When you perform keyword research what tool do you use? Chances are you will use Googles Keyword tool and chances are you’ve noticed some discrepancies between what the tools suggests you will get in terms of traffic and what you actually get.
Heres and example. “Pro Audio Speakers.” A quick look at the keyword tool and it will tell you that for a “broad match” search, you could expect a share of 22,000 searches – the higher your rank, the bigger share you’ll get. I have a site that ranks in the top ten for this “broad match” search and I get about 5 hits per day. Now it’s not a mature site. It has been built purely to attack that one key phrase in order to test the market before I put more work in. I also notice that I share the first page with a similar site – very immature and frankly, shite.
Why the discrepancy and why are two similarly crap sites appearing at the top of what should be a very competitive niche? Here’s why.
What does broad match mean? Look at Google’s own definition. It says Broad match = no punctuation. Phrase match = “keyword” and Exact match = [keyword]. You knew that already right? Look further. Simply typing ‘keyword 1 keyword 2′ without punctuation and appearing at page one does not mean that you have achieved page one for broad match. Broad match actually means “.. for searches on similar phrases and relevant variations”.
Phrase Match means “.. for searches that match the exact phrase”. Typing your keywords in inverted commas doesn’t give you you “phrase match” position.
Exact match means “.. for searches that match the exact phrase exclusively”. So when you type keyword 1 keyword 2 into google and you find you are at page 1, congratulate yourself on achieving that position for “exact match”
There are tools – Market Samurai is an example – that will give you you “broad match” ranking. How they can do this I have no idea because the ranking will vary widely depending on the exact variation of word used – an almost infinite number of combinations.
When Google tells me that 22,000 people searched on Pro Audio Speakers – they mean that 22,000 searched on this and similar phrases. 22,000 is the size of the niche, not the number of searches for that phrase. To be “Number 1″ in that niche, you need to own the keyword and all of the other similar keywords.
The SEO Lessons
Lesson 1 – When looking for an estimate of traffic for a keyword – use Googles keyword tool and examine [exact] match. Interpret the broad match results as an estimate of the size of a niche. To capture a share of that, you need to optimise for all similar words and phrases. No one said it would be easy.
Lesson 2 – Should you use tools like Market Samurai. Yes. But be very careful how you interpret the numbers and, importantly, heed the following final lesson.
The Final Lesson – Lesson 3 – When SEO gurus hype up the potential of internet marketing, take it with a pinch of salt. Lots of people make exactly the same misinterpretation that I made, that I could attack a valuable niche by targeting specific keyword - but the gurus remain relatively silent on how exactly to interpret SEO research – that first glance at the data looks very compelling and it’s tempting to dive straight in. The good gurus (Ed Dale and Michelle MacPhearson are my personal favourites) will warn you about all the hard work that is required, but even they won’t feel obliged to give the full health warning. Look before you leap.
So is Google Keyword Tool Inaccurate? No. Not within reasonable margins of error. It is the interpretation that you put on the numbers that is inaccurate.
