Since I am comparing tools I think it’s appropriate to include one that I have been using on a regular basis for some time, Keyword Elite.
Keyword Elite is a tool which I use all the time to do a lot of things. Since I dabble in PPC, I find that I use Keyword Elite very often to assist in the process of building profitable PPC campaigns in Google Adwords. It’s actually kind of like my swiss army knife marketing tool actually since it does so many things well.
Let’s review a few of those now.
1. Keyword surge: This is my go to keyword tool for expanding out my keyword lists well into the thousands. This comes in handy if you have every built out an SEO “plan” for a site to help with developing a solid architecture, when building out Adsense websites, when building out Adwords campaigns and anytime I want to find ALL those long tail terms to target. Using KE’s keyword database in combination with Google’s I can hit well into the 10′s of 1,000′s within minutes.
They also offer a multitude of keyword expansion tools with it to allow keyword stemming and building keyword groups right from the tool itself.
2. Market research sleuth: This is generally where I go when I want to see how the competition is looking for Adwords. I can take my keywords from the first tool and expand them into this tool to get average CPC (as pulled from Google), number of campaigns running, estimated number of clicks for the #1 position so I can estimate spend as well as some SEO indicators such as KEI and R/S ratio. I find KEI to be pretty unreliable but R/S ratio (# results/# of searches) is a rough indicator of potential opportunities for me. Says little about SEO competition though.
I also like that I can see the top 10 current ads running for each keyword. Helps with writing for me.
3. Adwords time machine: This again is an Adwords tool but a VERY cool one. For a given keyword, I can see what and how people have been bidding for the past 6 months time. I can actually get a TON of info right here:
- Who is bidding on that term
- How long they have been bidding on it
- What their ads are and how they have changed
- What other keywords they are bidding on
- Their destination URL(s)
I ALWAYS use this tool to optimize those tough keywords in Adwords and before diving into a competitive market.
4. Search engine dominator: I have to admit I don’t use this tool as often as the others. For a given keyword I can get search volume, number of results and a lot of other information on how SEO optimized the keyword is but its tough to get to. I can calculate “competition strength” but its run outside of the tool so I have to check the keyword and then run a second tool to get it. After I do its just a number…higher is worse in terms of competition but its not all that scalable for me.
For SEO most of the info I need is there, but its hard to sift through to get answers.
4 & 5. Adwords competition sniper and Google site targeter: I am covering these two in one because they have little to do with Niche marketing at all and don’t help me in that regards.
The competition sniper is a tool to run scans to monitor keywords and competitors in Adwords. The Google site targeter is again an Adwords dream tool, especially if you run placement targeting. Finding those placements is SO much easier with this tool.
6. JV diamond miner: Again a great tool but only if you are looking to JV with people. If you have a niche you will like using this to find new partners but if you don’t it’s not going to help you out.
So what can you take from this review?
I really do like Keyword Elite. It’s by far one of my best go to tools when I need to do keyword work BUT the question is what TYPE of keyword work am I doing. When I am pulling large keyword lists I almost always use KE. When I am working through Adwords campaigns I always use KE.
I find that I use KE a lot, but thats once my niche is established.
Let’s talk about what KE doesn’t do well. It doesn’t do much to help me choose a niche and find those “profitable” long hanging fruit keywords that I am always looking to SEO for. The search engine dominator tool is a great starting point but with the scale I work it’s just not fast enough. Honestly it’s not really an SEO tool.
With Niche Finder I can screen niches a LOT faster and learn which ones are going to work vs. not work with the competitive strength indicator without having to go through all the manual review of all those SEO factors.
In addition, once I find that niche I can quickly grab a domain choosing from aged or new .com, .net and .org’s. Basically when I want to find and start working with a new niche and when I am looking for new keywords to SEO to bring more targeted traffic, I open Niche Finder. I can be up and running with a new niche in 15 minutes or less sometimes.
Both of these tools will always be in my toolbox. What’s important is understanding what tool works best with what job and when it comes to niche marketing, Niche Finder is my tool of choice.
