A World of Bytes

Curt Monash

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Fun and profit with the Google External Keyword Tool

By CurtMonash on Wed, 07/09/08 - 10:32am.

There are 1300 Google searches per month on George Bush sucks, 1000 on Ron Paul sucks, 2400 on Hillary Clinton naked, 185 million on hotel, and 110,000 on asdf. Or so the Google External Keyword Tool claims. Many more examples can be found over on Text Technologies, where I also gave a few practical usage tips. (E.g., it doesn't always play nicely in Firefox, but it's just fine in Firefox + IE Tab.)

But Google External Keyword is a lot more than a toy. Used correctly, it's an indispensable aid to even the most basic of search engine optimization, because it tells you what keywords people actually search on. Like all tools, it can be misused, usually by inducing people to try for a highly popular keyword that's only partly relevant to their business.

The correct way (well, one correct way) to use Google External is this:

Brainstorm a list of keywords/keyphrases you think that your best prospective customers would use.
No, not just you and your closest colleagues -- ask people outside your company, preferably in actual customer organizations.
When you have your candidate list, run it through Google External. See which ones actualy get used.
Search on the best of them. Look at the results. See if you think you can get near the top of those results at your budget and skill level. Be honest.
If you don't like the honest answer to #4, try to find more restrictive keywords/keyphrases that are less competitive. Repeat until done.

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About A World of Bytes

Curt Monash is a leading analyst of and strategic advisor to the software industry. Praised by Lawrence J. Ellison for his "unmatched insight into technology and marketplace trends," Curt was the software/services industry's #1 ranked stock analyst while at PaineWebber, Inc., where he served as a First Vice President until 1987. He subsequently co-founded Evernet, Inc., a $40 million networking systems integrator. Since 1990, he has owned and operated Monash Research, an analysis and advisory firm covering software-intensive sectors of the technology industry. In that period he also has been co-founder, president, or chairman of several other technology startups.

Curt has served as a strategic advisor to many well-known firms, including Oracle, Microsoft, SAP, AOL, CA, and Netezza. Curt earned a Ph.D. in mathematics (Game Theory) from Harvard University. He has held faculty positions in mathematics, economics and public policy at Harvard, Yale, and Suffolk universities.