WordStream Release Free-For-All Keyword Tool

Free is still the key word these days. Marketers have come to expect it from Google, but WordStream has introduced a tool that serves up the first 10,000 suggestions for related keywords for free.

Suggested terms through The Free Keyword Tool draws from a keyword database built with purchased search data from ISPs, search engines and companies that make toolbars. The filtered keyword function is free, too.

"The tool is about generating niche suggestions you wouldn't have thought of before," says Tom Demers, WordStream director of marketing. "It's a little bit about saving money and gaining more valuable suggestions."

Type in a phrase, such as "search engine optimisation," and get returned keywords related to the United Kingdom, such as Ireland and co uk. The tool lets marketers know the words are in some way related to the U.K. spelling "optimisation," rather than the U.S. spelling "optimization."

WordStream also has a filter function, so marketers can remove certain terms. Simply highlight the word in the results to filter and click on the red "X" to remove it.

Google on Friday released a free feature in Google AdWords that combines the functions of the Keyword Tool and the Search-based Keyword Tool. This gives marketers keyword ideas based on keywords entered in the Web site content and user searches.

The Mountain View, Calif. company also added the ability to search by any combination of a keyword, Web site, URL, or category, rather than performing each search separately. Marketers can now see all match types for a keyword at the same time to help compare statistics for each.

The big hole in the industry centers on generating and aggregating keyword suggestions and ideas. So, with WordStream's next release, scheduled for release by the end of the year, the tool will aggregate data from various sources. Marketers will have an option to tag and view pay-per-click (PPC) or search engine optimization (SCO) keyword data, as well as traffic estimates from third-party tools, which Demers refers to as "fake data."

"One of the problems with keyword research tools is they give you generally acceptable data, but it's not always 100% applicable to you," he says. "There may be a lot of keyword results for 'IT consulting,' but it doesn't necessarily mean my small IT consulting shop in Boston can take the data and do anything with it."

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