How do I balance conflicting keyword research tools?

[MackenzieFogelson]

We've been using Wordtracker for years to find viable long tail keyword options. Lately, we've begun to doubt the true usefulness of this tool.  We have implemented good optimization efforts using relevant keywords that Wordtracker suggests as reasonably well-searched with relatively low competition. Even when we rank well for these words, we get no traffic for them.

Subsequent checking of these words in Google AdWords reveal that Google has found no searches for these words at all.

Suspicious, we've begun cross-checking our keywords in AdWords and the Moz Keyword Difficulty tool. But now I keep getting contradictory reports.

For example, a keyword I recently checked reported thus:

In Wordtracker: high competition and low search

In AdWords: high competition and decent search

In Moz: only moderately competitive

Who do I believe? How do other people weight the opinions of the various keyword research tools?

[EGOL]

I believe the Adwords tool.   Because lots of people are using it to plan their spending on Google it is in Google's best interest to provide useful data.

The caution with using their tool is to understand what the data means - such as know the difference between exact match and broad match.

[MackenzieFogelson]

Thanks for responding.

I've read that the competition ranking in Adwords is based on the cost of using that keyword in a ppc campaign. Does it remain a useful metric if I'm focusing on organic search?

[BTeubner]

For volume, I stopped using wordtracker because I thought it made more sense to get the data straight from the source, so-to-speak. I use google to get that estimate. Google doesn't really show keywords without decent volume so that may not be the best tool for long tail. We typically only do keyword research to identify 'themes', as opposed to specific long tail.

For competition, there are many other tools to guesstimate. I personally just use google search operators (intitle: and intext:). It's not perfect or precise but I think you could poke holes in the methodologies of any other tool as well. My goal is to get a rough comparison between keywords.

Hope that helps!

[EGOL]

Yes, and no.

If you are gunning for a commercial product then the adwords cost of keywords might be an indirect indicator of the competitiveness of the SERPs.

However if you are gunning for an informational SERP then it could be irrelevant.  For example... there are no ads in the SERP for "periodic table" but the organic competition is relatively high.

When I am gunning for an informational SERP I use keyword research tools to learn about volume.  For competitiveness I examine the content of the top sites and decide if I can beat it.

Attack their content, not their links.

[katemorris]

Actually all of them are going to be inaccurate if you are using them for traffic numbers. The best tool is still the Google Keyword Tool, but it's numbers are averaged over the last few months and then rounded. They have been know to grossly over and under estimate natural traffic many times over. Use any tool as a gauge of it's importance in relation to other keywords, not of exactly how much traffic you might get.

For long tail, if you can find it in a keyword tool, it's mid tail, not long tail. The good long tail traffic is received when you write on topics that are relevant to the end user, answer questions, etc. These are impossible to know via a tool, if you want to know for sure the best tactic is to ask your users. Surveys and just conversations are the best inspiration for content ideas.

[JamesNorquay]

Keyword tool is the best on the market to be honest with you but word tracker I have tested in the past the data set is not the best at all.

But one thing Google keyword tool fails at is searches rising in volume, it takes a while for fresh data to be added to the tool from what I have seen, I have seen it some times off by 1/10 for big rising terms, but that is expected I guess.

[MackenzieFogelson]

Thanks for the input. For the sake of clarity (specifically, my clarity), could you give me an example of a keyword 'theme'?

Thanks again.