How to Figure Out the Popularity of a Search

Determining search popularity can increase your Website's traffic.

Webmasters trying to increase the traffic to their Website are concerned about Search Engine Optimization. SEO increases the Website's rank in Google, which in turn increases traffic. One way to accomplish this is to research how often your target audience searches for your keywords. Once you determine this, you will know what keywords to focus on for your website. The keywords will be used within Web page titles, product names, articles and blog posts.

Instructions

1. Visit the Google Adwords Website. Click the "Keyword Tool" link in the column on the left. Type the keywords or phrase you want to research in the "Word or Phrase" box. Check the box "Only Show Ideas Closely Related to my Search Terms."

2. Fill out the captcha, and click the "Search" button. A chart will generate showing columns for the Keyword, Competition, Global Monthly Searches, and Local Monthly Searches.

3. Find the keyword column, which is the first column on the left. It is divided into two sections called "Search Terms" and "Keyword Ideas." The "Search Terms" section provides the data for your original keyword. The Keyword Ideas" section provides ideas for keywords related to the original keyword. Choose one of these if you conclude that your original keyword is not popular enough. Use the other 3 columns to evaluate the popularity of the keywords in either section.

4. Evaluate the "Competition" column, which shows partially shaded boxes. These represent the number of Google AdWords customers competing for your keyword. The more shading a box has, the more competition that keyword has. Keywords with high competition are expensive for Google AdWords customers because they have to pay more per click. However, high competition keywords are good for those who only wish to evaluate the popularity of a search. If your keyword has low competition, the search is not popular enough. Choose one of the other keywords.

5. Look for the "Global Monthly Searches" column, which represents the 12-month average of searches for that keyword. The "Local Monthly Searches" column is similar to the Global column, but it is only displayed if you specified a particular country or language. You can do this by clicking the "Advanced Options and Filters" link at the top of the page. Both of these columns are merely numerical representations of the "Competition" column. Higher numbers indicate higher keyword popularity. Concentrate on these keywords for your website.

References

• Google: Google Adwords External Keyword Tool
• Keyword Strategy: What is Competition with the Google Adwords Tool?