I have not launched my adword campaign yet. I am still researching keywords. But the traffic estimator seems to be giving erratic results which is why I cannot make up my mind regarding most keyword phrases. As for example, I have chosen United States and entered [bargain new cars] into traffic estimator. CPC, Estimated clicks/Day, impressions come up zero. But when I enter "bargain new cars" into google, it returns a number of PPC adds. Note also that although I am not in the US, I have a firefox addon that helps me view the results if my location were in the US. Why this inconsistency? Further, the previous interface of Traffic Estimator, and the present interface give different values. Which one is more reliable? I have to submit a marketing plan ASAP. I would really appreciate it if you had any suggestions or explanations. Thanks
There are going to be inconsistant results for low volume keywords and phrases. That should not be a problem, just use them and see if they work for you. If not, pause or delete them. You do need to understand that [bargain new cars] and "bargain new cars" are not the same thing, since you are using them in two different systems. Since I am a native English speaker, I would say that no other native speaker would use that to search with, but of course there are always exceptions. So I think the estimator is correct because if anyone is using that for a search, the number is very, very low. When you search with "bargain new cars" you are seeing ads because I don't think the ads are only going to show for what you are using as an "exact search". The broad match and phrase match keywords are showing some ads, and you may also be seeing some exact match keyword ads, but I think that is unlikely and there is no way to tell as far as I know. I still use the Traffic estimator, but now I use the Keyword tool much more. And you will see inconsistancies between the two tools, but the KWT will give you a big list to work with, and show you many varations to choose from. It will also show you things you may not have considered are related to what your topic is. The KWT can also show you traffic trends and bids as well. Good Luck!
Keyword spy is good, and may work in this situation. You can enter domains/destination urls and see which ppc keywords they're using - or vice versa. Comes in handy in general, but could be included in a marketing plan for sure. Unfortunately, to echo Christian's statement, both the keyword tool and traffic estimator are inaccurate for overly specific/low volume key words (especially for the cpc bid!); I've actually had this personally verified by Oliver at the Google Ireland (0845 358 0038 for UK - you'll need the customer ID). He said that whilst the keyword tool and traffic estimator is great for big 'ish' keywords, the best thing to do for low volume ones is to stick them in a control ad group and monitor them - obviously you'll have to risk spending a bit to get an accurate assessment though. I appreciate this probably doesn't help all that much for a marketing plan you've got to submit, but unfortunately it's the most you'll get really! Hope it helped..