Free keyword tools for SEM campaigns

Business owners should become self-sufficient online marketers – this saves money and can result in ample ROI if executed well (this is a key initiative we pride ourselves with at the WBC).   This includes search engine marketing – Google AdWords and AdSense, etc. – and how to research where to post these advertisements. This research includes knowing what keywords or phrases readers would search for within Google.com or Bing.com that would result in more online users seeing your advertisement the most. Below are a few keyword tools you can use for this purpose:

SEO Book Keyword Tool (free, requires a free account): SEO Book is a leading search engine optimization (SEO) WEb site with daily enewsletters and tips for advanced search engine specialists. But even for the beginning SEO person, signing up for this free subscription to have access to this keyword tool can help your SEM campaign. This tool shows you what keyword/phrase would rank in the top search engines.

Google Search-based Keyword Tool (free and paid): Type in your Web site and include a few industry related keywords and you will see how much Google recommends you spend on each online advertisement. For example, you can see how much Google recommends WBC spends on related marketing terms here. It will also tell you how many monthly searches are completed for each term and how competitive that term is (how many other companies want their ads to appear for the same term). Basically, you want the cheapest term for the most amount of searches.

Google AdWords Traffic Estimator (free): This option can do the same as the keyword option above but allows you to specify more options – i.e. country/state/region/city, amount you want to spend per keyword, what language you want your keyword to appear in. It will show you the estimated clicks per day, cost per day, ad position (are you in the top spot or bottom spot) and an estimated search volume for that keyword.

Google AdWords Keyword Tool (free): This tool will help you figure out what keywords to use in your SEM campaign or within your site (think search engine optimization) by either submitting keywords or your Web site URL. If you have a Google AdWords account, you can sign-in and automatically add the resulting keywords to your account. Nifty right?

Microsoft Excel Advertising Plugin (free, requires 7.0): This is a nifty marketing option used within Excel 7.0 but should only be used for advanced marketers. This is a free plug-in for excel that will show (and allow you to save to your desktop via Excel) what keywords you should use for your SEM campaign. According to the description, this pulls keywords for MSN and Bing – not Google! This option is not for the meek and the suggestions above can do the same as this plug-in.

Google Wonder Wheel (free, requires Google account): This option available only by logging into a Gmail account and seen in the left rail after clicking on “Web” is a visual search result. When you find this option, insert any topic and Google will result in related topics or keywords.

Google Wonder Wheel

SEMRush (free and paid, requires log in):This keyword tool shows keyword options for your AdWords campaign and keywords results your competitors may rank for (hint, you want to be better than your competitors so you want to optimize your site for keywords they would rank well with).

WordTracker (paid): You take your chances paying for a keyword tool when there are many other keyword tools available, but Word Tracker lets you find keywords, save them and manage multiple SEM projects with the account. If you’re organized, you can do this with an Excel sheet too.

Do you have more keyword tool ideas? Leave a comment with the name, URL and what the tool does.