Keyword Research Now

With the demise of the Yahoo! Search Marketing / Overture Keyword Selector* and View Bids tools, NPT readers have been asking which tools and methods I now use for keyword and niche market research.

The answer is easy — and the process has actually gotten faster!

I still use Wordtracker to brainstorm topics, discover what people are actually searching for online and build HUGE lists of keywords related to my various niches.

The most valuable Wordtracker feature is the ability to ‘cherry-pick’ keywords as the service reports total numbers of competing Web pages for each search engine as well as the popularity of each phrase.

Every so often I pop in and check Wordtracker’s list of Current Top 100 Keywords which is updated daily and shows the top 30 search terms over the previous 48 hours.

You’ll find the link to the list in the lower right-hand corner of Wordtracker’s homepage.

I also use Google’s Keyword Tool which generates potential keywords and reports their Google statistics, including search performance and seasonal trends.

Cost and ad position estimates can also be displayed.

This is HIGHLY valuable information as the amount that advertisers are willing to pay per click for keywords related to their industry is perhaps the best indicator of profitability within a niche.

Those are the only 2 tools I use for keyword research now — so you don’t need to buy unecessary market research software and services.

Save your money and invest it in PPC advertising instead.

Save even more by checking out my list of current PPC deals.

* Note: Although the Keyword Selector Tool is still online at http://inventory.overture.com, you will note that searches report ‘Searches done in January 2007′ because Yahoo! is no longer supporting the service.

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