I wanted to write this post earlier, but I was not able to write it owing to a mix of my lazy-ness and being bombed with work. May of you keen keyword-junkies out there may already know about these tools, but nevertheless these are some awesome tools for the tiny little noobs like me out there. Here’s what we start out with ( bear in mind, these are tools for keyword drilling and research and don’t delve into issues such as keyword density, page flow etc., ) 1. Adwords External Keyword Tool This tool can be called the "big brother" of keyword drilling based on generic ideas. Its both a great tool for figuring out potential keyword combinations based both on ideas presented and semantic terms. It also doubles up by showing search traffic for these terms according to G ( Even though I believe most of the data is skewed to a large extent ).

SCORES

Usage – 3/5

Finding New Keywords – 4/5

Finding Search Traffic – 3/5

Total – 10/15

2. Keyword Discovery

CREDIT: PPC HERO

Keyword Discovery is yet another me-me service which tries to replicate the function of Wordtracker. But, Keyword Discovery scores a home run when it comes to usability as well as finding regional search data. If your out trying to figure out the search data for regional terms or optimizing for google.co.uk or .com.au, this is one awesome tool.

SCORES

Usage – 4/5

Finding New Keywords – 3/5

Finding Search Traffic – 2/5

Total – 9/15

3. Wordtracker I included Wordtracker in this list after much resistance, not because the tool is not perfectly a keyword research tool, but because its more of an antique tool. Wordtracker hasn’t evolved one bit over the years and still sticks to its basic function of suggesting keywords based on a thesaurus type model and displaying the search data based on meta-crawlers like Dogpile. The only thing I like with Wordtracker is its keyword basketing system ( almost like an ecommerce site checkout ) and its massive KEI functions.

SCORES

Usage – 2/5

Finding New Keywords – 3/5

Finding Search Traffic – 2/5

Total – 7/15

4. Google Suggest Google Suggest is NOT EXACTLY a typical keyword research tool, its more of an attempt by google to tweak their search quality. But, this tool is awesome for finding our longtail keywords! I had to include this in the list for the amazing arrays of longtails you can optimize for with the help of this tool. Afterall, longtails are gold!

SCORES

Usage – 4/5

Finding New Keywords – 5/5

Finding Search Traffic – 0/5

Total – 9/15

5. Yahoo Search Assist This is similar in function to Google Suggest, but I put this in the list because there are no tools which analyze search data according to the Yahoo perspective. Yahoo is after all the second largest search engine in the web and it would be a shame to discount it from proceedings.

SCORES

Usage – 4/5

Finding New Keywords – 3/5

Finding Search Traffic – 0/5

Total – 7/15

I may have missed a couple of tools here and there, but I’ve to a large extent discounted the tools which were released by MSN. I can guarentee you that these tools are some of the best you’ll find out there and these tools can help you create that foundation for a very successful search engine marketing strategy.

Tags: google suggest, keyword discovery, keyword research, keywords, wordtracker, yahoo search assist

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