Hi Guys, I hope someone can answer my question on the SEO Book Keyword Suggestion Tool. I looked up a keyword (say "domain") and the estimated monthly search volume was 999,607. Does this mean that, that exact keyword was entered into the search engines (google, yahoo, msn) as is, an estimated 999,607 times? Or does it mean that the keyword and other variations of the keyword were entered into the search engines 999,607 times...? Thank You!
it means nothing because those results are completely skewed and UNRELIABLE. That number is derived from the Overture inventory tool. Yahoo = Overture tool results. Google = 2*Overture tool results MSN = Overture tool results/2 Take those numbers with a grain of salt, and compare results from other keyword volume tools to get a sense of the real volume.
Depend on keywords. Google = 2 - 10x of Overture results. I have experienced this. I chosen keyword "X" that has 36 searched per month (this information based on Overture). Google sent more 130 visitors within 6 days to my site for keyword "X".
No, it does not depend on keywords. The formula the tool uses EVERY TIME is: Google = 2*Overture tool results MSN = Overture tool results/2 Here is the direct quote from the "How does it work?" page. Since we estimate Google and MSN traffic based on Yahoo!'s numbers any sampling error is amplified. * Please note our tool currently assumes Google having double Yahoo!'s search traffic and Yahoo! having double MSN's search volume. I believe you meant to say that the actual traffic you got from Google was considerably more than what was projected. Thank you for validating my point that the Overture information is totally worthless.
Overture information is good for comparing the relative volumes of search terms but the actual numeric data isn't too useful. For instance if "keyword1 keyword2" has twice as many searches as "cheap keyword1 keyword2" then you can rely on the results.
I disagree on that. It doesn't even get relative right most of the time. check the volume for these 2 terms: charlotte real estate charlotte north carolina real estate Now check it on wordtracker or trends. Even if those tools didn't exist, it's still obvious that the results "don't make sense" I think the best tool that accurately shows relative scale, is trends. Everyone laughs at me for saying that because Google has this disclaimer saying that it's not to be relied on. Every one of these tools should have a disclaimer like that. Trends accurately shows the volume of the above examples, and even correctly identifies seasonal traffic terms like halloween costumes and christmas decorations. I personally use a mix of wordtracker, keyword discovery, and will even check overture, but then use trends to "equalize" the data to see how reliable it is. I do agree with you that relying on numerical data is not the way to go, and it's all about relative scale. I also understand your reasoning behind search term and cheap search term, however it's not 100% if the results for search term are off.