Keyword Analysis and Search Engine Marketing
Tips for Bloggers and Niche Marketers
Keyword Discovery is probably the most comprehensive keyword research tool available on the market today, so I thought I’d put together a review and show you my thoughts on where I think it shines or struggles against other keyword analysis tools that are on the market.
1. The Interface
Keyword Discovery’s interface is clean and simple, some menu choices across the top and the search box… couldn’t ask for more really, simple is good.
Help icons beside each field gives you easy access to definitions and examples for each of your search options - the learning curve is quite low as everything is explained clearly and is a available when you need it.
2. Doing a basic keyword search
Keyword searches are straight forward, one of the more powerful features of Keyword Discovery is that you can choose what database to perform your search with, including some extremely useful regional databases (more on that soon).
Where do they get their data?
Not only do they have the same base sources as other keyword research tools (full log files from metacrawler’s) but they also collect data at the browser level, which gives sample data from virtually all search engines (including Google). The main database you’ll search on (Global Premium) has over 4.4 billion search terms and their Historical Global database has over 36 billion searches - easily the largest of any keyword research tool.
My only complaint is that you are limited to saving only 1000 keywords per search, which for such a large database can actually be a bit limiting at times (unless you have an Enterprise subscription… which at $495/m I’m tipping you won’t, unless you plan on doing something really funky with their API - in which case you’ll be able to save 10,000 keywords).
When performing a search, you have the following options:
Overall, they work as you would expect. I thought the Related search option was quite weak (IMO other tools such as the free Google Keyword Research Tool provide a far more useful search for related keywords), fortunately though there is a far better way to find related search terms on Keyword Discovery - the Industry Terms Search.
3. View the Top Industry Search Terms
If you select ‘Industry Terms’ from the top menu, you’ll find some incredibly detailed lists that show the top search terms that are driving traffic to websites to that category.
For example, let’s say you want to know the top search terms driving traffic to basketball related websites. Drilling down through the search categories ‘Sports > Basketball’ gives you a fantastic list of keywords, but there’s no need to stop there, a further 26 categories provide more focus (eg. Coaching, College and University, Fan Pages, Recruiting etc.)… most of these sub-categories still allow you to go further, ‘Coaching’ for example can be broken down into ‘Clinics’ or ‘Coaches’. Here’s a look at the top Basketball searches:
Not only is this great for researching categories you’re already interested in, but it’s also a great way to brainstorm new profitable niches. Browsing through the ‘Shopping’ categories and sub-categories, literally presents you with thousands of ideas… anyone with a photography site - under a minute of digging led me to the ‘Shopping > Photography > Background and Props’ category, where you’ll find search terms like ‘photography props’ showing 3,260 searches for the past 12 months and very few pages showing up in a search for it in Google. Dig further by entering ‘photography props’ into a normal search on Keyword Discovery and it returns about 210 keywords all containing photography and props.
Without having looked into how you’d monetize that niche (I can’t imagine it would be all that hard), it’s definitely a niche that should be targeted for further investigation. Any niche marketer or blogger looking for a new subject should be all over this, it’s one of the best ways I know to discover under targeted niches.
4. Regional Specific Databases
Perhaps the most useful feature of Keyword Discovery is the ability to search across 12 regional databases. If key segments of your market are geographically outside the USA, then the level of detail you’ll gain with these searches will easily give you an edge.
I found the variations in the regional databases to be very relevant and highly useful, for example - here are some results from a search on ‘Sports’ across a few different regions (Global Premium, Australia, UK - click for larger image):
5. The Final Word
Keyword Discovery is in my opinion a ‘must use’ keyword research tool for any serious keyword analysis project. The level of depth it creates, especially if you need to look at regional data or want to brainstorm ideas using their ‘Industry Terms’ feature is unparalleled by its competition.
My only complaint is that it limits your saved keyword data to the top 1000 per search - in many cases that won’t cause too many problems, but for a more detailed analysis of long tail keyword trends or serious PPC campaigns, you might be left wanting a little more in places.
A one month subscription costs $69, although this can be reduced if you pay for 12 months up front. An Enterprise level subscription which gives you access to their API amongst other things is a massive $495 per month, which is out of reach of most users. A free trial is also available (no time limit), which limits you to the Global Premium database and 10 results per search… more importantly though, it lets you browse the ‘industry terms’ categories and shows the top 10 results from each of those - which will provide you with some great data to start finding some profitable niches.
Technorati Tags: Keyword Analysis, Keyword Research, Keyword Research Tool, Keyword Discovery
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