34 replies to this topic

[JamesW]

Hello all,

This is my first post in this excellent forum which I have recently discovered. Go easy on me people!

I ahve been using a number of websites and free downloaded programs, such as 'Even Better Keywords' and 'Good Keywords', Google and Overture's suggestions.

However, after browsing the topics here, is it really worth investing in WordTracker, when all of these free resources are available? If so, what are the real advantages that WordTracker offers over the competition?

Many thanks,

James

[Mel]

Hi James:
Well the investment in Wordtracker is not all that much (you can pretty well do all your keyword research for one site for as little as $7, or you can use the free trial version) but it does get you lots of target keyphrases with some traffic estimates in very short order.

I do believe that once you settle on some good keyphrase candidates you should use some other sources to check the traffic figures, and maybe to augment your keyphrase list. If you are looking for keywords to use on Overture then thats the place to go to research yoru traffic, and same for Google.

[IAN]

Good Morning James-
For both my professional and personal projects, I would not be without Wortracker.

What I like -

• large number of search engines and pay per clicks analyzed
• ease of exporting into excel for evaluation
• a custom ranking system and standard numbers so I can best choose what I want to evaluate based on
• saves projects if needed
• alternative suggestions are great
• dig feature allows me to get very specific

[Gobslam]

Welcome James,

I would say that Wordtracker is worth every penny. It really helped me out recently. I'd done some research on keywords but when it came to checking them out on wordtracker I unearthed quite a few that I hadn't thought of and they turned out to be pure gold.

[compar]

However, after browsing the topics here, is it really worth investing in WordTracker, when all of these free resources are available? If so, what are the real advantages that WordTracker offers over the competition?

I use Wordtracker and think it is a useful program. I don't have enough volume to subscribe full time so I buy a month at a time as needed. However I think you can accomplish much of the same thing with other tools. Maybe I'm not using it correctly, but if you discount the value of the KEI factor which everyone seems to do, then I think Wordtracker is over priced.

Think of the other services you can get for the same money. In Canada you can get a full time DSL Internet connection for the same price. When compared with this Wordtracker is too expensive.

[chill105]

I just used WordTracker (trial version) for the first time and it was a very helpful tool.

Although I haven't used the paid version, I feel that the trial version gives you enough to get going with your site.

[awall19]

I think if you are creative you may not have much need for wordtracker. With many of these tools though, they need only provide one good idea, which converts only one client, to pay off.

To use it for a single day is only like $7. I think most anything which COULD be of value is worth a shot for $7.

[Mel]

Hi Awall
Can you explain further how you feel being creative may negate the need for keyword research?

[dimok]

I think if you are creative you may not have much need for wordtracker.

Be creative is always a good idea

But according to experience of keywords analysis I can say that tools like wordtracker surely give your phrazes that you even ever imaging. Also it gives you the popularity of each query - so you can analyse which keywords should be taken into account first, which will bring you more users with less costs.

Absolutely usefull tool! BTW, there are other interesting features.

[Vertster]

I think wordtracker is well worth the money. I find it most useful for getting a quick analysis of a topic. The comments people have made about creativity are absolutely right on, but coming up with a huge list of keywords takes time. In 15 minutes on wordtracker, you can have several hundred possibilities. SPEED is wordtrackers biggest benefit!

There are caveats though (and you may or may not agree with these)-

-Most of the time, the KEI is worthless
-The search engine traffic estimates are worthless
-Wordtracker has not been updated in a Loooooooong time
-They don't give you enough projects if you are using it for lots of clients

[JamesW]

All,

From the advice of all these posts, of which I am grateful to every contributant, I will try WordTracker on a free trial basis and evaluate for myself whether or not it is really worth the money.

Have any of you tried out Good Keywords? What do you think of it? It seems useful enough and lets you query some major players in the business. If you want to try it then: GoodKeywords and let me know of any feedback that you have. I like the fact that I can query UK Overture. It's nothing to do with me by the way, before I come across all promotional!

P.S. $7 for a DSL connection in Canada? Bargain. It's currently about $30 (US) here in the UK for a 512k connection! Will now be creating a new topic called 'relocating my www.thephonecafe.com business to Canada'!

Cheers,

James

[Mel]

Hi Vertster

Wordtracker has not been updated in a Loooooooong time

AFAIK the Wordtracker database is updated every day with fresh results of the last day, with the fresh results replacing the oldest results so that you have 60 days of searches in the DB. I am pretty sure this is happening regularly as I often have to pause my keyword research on WT while I wait for them to update the DB.

[Vertster]

AFAIK the Wordtracker database is updated every day with fresh results of the last day, with the fresh results replacing the oldest results so that you have 60 days of searches in the DB.

I should have been clearer- I meant the user interface. They have been promising great new updates, but they have not shown up yet!

[keli]

I've been using Wordtracker for a while now, love it... however I sometimes think I'm not seeing certain results correctly or at all. For instance, my cilent is typing her keywords in EVERY DAY on Google to check her rankings. She thinks Wordtracker should reflect this but a quick keyword check shows that her keywords isn't searched that often - in fact we show that the keyword phrase is searched upon only 3 times in a 60 day period. Does Wordtracker have a way of tracking IP addresses so that results are not skewed by people checking up on their rankings constantly? Is this a bug? Or? That's the only thing I can think of that would suggest these results.


KeliE.com

Edited by keli, 18 August 2003 - 11:39 AM.

[Mel]

Hi Keli
Wordtracker does not obtain its results from Google but from metacrawlers. If you want to check in google the only way I know of is to start an Adwords campaign and use the google tool.

PS
The period covered by the wordtracker database is 60 days not 60 months.