While you may need to get keyword data from several data sources available on the web, getting the best possible keywords for your specific business, website, and campaign is what can bring in huge volumes in traffic and conversions.
The Google Keyword Suggestion Tool was one such data source that has morphed into the Keyword Planner, but has limited capabilities, especially when you want far more data in a systematic way. However, you can use several other keyword tools that provide a wide range of services that need to be explored before you can choose ones that suit your needs.
In addition to keyword tools such as Xedant, MarketSamurai, UberSuggest, GrepWords, Keyword Discovery, and Keyword Spy, there are a few others mentioned below that can be of great use. They are…
Wordstream.com: This tool links several paid search tools that provide excellent results without using search volume data from Google, but throws up numbers based on their own analysis.
SEMRush.com: SEMRush gets its search volume figures from Google before presenting them to you.
Wordtracker.com: WordTracker makes use of its own search volume data to provide massive number of keywords. If you choose the paid option, you will receive search volume from Google as well as SEMRush.
You can begin by creating a log that contains indexed search volumes extracted by using the Google Keyword Suggestion Tool. You can then convert those search volumes into an index from 0 to 100 in which 100 represents keywords that have the highest traffic and 0 represents the lowest.
You can use different methods of comparing the log by using all the different tools as mentioned above. If you compare the logs in a simple graph form then you will discover that tools such as Grepwords and SEMRush that are based on Google delivery almost identical data. However, Wordstream has a tendency to go over in reporting mid as well as long-tail keywords. WordTracker can deliver an almost horizontal trendline that suggested an over-report in terms of tail terms and an under-report in terms of head terms.
Another method of getting results by using each data set on a similar index of 0 to 100 is to find average errors. You may find that GrepWords and SEMRush again provide similar results that are identical with Google’s. On the other hand, WordTracker and WordStream also deliver similar error rates.
You can also employ another method to get the coverage rates of head and mid-tail terms by extracting the percentage of keywords that actually exist in each index. On doing so, you may discover that GrepWords and SEMRush deliver far more accurate percentages in terms of head as well as mid-tail keywords. However, WordTracker, WordStream, and Keyword Discover deliver excellent results since they catch a lot more keyword variations that may not be delivered by the Google Keyword Suggestion Tool. The reason could be because these tools acquire data from non-AdWords sources.
Based on the above results, you can get the best possible keywords based on your specific needs. Hence, if you require high level of valid data that can be compared with other competitive metrics then SEMRush is the best tool as it generates huge amounts of fantastic data.
On the other hand, if you want hard-to-find long-tail keywords that have not yet been discovered by your competitors then WordTracker and Keyword Discovery may be ideal for your needs. If you want real CPC numbers and real search numbers then SEMRush and GrepWords are the tools for you. WordTracker can allow you to access data from SEMRush only for limited keywords each month.
If you want accurate and systematic data then GrepWords is the right tool although you may have to wait a little for complete access since this tool is still in Beta stage. You can get search as well as CPC data for a thousand words at one go on one API offered by this site while also helping you find related keywords.
If you want data that can be very useful for PPC optimization then look no further than WordStream.
You should try all of the above tools to search for ones that deliver the best keywords for your specific needs and campaign.