Researching keywords can be challenging. A large part of the challenge is NOT with doing the actual research, but with equipping yourself with the right tools. For developers, it’s a pretty lucrative business. There’s a handful of keyword ranking and research tools on the market available. I am not here to judge or review them. But I am here to tell you that you CAN successfully research keywords without having to invest a penny into software. Ironically, Google provides all of the tools you need in order to research and determine which keyword you should, or shouldn’t target for earning profits. Here’s a list of four free Google SEO tools and how to properly use them for researching keywords.

Google Wonder Wheel

I have posted about Wonder Wheel a few times here on this blog. It’s a great tool for people like me who need a visual aid. It’s simple to use. Plug in a primary keyword, click search, and then the Wonder Wheel loads related keywords based on your query. This allows you to drill down to some of those “lesser popular” and keyword phrases that harbor hidden wealth.

Example: Brain Surgery >> Brain Tumor Surgery >> Brain Tumor Surgery Pictures

One of the reasons why I find Wonder Wheel to be useful is because it gives me a visual on keywords. It may be my personality, perhaps it’s due to my raging case of adult ADHD, but whatever the reason may be, Google Wonder Wheel helps me a lot with finding keywords and phrases that have the potential to warrant further research.

Google Insights for Search

Google Insights for Search is another visual seo tool I enjoy using. It allows me a way to gain perspective on how much traffic certain keywords receive. The trick is to compare the keyword phrase to another keyword phrase that you know about. Last week I posted a write up about this on my blog comparing John Chow to Salt Water Fish Tanks.

The theory is that John Chow is relatively popular. If you’re familiar with his blog, then generally speaking, you have a feel for the amount of traffic his site gets based on activity and popularity. When you compare his name against an unknown keyword phrase, you get a visual perspective on what you would expect if you have top ranking from the researched keyword phrase being queried.

Example: John Chow score = 36 | Brain Tumor Surgery Pictures = 0

In this case, I would stop research on this keyword phrase because it doesn’t even register on the graph when compared to John Chow. In other words, if I build a page targeting the keyword phrase Brain Tumor Surgery Pictures, I can expect to receive little to no traffic. If Google Insights reported a score comparable to John Chow then I could have expected to receive close to the same amount of traffic.

Google AdWords Keyword Tool

I have referenced to the AdWords Keyword Tool many times on this blog. This is yet another excellent visual seo tool provided by Google. It has similar qualities to Google Wonder Wheel, but offers much more insight, and instant “in your face” data.

Just like Wonder Wheel, the AdWords Keyword Tool offers suggested alternative keywords and phrases. Additionally, the tool gives reference to the level of competition, number of monthly searches, and monthly traffic trends.

Example: Brain Tumor Surgery Pictures >> 80% Competition Saturation >> 36 Global Monthly Searches >> Unregistered Traffic Trends.

This example confirms the conclusion determined with Google Insights. The keyword phrase Brain Tumor Surgery Pictures does NOT get any traffic. The additional information we have on the keyword phrase reveals that it’s also a very competitive keyword phrase. In other words, people are bidding on this keyword like crazy, but they’re failing to get any traffic from it. This additional data derived from the AdWords Keyword Tool reveals further that this particular keyword phrase is NOT worth attempting to rank for.

Google AdWords Campaign Creation

This is what I call the “Proof in the Pudding” tool. Let’s assume that you found a great keyword phrase to try to rank for. It has a very low amount of competition and a very high amount of traffic. The only missing ingredient is determining how much money you could potentially make after achieving top rank for the keyword phrase. There are seo tools that can help you make this determination; however, I like to get the data straight from the horses mouth.

Brain Tumor Surgery Pictures >> First Page Bid Estimate: $0.90

To get a perspective on how much you could potentially profit from gaining top rank, take a moment to create an AdWords campaign. Doing so will reveal the “minimum bid amount” needed to gain top placement in AdWords sponsored listings. The data gives you perspective on how lucrative this particular niche topic is, and also based on the AdSense Revenue Share, you can pinpoint how much to expect to get paid per AdSense click.

Final Thoughts

Doing keyword research can be challenging, but also too, it can be quite fun and rewarding. The trick is cross referencing between different tools and looking for consistencies in order to draw conclusions. If you’re an online publisher like me who generates revenue using AdSense, then it’s important to make sure three elements match each time prior to building pages that target keywords. The keyword phrase is question needs to have a decent amount of traffic, low amount of competition, and a decent yield for profit. Using these four tools together will allow you to find untapped keywords worthy of targeting. If you have questions, or need further assistance, I welcome your comments below.

