68581 8 3 econsultancy_xml <p>In the past we have outsourced a lot of keyword research but over the last year it has all been moved back in-house. <em>Why?</em></p> <p> <strong>Because</strong> <strong>the UK market is so Google-focused it is hard for keyword research firms to get the right results.</strong> </p> <p>Most keyword research tools use Overture (Yahoo) or <a href="http://www.wordtracker.com/about.html">Wordtracker</a> to some extent. </p> <p>Yahoo has about a 3% market share in the UK compared to <a href="http://www.blogstorm.co.uk/google-uk-market-share-hits-90-percent/">Google's 90%</a> so the results are bound to be easily skewed by just a small number of searches.</p> <p>Wordtracker uses data from the Dogpile and Metacrawler engines in the US along with a small sample of ISP data from the UK to come up with its data. </p> <p>To create accurate UK data from a small ISP sample is almost impossible.<br /><br />The only viable method of carrying out keyword research in the UK is to leverage Google's PPC tools and a bit of common sense. </p> <p>Using the excellent <a href="https://adwords.google.com/select/TrafficEstimatorSandbox">traffic estimator</a> tells me the traffic that will arrive at a site for any keyword. </p> <p>This tool assumes a CTR of 5% so it is then quite easy to work out the total search volume for any term.</p> <p>Google again has the lead when it comes to generating keyword ideas. </p> <p>Try the <a href="https://adwords.google.com/select/KeywordToolExternal">external Adwords keyword tool</a> to find your keywords and then plug them into the traffic estimator above and you have the most accurate UK keyword data available.</p> <FormattedContent xmlns="http://www.e-consultancy.com/schema/formattedContent/"> <Paragraph>In the past we have outsourced a lot of keyword research but over the last year it has all been moved back in-house. <Quote>Why?</Quote></Paragraph> <Paragraph> <Emphasis>Because</Emphasis> <Emphasis>the UK market is so Google-focused it is hard for keyword research firms to get the right results.</Emphasis> </Paragraph> <Paragraph>Most keyword research tools use Overture (Yahoo) or <Link URL="http://www.wordtracker.com/about.html" Window="Self">Wordtracker</Link> to some extent. </Paragraph> <Paragraph>Yahoo has about a 3% market share in the UK compared to <Link URL="http://www.blogstorm.co.uk/google-uk-market-share-hits-90-percent/" Window="Self">Google's 90%</Link> so the results are bound to be easily skewed by just a small number of searches.</Paragraph> <Paragraph>Wordtracker uses data from the Dogpile and Metacrawler engines in the US along with a small sample of ISP data from the UK to come up with its data. </Paragraph> <Paragraph>To create accurate UK data from a small ISP sample is almost impossible.<LineBreak /><LineBreak />The only viable method of carrying out keyword research in the UK is to leverage Google's PPC tools and a bit of common sense. </Paragraph> <Paragraph>Using the excellent <Link URL="https://adwords.google.com/select/TrafficEstimatorSandbox" Window="Self">traffic estimator</Link> tells me the traffic that will arrive at a site for any keyword. </Paragraph> <Paragraph>This tool assumes a CTR of 5% so it is then quite easy to work out the total search volume for any term.</Paragraph> <Paragraph>Google again has the lead when it comes to generating keyword ideas. </Paragraph> <Paragraph>Try the <Link URL="https://adwords.google.com/select/KeywordToolExternal" Window="Self">external Adwords keyword tool</Link> to find your keywords and then plug them into the traffic estimator above and you have the most accurate UK keyword data available.</Paragraph> </FormattedContent> 2008-02-11T17:07:00+00:00 7 1 econsultancy_xml <p> <strong>Keyword research is one of the most tempting parts of a search engine optimisation campaign to outsource.</strong> </p> <p>My advice to UK SEO consultants and webmasters is to <em>be very careful</em>.</p> <FormattedContent xmlns="http://www.e-consultancy.com/schema/formattedContent/"> <Paragraph> <Emphasis>Keyword research is one of the most tempting parts of a search engine optimisation campaign to outsource.</Emphasis> </Paragraph> <Paragraph>My advice to UK SEO consultants and webmasters is to <Quote>be very careful</Quote>.</Paragraph> </FormattedContent> false 2169 365039 Keyword research for UK sites is a different ball game false 2008-02-12T08:22:00+00:00 keyword-research-for-uk-sites-is-a-different-ball-game 2009-04-28T23:05:10+01:00 2009-04-28T23:05:10+01:00 860