Google Keyword Tool Strikes Again
Nearly all my niches look good on paper with well priced products (£20-£100) and 20,000~ exact searches a month. However once I get the sites to number one in Google I quickly realise that either the Google Keyword Tool was misleading with its estimate for exact match searches or no one wants to click on my sites or that the click through rate for being number one in Google is less than 5%.
Take one of my earlier sites for instance. Last month it is reported by the Google Keyword Tool to have gotten 18,100 exact match searches but during that month it only got 529 unique visitors which is less than 3%.
I know the Google Keyword Tool is not renowned for its accuracy but surely this is way too out for it to be of any use?
I have checked my other sites and nearly all of them get around 5% of the figure quoted by the GKWT making them a waste of time as the traffic is so low!
How do you check that a niche is actually searched for?
Are you sure you are not a victim of Google personalised search? It may be you aren’t appearing as high for everyone else.
It used to only feature on google accounts but is now active for everyone unless you clear your history and opt out.
A way to test is to setup adwords for the exact match keywords and see how may impressions it gets. Displaying an irrelevant ad should stop you getting a lot of clicks on your advert.
Google adwords ad on exact match. Bid just enough to on the page and don’t worry about your CTR. It’ll show you how many searches over the period you run (day, week etc) and will give you a better estimate.
In the event you’re not getting as high a CTR as you would expect, but there are the searches there, look to building enough links with sitelinks or look at Adwords copy material and see how they improve CTR, it applies to the SERPS too in a general way.
Why don’t you run a PPC campaign for a day to see how many impressions you get?
I agree that the GKWT is a little inaccurate at times. The only way I have found to get a better idea of the search results is to set up a quick page of content (I tend to do this on a general shopping domain I have had for a while) and run a google adwords ad for the keyword(s) for a day or so.
I don’t mind spending a little bit in clicks as long as I can get on page 1 and monitor the impressions for an exact keyword or phrase. Then I know what sort of traffic is searching for a keyword.
Ok so its a bit of effort but better than buying a domain, setting up hosting and a site only to find the traffic is low.
+1 to Darren, this is is an effective way to check whether the keyword is worth pursuing!
Are you sure your are searching for ‘Exact’ term in Google Keywords tool, and not ‘broad’….I’ve made this error before
I wish I was but alas it is exact.
I have been struck down by the Google Keyword Tool a few times now – most of my sites are based on 20,000+ exact searches and if they get to number 1 the total number of clicks is about 5% max.
I have had a lot more success with niche sites that are under 5000 exact searches per month – very strange!
I now don’t start a site unless I test it with an Adwords campaign first. I would rather waste £10 with Adwords than a few hours of my time setting up a site only to struggle making my money back on the domain.
Yes I think that is the only way to go and from now on will be an essential step in the niche choosing process.