Interpreting keyword tool results: numbers are not everything
There are several keyword tools available on the internet, of which the best known is the Google keywords tool. Not surprising, given that the great majority of online searches are via Google.
Enter a search term and you'll be able to see how often that term has been searched for. In fact the Google keyword search tool will show you how often the term has been searched for each month over the previous year. It will show global searches as well as local ones (you can set your locality by country and even city).
And it will show you the competition for that search term - in other words, how many others are trying to compete for the highest ranking for that same term.
It will also show you all the data above for related search terms. For instance, if you entered 'freelance copywriter' it would also show you data for terms such as 'freelance copywriting', 'copywriter' 'copy writer' and so on.
So on the face of it, it's a brilliant tool. Especially as it's free.
But you have to take the results with a pinch of salt. A pretty large one, in fact.
Let's start with the numbers of searches shown. For popular terms these are often in the thousands or even tens of thousands.
The problem is that if you have a Google account and perform the same search when logged in to your account, the numbers can vary greatly from when you're not. It can also change dramatically over time. In addition, until recently, the search results shown represented the totals of searches via Google's search partners as well as using Google itself, which meant the numbers were often artificially high.
So bear in mind that the numbers of searches shown are likely to be inflated.
Moving on to keyword tools in general, the next thing to consider is the amount of searches that are by people thinking of buying as opposed to those simply looking for information.
Looking at the keyword term 'freelance copywriter' again, it's clear that some searches are by people wanting to know what a freelance copywriter actually does. (Every now and then I get enquiries from people asking if I can help with patents.)
Other searches will be from fellow copywriters looking to check out the competition. And still more searches will be by people who are near the top of the rankings, or who want to be, checking out their position on the results at that moment. Few of them will click through to any site.
So just by taking the above factors into account, you can see that the numbers of people likely to be potential customers are far lower than result numbers might indicate.
But there are other factors that can affect likely web traffic too.
For instance, some search terms can be ambiguous. A searcher for 'Jordan statistics' for example, could be seeking the population size of the Middle Eastern country or the bra size of a well-known model.
I once had to copy optimise a website for a printing company based near the town of Reading. Now, Google and the other search engines are getting better at recognising the meaning behind search terms, but all the same most searches for 'print reading' would be for something else entirely.
So bear in mind that whatever you're offering, plenty of searchers won't want it, even if they've typed in a seemingly relevant keyword term.
Another thing you will likely notice, if you have decent analytics on your website (which any self-respecting business should), is that one of the most successful terms for bringing people to your website is the name of you and your company.
It's great for driving up traffic levels, but remember that if a searcher has already heard of you, chances are they'll find their way to your website one way or another. Many of them will just be looking up contact details or background information anyway. It's potential customers who have never heard of you that you want to reach.
In conclusion, keyword tools are very useful as a broad guide to which search terms to consider optimizing. And you can pick up an incredible amount of business via a website. But if you see thousands of searches for a particular term, don't expect to get thousands of click-throughs to your site, even if you do get to number one in the rankings.
© Peter Wise
Peter Wise is a London, UK freelance copywriter and website copywriter. He also writes ads, direct mail, brochures, newsletter articles and press releases. More details are at Ideaswise UK Freelance Copywriter
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