Major Conflict between WordTracker and Market Samurai

[Shaun Lee]

Hello Warriors, I have a question here between Market Samurai and Wordtracker.

Wordtracker states that there are about 10 searches per day for "example keyword", but Market Samurai shows a search volume of 1000 searches per day. There are many other keywords showing the same scenario.

Question is, which one do I believe in?

[JMartin]

It's been awhile since I used Wordtracker, but make sure you're doing like searches (phrase - phrase, exact - exact, etc). If you're doing exact on one and broad on another, that would be a reason for the mix up.

Assuming you've got everything right, I'd just look up G AdWords info (should confirm MS info) and go from there.

If all else fails and this is going to be a major project try setting up an Ad Words campaign for the KWP. Point the URL to the #1 listing for the KWP. Set your budget to like $5. Bid for #1. Write a crappy ad.

Let it run for 24 hours (or as long as it runs) and you should have your answer. If Wordtracker is right, you'll only see a max of 10 impressions for the day and it won't end up costing you much of anything.

[MarioSotojr]

I've found when I am in doubt about a keyword I setup a google alert on that keyword and point it to a gmail account and see what kind of queries it comes back with. It usually takes a couple of days to get results to see if the keyword is a viable option. But it also gives you viable leads that you can use to your advantage as well.

Also compare your results with googles external keyword tool and see what the global search tells you. I still find the external keyword tool to be a very accurate indicator on how much traffic the keyword you looking to rank for is worth to you.

The other option is to use spyfu and spy on the top websites that are ranking for that keyword before I setup an adwords campaign.
Best of luck

[Andrew O]

Originally Posted by MarioSotojr

I've found when I am in doubt about a keyword I setup a google alert on that keyword and point it to a gmail account and see what kind of queries it comes back with. It usually takes a couple of days to get results to see if the keyword is a viable option. But it also gives you viable leads that you can use to your advantage as well.

Wow that's a brilliant idea, I never thought of that. And I've noticed discrepancies with various keyword tools as well, usually I just revert to Google's keyword tool, that always seems to be the most accurate and it's generally the only one I use.

[seobro]

Another tool I use is Keyword Discovery. It tends to be good for finding long tail keywords. For high traffic, wordtracker is more accurate than low traffic. For very low traffic look at Google Keyword Tool. It can display phrases with even less than ten clicks per month.

[Shaun Lee]

Thanks everyone!

So the better way to go is to follow Google's Keyword Tool right?

Well, off I go!

[BrentHodgson]

This is pretty common...

The reason Market Samurai and WordTracker results will vary is because Market Samurai uses data collected from Google, and WordTracker uses data that it collects from a variety of other sources.

Google's Adwords Keyword Tool will confirm Market Samurai results (although MS will show daily traffic, Google monthly) so long as you make sure you've selected the same country and language in both tools. However, the only way to double-check traffic levels is to actually do something with the keyword (i.e. run an Adwords campaign) and check results.

I hope this helps.