Keyword Research And Overture

Many of us who build websites get in the habit of using the Overture "Keyword Suggestion Tool" to do keyword research. It's convenient, and one of the few remaining such tools that is free. Be careful, though, because there are four problems you may run into with it.

1. Singular and plural forms are lumped together. I once optimized a site for "mountain hiking" based on the search traffic indicated by Overture. I later discovered that over half of that traffic was actually for "mountains hiking." Unfortunately, the search engines don't lump singulars and plurals, so those searchers didn't find their way to my site.

2. Alphabetizing. I hesitate to mention this, because it only seems to happen occasionally, but that makes it worse. Sometimes Overture alphabetizes search phrases. If you see "bag lightweight sleeping," you might guess that the searches are actually for "lightweight sleeping bag," but what about "hiking mountains?" That could reasonably be searched for both ways. Look down the list to see if other phrases are obviously alphabetized.

3. Misspellings are not always seperated. I searched "perseverence," on Overture's research tool, an honest spelling error on my part, and saw good demand. I almost optimized a page for it before taking a second look and seeing that the results shown were for "perseverance." You can be certain that searches are being done both ways, but how many each way?

4. Inflated figures. Overture often shows more monthly searches for a keyword than other research tools show for ALL search engines. Who is in error? Hard to say for sure, but given Overtures other imperfections...

Overture Keyword Suggestion Tool is a fast way to learn if there is some demand for a keyword, and it's still free. For serious keyword research, though, it's best to look to other tools.

Steve Gillman writes on many money-related topics. To learn more, and to subscribe for FREE to "Web Site Optimization Secrets," go to: http://www.TheMoneyMakerSite. com

---

Microsofts New Search Engine

I tried out Microsoft's new search engine (beta version) the... Read More

How To Weather Google Algorithm Changes

If you spend much time reading the various webmaster forums,... Read More

Paris Hiltons Reputation is SHOT! Hows Yours?

With apologies for the cheap trick of mentioning Paris Hilton... Read More

The Matrix Help For Keyphrase Analysis

Keyword analysis is a major part of search engine marketing.... Read More

All You Need to Know About Your Website Traffic is Contained in 5 Key Stats

You built that content rich web page optimized for your... Read More

When SEO Takes the Value out of a Website

Every webmaster would like to see his/her website to be... Read More

Google Patent Application - User Data As Part of Ranking Process

In this third article, we continue to dig into the... Read More

Is This A ?DMOZ Killer? In The Making?

Is building a Human-Edited Fully "Democratic" Search Directory Possible?The independent... Read More

Five Ways To Win The Favor Of Search Engines

You've got a cool new website with all the works:... Read More

SEO Expert Guide - Page Optimization (part 5/10)

In parts 1 - 4 you learnt how to develop... Read More

Introduction to Google Page Rank (PR)

For anyone looking to enhance their Google Page Rank (PR)... Read More

The Google Strategy

Webmasters across the Internet were totally floored by what happened... Read More

Why Does The Link Page Have A PR Zero?

For beginners, link exchange campaigns can be a minefield of... Read More

Whats with the Competition? Ever Heard of Cooperation?

I attended the SES Expo in San Jose, CA the... Read More

4 Tricks For Lightning Fast Indexing

The biggest problem that most are running into seems to... Read More

How Ive Maintained 7 Top Ten Google Rankings For Nine Months

Back in November 2004 I discovered a way to get... Read More

Search Engine Marketing (SEM) - Houses on Sand

Do you depend on free search engine traffic for your... Read More

10 Steps To Higher Search Engine Positioning

There is perhaps no more level playing field in business... Read More

What is Google Pagerank?

PageRank is one of the factors that Google uses to... Read More

SEO and the Outsourcing of Inbound Link Building

Search Engine Optimization nowadays has a lot to do with... Read More

Banned from Google and Wondering Why?

There are those that get on the computer one night... Read More

MLM and SEO - Bad Business! No Business!

MLM has been around way before the Internet. It is... Read More

10 Basic Rules for Where to Place Your Keywords

First of all, Google and most other search engines do... Read More

Do-It-Yourself Search Engine Optimization

Search engine optimization, or SEO, is big business. If you... Read More

SEO For Ecommerce

Ranking well under the free listings in the major search... Read More

Arrogant Overture Placing Greed Ahead Of Their Customers Needs

According to the dictionary, the definition of the word "overture"... Read More

Search Engine Optimisation - Getting Targeted Traffic

Getting SEO right is an art and it's based on... Read More

Part I : Getting Free Hits Using These Simple Tips & Tricks

Search Engine OptimizationSearch engines still remain the #1 tool to... Read More

How Do I Improve My Web Site Conversion Rate? Part 2

Question 1Does it help to track visitor behavior on websites... Read More

Being dumped by Google? Learn how to avoid becoming a victim next time around!

After Google latest update nicknamed "Florida", many webmasters discovered that... Read More

What are the Benefits Of Submitting To Directories?

Increasing your web traffic and rank in search engines is... Read More

Googles New SEO Rules

Google has recently made some pretty significant changes in its... Read More

King + Queen = Royal Success

Ever wonder how or why your competitor gets better search... Read More