google keyword tool data highly inaccurate or what?

Hey folks,

I am quite disappointed with the traffic I have been getting to some sites of mine ranked #1 in google. I have at least 2 sites ranked in #1 that get only 15% of the traffic that google keyword tool reports. I'm using the new keyword tool which was supposed to more accurate. For example a search term I'm targeting has a search volume of about 750 per month but I get only 3-4 visits a day from that keyword's searches...WTF!!! and this is true for another site I have as well. Google says the search count is 300 but last month I got only 45 visits from that keyword. I am #1 for that keyword.

So people, have you experienced the same thing? I think next time, when estimating the traffic I should go for 15% of what the google tool says.

Btw, there is something else about the site I should mention. The first site is built around a physical niche and there are a few shopping results as well. And the 2nd one is a local niche site with a 3-box google map listing.
But don't you think the traffic is still quite low??

Any suggestions?

750 searches is too small for anything, but don't trust G's search tool. They are flat out scammers.

I know its small but in local niches 300+ searches is sufficicent i think

lucius said:

Hey folks,

I am quite disappointed with the traffic I have been getting to some sites of mine ranked #1 in google. I have at least 2 sites ranked in #1 that get only 15% of the traffic that google keyword tool reports. I'm using the new keyword tool which was supposed to more accurate. For example a search term I'm targeting has a search volume of about 750 per month but I get only 3-4 visits a day from that keyword's searches...WTF!!! and this is true for another site I have as well. Google says the search count is 300 but last month I got only 45 visits from that keyword. I am #1 for that keyword.

So people, have you experienced the same thing? I think next time, when estimating the traffic I should go for 15% of what the google tool says.

Btw, there is something else about the site I should mention. The first site is built around a physical niche and there are a few shopping results as well. And the 2nd one is a local niche site with a 3-box google map listing.
But don't you think the traffic is still quite low??

Any suggestions?

Click to expand...

Is that 750/mo in broad match or exact match? If you're using broad match you're going to be disappointed every time. Use exact match and you'll have a closer idea of what to expect.

750 exact searches per month is only 25 per day. Meaning you can only expect around 12 visits per day in the #1 spot so it's quite possible that those search figures are accurate and your meta description and title is the reason for your low CTR, resulting in you recieving only around 1/3 of the traffic you could expect with that many searches.

try find another keyword with more montly searches... and rank for more than 1 keyword from the same niche. like rank for minicars and citycars and watercars and skycars etc etc (All the keyword has to have some good montly search and that way u will get more traffic

cheers

I use Yahoo's, I've found it to be a tad bit more reliable for data.

eBayMafia said:

I use Yahoo's, I've found it to be a tad bit more reliable for data.

Click to expand...

what do you mean ?
yahoo tool predicts the right google trafic ?

Hey folks,

I am quite disappointed with the traffic I have been getting to some sites of mine ranked #1 in google. I have at least 2 sites ranked in #1 that get only 15% of the traffic that google keyword tool reports. I'm using the new keyword tool which was supposed to more accurate. For example a search term I'm targeting has a search volume of about 750 per month but I get only 3-4 visits a day from that keyword's searches...WTF!!!

Click to expand...

have you looked at al the other months ? Jan, Feb. Mrch ... how arithmetic math for all the moths ?

oopps

I just spent 2 hours tonight going over and comparing my stats to the new Google keyword tool and Bing/Yahoo. I've got about a dozen sites that are sitting at #1 for their keyword domain. Only look at EXACT and LOCAL. It's the smallest number and seems to be vaguely the closest. I've found you get about 25% of Googles EXACT and LOCAL number if your sitting at #1. That's still just a big-ass guess.

I've got one #1 site that got a single hit for the month of Sept, and Google says the keyword gets 320 EXACT LOCAL's. My best site says the keyword gets 2,900 EXACT LOCALS, and I got 2,075 hits just from the one keyword. I got almost 100% of the searches? That's just stupid.

Bing/Yahoo didn't help either. Even though their numbers are way lower, they should at least show the same percentages from high to low. Even though they roughly lined up to Google's percentages, there were a couple that were way off the mark. One site was confirmed by Bing/Yahoo that the search numbers sucked and Google listed it differently. (Google was wrong) Another keyword on Bing/Yahoo said that I shouldn't be getting very many hits, yet Google showed descent numbers. (Bing/Yahoo were wrong)

I'm stumped. Common sense seems to be a good indicator. If it sounds like a good keyword, then it probably is. I've heard the best indicator is to run a short adwords campaign for the keyword and see what kind of hits you get. You would have paid for the market research, but you'll know they weren't bullshit.

Yeah Google's keyword tool is not 100% accurate.. Lately they have reduced the keyword search estimates drastically as well.. There are lots of threads on this issue on the internet.

One of the best advice that I have heard is to Run a small test campaign on Google Adwords for a day or two to get an idea of the REAL number of searches for a particular keyword.

Totally agree with the above 2 posters. Run an exact match campaign on your keywords for a few days to get an idea of search volume. Bid just enough to stay on the first page, write an unappealing ad and run for as long as it takes to get a reasonable daily average.

biks said:

I've got one #1 site that got a single hit for the month of Sept, and Google says the keyword gets 320 EXACT LOCAL's. My best site says the keyword gets 2,900 EXACT LOCALS, and I got 2,075 hits just from the one keyword. I got almost 100% of the searches? That's just stupid.

