website owners to gear up for special sales, when to increase monetary advertisement campaigns and when to increase the amount of new content available for your visitors.

Match type column is broken into four different types and two different uses. The categories and description of those types are as follows.

The default and first match type is Broad.  Broad match type adds similar and relevant keyword search volume numbers to your already specified keyword.

Remember a search volume number represents the amount of times that specific search query was performed in Google search engine.  Take for instance deer pictures under the local search volume column it shows 110,000. This means deer pictures or any variant of deer pictures (e.g. deer picture, picture of deer, deer pic) was searched for 110,000 times in Google search engine by users for that particular month.

Each of these match types can be invoked by selecting one in the match type drop down menu or encasing the phrase using keyboard characters in the ‘Enter one keyword or phrase per line’ field. The following shows the use of those keyboard characters.

ü  Broad match has no formatting option. Simply type in the keyword in the field and it will display broad match type by default.

ü  To automatically display Phrase Match Type, encase your phrase in quotes. For example “deer pictures” will display phrase match type without having to select in the drop down menu.

ü  Exact match type is defined by left and right bracket sign. For an example type [deer pictures]

ü  Negative match type is defined by the keyboard character minus symbol before the phrase. For an example -deer pictures.

Each column can be sorted by clicking on the column name. You can add or remove different columns by using the drop down menu ’Choose columns to display:’ the columns I use when researching are Estimated Avg. CPC and Global Monthly Search Volume .

When we sort each column and set the match type to exact we are ready to compute monthly revenue.

A popular mainstream formula used to compute estimated monthly revenue for each keyword is:

Global Monthly Search Volume * Estimated Average CPC * .01 = Estimated Monthly Revenue

For example deer pictures keyword has a Global monthly search volume of 27,100 and a cpc of 0.59, to compute this simply replace the appropriate fields in the formula.

27100 x .59 x .01 = $159.85

This equation is only to be used as a guide, it is estimating high. You can expect to get one percent of your visitors to click your ads. This is not even on the average though becuase to get 1% you need to be in atleast the top 5 listing for your target keyword. The one percent is simply the starting number for when you attain on of those top 5 listing. Then as you gain visitors that percentage will increase.

So the possible monthly revenue we could expect by creating a website around deer pictures and with proper seo applied to it, could net us $80.00 per month.

In the next article I will explain how to research other websites within Google search engine to see if it is beneficial to target the word deer pictures as a keyword.

Thanks for reading this keyword tool guide, I hope it helps you better understand how to use this tool.

Check out our Website Building Start to Finish Preface where we talk about Build a Website Start To Finish is designed to help beginner and advanced webmaster understand the complete process from inception to the finality of building a website.

About Scot Manaher

Scot Manaher has written 111 post in this blog.

Scot is a blogger that loves writing about SEO, Internet Marketing and Work at Home opportunities. He owns and operates Niche Website Strategy and the Web Content Course system. He is also the Marketing Manager for The Content Authority which is a premier article writing service.

• View all posts by Scot Manaher →
• Blog
• Twitter
• Facebook