True Accuracy of Keyword Tools

So I've been doing a lot of keyword research lately. I'm no pro at it but there's one thing that keeps bugging me. Is Adwords Keyword Planner Tool remotely accurate? It seems to me that the monthly searches are way off, as in, not even close. I feel like this mainly occurs with long tail keywords and local queries, but for some search queries I know more people have to be searching for this query...

Is there any more of an accurate way to estimate search volume? Or do you have to just get a feel for the niche and assume the search volumes are off.

You can change the time period to check the average search, three months, 12 month and so on. Also, put your keyword on google trends to see if there is an upward movement.

You're right that they're usually not very accurate, but it varies a lot from niche to niche. That's just one of the many reasons I always recommend picking a niche and staying with it, because there's only so much that tools can tell you. Your own experience is what will help you the most in the long term, and if you've been in a niche long enough you just "know" which keywords are worth going after. Just my 2 cents

It's just an estimate. Sometimes close enough, sometimes not.

Sorry for not helping much here but I'd usually test an average search volume in Adwords before I jump into working on a project that includes SEO.

There is always more traffic than you see.

If I understand it correctly, what you are seeing in the keyword planner is traffic that google sees in their adwords platform for a particular term.

If no one has ran ads targeting these particular keywords, there will be no traffic statistic. even if there are thousands of searches a month.

Another thing to consider is that we do our research in "exact match" because that is the most conservative estimate possible, making it the most reliable.

But people seldom search in exact match, most search queries are unique.

It also depends on your niche. If you do carpet cleaning in Boise Idaho, you are not going to have a lot of long tails to target, and a great number of searches will be "carpet cleaning Boise" exactly.

But people will also search for "carpet cleaning in Boise", which is not an exact match but rather a phrase match.(the keyword is in the right order, but it is inside a phrase and not quoted exactly). This will be traffic that your research does not show you.

The planner does seem to be off quite a bit depending on the query. For example I was using the combine multiple lists of keywords option to combine numerous local cities/areas with a list of services and it found nearly 3 times as many searches for a small city on the outskirts of a major metropolitan area and hardly any searches for the large metropolitan city.

Compared to everything else, current data that's coming directly from Google, that reflects terms that are (intended to be) making PPC advertisers money, is the most continuously accurate of keyword tools. It's the most reliable source under the myriad circumstances. As the saying goes, don't let the perfect be the enemy of the good.

I agree that you just need to pick a niche and get a feel for it. This seems to certainly favor large authority sites that can cover many potential longtails, even ones you aren't trying to rank for but find out you should be.

i've been also using google planner, for the pros here can you suggest other tools that are less expensive yet high in quality and accurate. thanks

redbloodcell said:

i've been also using google planner, for the pros here can you suggest other tools that are less expensive yet high in quality and accurate. thanks

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None of them are accurate, think of it as an indicator of traffic, not an actual count.

Stop thiking it gets 200 searches a month, or 5000. Think of it as getting a little traffic, some traffic, good traffic, lots of traffic, tons of traffic and so on.

Don't get hung up on the number, there is always more searech than the number shows, if you are doing your research in exct match.

None of the kw research tools are accurate. Most of the searches haven't been done before.