Using Google Adwords: Keyword Tool

If your going to use SEO on your website, you need to know what keywords are, and how to use them. And then, you need to know where to find them. Sure, you could spend hours thinking up every possible combination of keywords possible for your chosen topic, and then research them all individually, but who has that much spare time?

Thankfully, there are numerous tools online that can do most of this job for you, and one of the most widely used (and most useful, especially if you are targeting a top spot in the Google SERPs), is the Google Keyword Tool.

Gather a list of general keywords you’re interested in researching for your site. Then, visit the keyword tool site. After either signing into your account or filling out a Captcha security code, you’ll be able to start typing in your possible keywords.

Here’s what the tool does for you. It takes the keyword you supply and create a long list of similar keywords. It will also supply you with the average number of global and local searches, the amount of competition for the keyword, and local search trend information. The very best keywords have a low number of competitors and a high number of searches.

Once you have your list of keywords, you can download them or transfer them to an spreadsheet. Keep the best keywords, forget (most of) the rest. Just because a keyword has really high competition doesn’t mean it’s useless. You should still use it, especially if it is essential to the topic of your site. If you want to give it some extra power, make it part of a local search keyword (Syracuse SEO instead of just SEO).

Want more information about a keyword? If you hover your cursor over one of the keywords, you’ll see a small box pop up towards the center of the page, with a small magnifying glass. Click the magnifying glass, and it will take you to Google’s search statistics information for that page, showing you recent search trends.

While there are more powerful keyword tools on the internet, Google’s Keyword Tool is easy to use and gives you a lot of information in an easily understood format. That makes it ideal for beginners or for those who don’t have a lot of extra time available for figuring out a more complicated set-up.