Just want to address your point that Wordtacker uses Overture for its keyword sources - that's actually not true. Wordtracker uses data from meta search engines such as Dogpile and others - but not Overture.
None of the mainstream keyword research sources use Overture any more. Its data is frozen for the 3 months ending Jan 2007 - but you'll find some keyword research tools will still use it as an option.
Hey Chris, you are absolutely right about Wordtracker Not using overture. Thanks for clarifying!
(I think I had my head up my ass last night when I wrote that.)
I had actually just been using keyworddiscovery.com the day before, which does use overture "as an option" and so when I wrote the post I got some wires crossed. I should have been paying a bit more attention.
Also, btw, overture does use more than just the yahoo, it also pulls (or pulled) data from MSN, AltaVista and some other smaller engines.
Anyway, having said that, my original response remains largely the same. That these tools are not as accurate as we like to think. Even Wordtracker uses "proprietary" algorithms to pull data from the meta engines and then still makes guestimates on the data. People often think these tools are simply counting searches but there is far more that goes into it than that. It would be nice if it were simply counting but then we'd have inaccurate numbers because of spam and other people gaming the system.
I do believe Wordtracker is far more accurate than overture but still has problems with keywords that may not have been around for a long time already. For instance, I see 5-10 searches a day (usually course members looking for other lessons) in my analytics for "long tail treasure" yet Wordtracker shows none. Long Tail Treasure has only been around since Christmas.
"Keyword Elite" which has been around a year now still doesn't show up, yet I see searches for it every day in my alanytics. A lot of them from my course members checking on the course material, but they're searches none the less.
So the point is that even Wordtracker has questionable numbers when it comes to product names without a long history.
This is why sales volume and the fact that people research products before they buy can help when these tools are not helping.
Having said that, I still think Wordtracker is on of the best tools out there for keyword research.
You can even get in on a 7 day free trial, which if you're just starting a new niche can be enough to find what you're looking for if you use the time wisely. (the videos that come with it are worth a watch too).
You're right as to accuracy. All keyword tools have to estimate actual traffic, precisely because of the reasons you say. Spamming search engines is a big one and if you were to look at a list of raw search data you would see an enormous amount of obvious spam which has to be removed before search results could be presented.
I was interested in your comment that "Keyword Elite" did not appear in Wordtracker results and did a few comparison searches. Then I tried "Keyword Discovery" and they are not list either.
The only sensible conclusion that can be drawn is that Wordtracker are scrubbing there results and not returning any results of their competitors search numbers.
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3 comments:
Hi there,
Just want to address your point that Wordtacker uses Overture for its keyword sources - that's actually not true. Wordtracker uses data from meta search engines such as Dogpile and others - but not Overture.
None of the mainstream keyword research sources use Overture any more. Its data is frozen for the 3 months ending Jan 2007 - but you'll find some keyword research tools will still use it as an option.
All the best
Chris
Hey Chris, you are absolutely right about Wordtracker Not using overture. Thanks for clarifying!
(I think I had my head up my ass last night when I wrote that.)
I had actually just been using keyworddiscovery.com the day before, which does use overture "as an option" and so when I wrote the post I got some wires crossed. I should have been paying a bit more attention.
Also, btw, overture does use more than just the yahoo, it also pulls (or pulled) data from MSN, AltaVista and some other smaller engines.
Anyway, having said that, my original response remains largely the same. That these tools are not as accurate as we like to think. Even Wordtracker uses "proprietary" algorithms to pull data from the meta engines and then still makes guestimates on the data. People often think these tools are simply counting searches but there is far more that goes into it than that. It would be nice if it were simply counting but then we'd have inaccurate numbers because of spam and other people gaming the system.
I do believe Wordtracker is far more accurate than overture but still has problems with keywords that may not have been around for a long time already. For instance, I see 5-10 searches a day (usually course members looking for other lessons) in my analytics for "long tail treasure" yet Wordtracker shows none. Long Tail Treasure has only been around since Christmas.
"Keyword Elite" which has been around a year now still doesn't show up, yet I see searches for it every day in my alanytics. A lot of them from my course members checking on the course material, but they're searches none the less.
So the point is that even Wordtracker has questionable numbers when it comes to product names without a long history.
This is why sales volume and the fact that people research products before they buy can help when these tools are not helping.
Having said that, I still think Wordtracker is on of the best tools out there for keyword research.
There is also a free keyword suggestion tool at Wordtracker that is worth checking out.
You can even get in on a 7 day free trial, which if you're just starting a new niche can be enough to find what you're looking for if you use the time wisely. (the videos that come with it are worth a watch too).
You're right as to accuracy. All keyword tools have to estimate actual traffic, precisely because of the reasons you say. Spamming search engines is a big one and if you were to look at a list of raw search data you would see an enormous amount of obvious spam which has to be removed before search results could be presented.
I was interested in your comment that "Keyword Elite" did not appear in Wordtracker results and did a few comparison searches. Then I tried "Keyword Discovery" and they are not list either.
The only sensible conclusion that can be drawn is that Wordtracker are scrubbing there results and not returning any results of their competitors search numbers.
Naughty that.
Makes you wonder what else they interefere with.
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