A lot of people, including myself, are not very eager to whip out their wallets and purchase things online. I guess it might all stem back from the early days when the whole persona about the Internet was that everything was supposed to be free. Ironically, I still feel that way today. But, when it comes things that I really need, I do feel less reluctant to make those purchases. Majority of the time though, my aim is to find what I need online for free.

There are a lot of different programs available for researching keywords. You can find many of these programs for sale, stocked in the virtual shelves of ClickBank. While others can be found by searching Google and various blogs and websites. In the past, I have purchased and used a few of these different programs including Micro Niche Finder and Keyword Elite. These paid programs do work, and they do serve their purpose.

But, what about the people who don’t like to purchase software? Times are tough, a lot of people might not have money to invest into software. Believe me, I have been there myself. Sadly, too many times for my own taste. The great news is that there are ways to research keywords without buying software. Amusingly, the method I want to share with you is actually my preferred method, above and beyond using paid software.

I use –and if you’ve been reading my articles for awhile you already know– Google AdWords to research keywords. The program is intended for business owners, entrepreneurs, and individuals who want to instantly promote their products, services, and general advertisements to highly targeted audiences. As you may know, the program allows for people to bid on the keywords they want to rank for. Within that, there are tools that offer people ways to find keywords that have certain levels of popularity and competition.

Now for me, I am an online publisher who builds various blogs and websites for the purpose of targeting researched keywords for profit. I build helpful sites that provide information based on these topics and monetize the content with AdSense ads. My goal is to discover keywords that yield a high level of profit, while also having a manageable level of competition. In other words, there’s no point in building a site that triggers low paying ads, and it’s not worth my time building sites that fails to gain top ten rankings in the SERPS. And that’s where the Google AdWords program kicks in.

That said, I encourage you to stay tuned because in my next few articles, I am going to show you exactly how to effectively research keywords using two free tools available within the “Opportunities” section of Google AdWords (the Keyword Tool and Traffic Estimator) and two advanced search tools (related searches and wonder wheel) found on the left sidebar in the SERPS. Sorry to hype it up, but I think it’s best that we do this in bite site and managable pieces. So again, I invite you to stay tuned in. One of the best ways to do that is by subscribing to our blog.

Discover Google Wonder Wheel and How This Program Can Help You With Keyword Research

I make money on the Internet by creating blogs and websites that target profitable keywords in search engines. Knowing and having a general to moderate understanding of search engine optimization, search engine marketing, and keyword analysis is crucial towards the success of my business. One of the reasons why I enjoy writing here is because I can share my experience and knowledge about search engines with you.

In my business, I need quite a few things to happen in order for it to remain successful. One of most important things I need is to have material to write about. Not only that, but the material I write about needs to trigger profitable advertisements within my pages.

There are many programs available that will give you a general idea of how much certain keywords and phrases pay; however, one thing most of these programs lack are writing prompts. It’s one thing to think of a keyword or phrase to write about, but it’s it’s a complete different ball game when a publisher, such as myself, has writer’s block.

That is where Google Wonder Wheel kicks in. This is an amazing and free service offered by Google that allows you to easily drill down into discovering relevant longtail keywords based off very popular and competitive ones.

If I were to write an article geared towards targeting the keyword phrase, “apple computers” it would take a lot of resources, backlinks, money, and time to successfully get top ranking for that phrase in Google. In my business, I go after longtail keywords. And using Google Wonder Wheel is a perfect tool that allows me to discover these keywords.

Using Google Wonder Wheel, I can do a search for “apple computers” and then narrow my results to “apple laptops”. From there, I can narrow my search even more and click on “used apple laptops”. Now the keywords are getting much less competitive and easier to gain top ranking. In my experience, I tend to take things just a little deeper. In this case, I will click on “used apple laptops” and mark this keyword for consideration.

Once I have a keyword marked, I will then begin conducting research to see if this particular keyword has traffic. Secondly, I want to know if AdWords advertisers are placing decent bids, and last I want to check and check the level of competition in the organic rankings. If all checks out well, then I move on writing content geared towards targeting the chosen keyword phrase.

What are some ways that Google Wonder Wheel can be incorporated into your online business?