2. Many of us who build websites get in the habit of using
the Overture "Keyword Suggestion Tool" to do keyword
research. It's convenient, and one of the few remaining
such tools that is free. Be careful, though, because there
are four problems you may run into with it.
3. 1. Singular and plural forms are lumped together. I once
optimized a site for "mountain hiking" based on the
search traffic indicated by Overture. I later discovered that
over half of that traffic was actually for "mountains
hiking." Unfortunately, the search engines don't lump
singulars and plurals, so those searchers didn't find their
way to my site.
4. 2. Alphabetizing. I hesitate to mention this, because it only
seems to happen occasionally, but that makes it worse.
Sometimes Overture alphabetizes search phrases. If you
see "bag lightweight sleeping," you might guess that the
searches are actually for "lightweight sleeping bag," but
what about "hiking mountains?" That could reasonably be
searched for both ways. Look down the list to see if other
phrases are obviously alphabetized.
5. 3. Misspellings are not always seperated. I searched
"perseverence," on Overture's research tool, an honest
spelling error on my part, and saw good demand. I almost
optimized a page for it before taking a second look and
seeing that the results shown were for "perseverance."
You can be certain that searches are being done both
ways, but how many each way?
6. 4. Inflated figures. Overture often shows more monthly
searches for a keyword than other research tools show for
ALL search engines. Who is in error? Hard to say for sure,
but given Overtures other imperfections...
7. Overture's Keyword Suggestion Tool is a fast way to learn
if there is some demand for a keyword, and it's still free.
For serious keyword research, though, it's best to look to
other tools.