Click to expand...

I could see that as being accurate. I can't find it right now, but I've seen stats that say the #1 ranking gets at least 60% of the searches and the remaining sites fight over the remaining 40%. 60% of 2900 = 1740, so a little lower than your number, but still not that far off.

The bottom line from your post (and it was a good one) is that there really isn't a good keyword out there that you can 100% rely on. Like you said, common sense will go a long ways (and experience).

Well if Yahoo has a keyword tool (I've never tried it so I wouldn't know), but since someone here said it does a better job think about it, people use Yahoo to search for stuff, so if it says one keyword get 5000 searches a day, then you can expect Google to get 5000 searches a day too or even more, because more people use Google

Just my 2c

lucius said:

Hey folks,

I am quite disappointed with the traffic I have been getting to some sites of mine ranked #1 in google.....
Any suggestions?

Click to expand...

Who said #1 ranked site gets all the traffic? 40%-25% is normal and yours is normal too.

ivictus said:

750 searches is too small for anything...

Click to expand...

No it is not. And the subject here is not to judge that number.

outsidethesquare said:

750 exact searches per month is only 25 per day. Meaning you can only expect around 12 visits per day in the #1 spot so it's quite possible that those search figures are accurate and your meta description and title is the reason for your low CTR, resulting in you recieving only around 1/3 of the traffic you could expect with that many searches.

Click to expand...

This is the exact answer for your problem.

Quo_Vadiz said:

try find another keyword with more montly searches... and rank for more than 1 keyword from the same niche. like rank for minicars and citycars and watercars and skycars etc etc (All the keyword has to have some good montly search and that way u will get more traffic

cheers

Click to expand...

WTF are you talking about? He does not ask about another niche? Do you know how nonsense your answer is?

eBayMafia said:

I use Yahoo's, I've found it to be a tad bit more reliable for data.

Click to expand...

Nothing to say. A fake post.

biks said:

I just spent 2 hours tonight going over and comparing my stats to the new Google keyword tool and Bing/Yahoo...

Click to expand...

Very informative. Thank you.

teeniegenie said:

I could see that as being accurate. I can't find it right now, but I've seen stats that say the #1 ranking gets at least 60% of the searches and the remaining sites fight over the remaining 40%. 60% of 2900 = 1740, so a little lower than your number, but still not that far off.

The bottom line from your post (and it was a good one) is that there really isn't a good keyword out there that you can 100% rely on. Like you said, common sense will go a long ways (and experience).

Click to expand...

The bottom line is that you did not get even a word from his post. Read it again.

Hey OP, no need to worry. They are normal numbers. Just make a check with semrush, do some tweaks on other keywords. I am sure you can attract more visitors.

edgematch said:

This is the exact answer for your problem.

Click to expand...

Thanks all for your suggestions, especially biks. The trouble is I'm getting not 12, but only 3-4 visits a day. That comes out to roughly 100-125 visits a month at best. And this is for a keyword google says has LOCAL search volume of 480 and GLOBAL search volume of 750.
So I'd say the most reasonable estimate would be 15-20% of the local search and it's definitely not 50-60% of the traffic for a #1 ranking, which is a common belief.
I think I will just follow the adwords suggestion but does anyone know if running a poorly setup campaign could look bad on my adwords account and affect other legit campaigns?

Dude, firstly you're not going to get 100% of the traffic just because you are at #1 - the average number is 50%. But then again, it depends on what exactly your website offers and how you've written your meta tags, i.e. whether they're compelling enough for people to wanna visit your site.

And this is for a keyword google says has LOCAL search volume of 480 and GLOBAL search volume of 750. So I'd say the most reasonable estimate would be 15-20% of the local search and it's definitely not 50-60% of the traffic for a #1 ranking, which is a common belief.

Click to expand...

Again..what is the number for EXACT and LOCAL? You just mentioned LOCAL.

I've seen other people toss around 50-60% for the #1 ranking. I don't buy it. My main question is: HOW MANY CLICKS DO THE PAID ADS NORMALLY GET? Your organic listing is STILL competing with the paid ad/listings. On top of that, you normally have TWO paid ads ABOVE the #1 organic spot.

[Biks jumps into Photoshop and comes back in 3 minutes]



There's not friggin' way Spot #1 gets 50% of the clicks. And then spot #2 gets 25%. That's 75% of the clicks right there. Then divide the rest between everything else. What about the top paid ads? (A, B, C) You pay a premium to be there just to get less than 10%? When does PPC get lousy click through rates when your at the top of the page?

Somebody around here probably has some accurate data on this. I'm can only guess. I would probably say:

A = 15%
B = 10%
C = 10%
1 = 25%
2 = 15%
3 = ?

D =15%
E = 10%
F =

Sh*t - that's 100% already. Obviously spot D must get descent clicks. (the top one on the side) A-C must get descent clicks. I'm already doubting my 25% for the top organic spot. (#1)

Anyone else want to take a whack at this?

The split between organic and paid is about 80:20.

You can get as high as 5~7% CTR for PPC, depending on the keywords.

i too am losing faith in the accuracy of keyword tools. How do you search for yahoo and bing search volume? though? i only know about google.