Google keyword tool is wrong

by Mich
19 replies
I had just built a whole website based on a particular keyword I came across in Jan. The keyword tool showed the searches for the previous month were 160,000, and the monthly average was 110,000, with very low competition. Imagine my excitement. My website was just submitted to the search engines last week and is not yet showing when you google the keywords, so I've placed an adwords ad which does show on the first page. It's not getting any clicks. I've just looked at the keyword tool again and all of a sudden it shows 91 searches for that keyword last month. Not 91,000, just 91
#google #keyword #tool #wrong
  • Profile picture of the author a2dsilva
    wow!

    Is the 91 "phrase" or "broad" results? If it's broad that would be worse.

    I forget does Google Keyword tool display in daily searches or Monthly - I thought it was monthly so then you'd have to divide by 30 to get daily searches... at 91 monthly searches means you'd be getting about 3 searches a day...
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  • Profile picture of the author Joseph Then
    Select "phrase" and see if it tally.

    Also, make sure that the country tally too.
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  • Profile picture of the author Thomas
    Originally Posted by Mich View Post

    I had just built a whole website based on a particular keyword I came across in Jan. The keyword tool showed the searches for the previous month were 160,000, and the monthly average was 110,000, with very low competition. Imagine my excitement. My website was just submitted to the search engines last week and is not yet showing when you google the keywords, so I've placed an adwords ad which does show on the first page. It's not getting any clicks. I've just looked at the keyword tool again and all of a sudden it shows 91 searches for that keyword last month. Not 91,000, just 91
    Are you saying the fact that you haven't been indexed, and that you Adwords ads are getting poor CTR, means that the Google keyword tool is wrong?
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  • Profile picture of the author AndyBlackSEO
    I agree, select phrase. Also, you don't need to submit your site to Google. Just link to it from a popular site. Is your site indexed in Google now? Also, with your ad, what geographical area are you covering?
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  • Profile picture of the author hotlinkz
    I have never seen this anomaly, but I guess anything is possible.

    You might want to expand your keyword list. If you are depending on one keyword for an entire site it could cause some problems when the competition starts learning about it.

    So have you checked lately? What's the search count now?
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  • Profile picture of the author artwebster
    According to my wife, every dictionary we own is wrong because she thinks the words are spelt differently.

    After the click rate fell to 91, what was the revised average? The new average would give you a way to work out how long the 110,000 average has held and if the drop is as sudden as you say, the average (if based on three months, as an example) will now be 82,500.

    If you can do this calculation and the figures don't work - you miss read the figures to start with.
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    • Profile picture of the author ronr
      There are many problems with Google Keyword tool and the numbers are sometimes way off.

      I've had it report the number of searches for a keyword for a single city be many times larger than the number of searches for the same term in a large region that included the same city plus several other large cities.

      I've been told the only to get an accurate number of searches is to set up a Adwords campaign for the term, run it for a few days and see the number of actual searches. Set up the ad and bid so won't get clicks, you just want to see impressions.

      Do a search here. There have been other posts on this.

      Ron
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  • Profile picture of the author Samuel Lee
    Sounds a little off to be sure. As a suggestion, you could try and expand your existing keyword list to a broader and possibly targeted list. If you particular on one keyword for your webpage it could cause some problems down the track when your competition investigates and finds it. Maybe try a revised search count now and see if it has changed in any way. Hope this assists!
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  • Profile picture of the author xlfutur1
    I have found the same thing with some local keywords myself. I was helping a friend in the real estate business with some PPC and google really overestimated the phrase and exact matches for some local keywords. I ran some PPC on google with the exact same keyword phrase in the headline and was not getting anywhere near the impressions that they lead me to believe would happen. A few clicks came in but it was not even close to the amount of searches for that keyword they said it would be. Its a guide like everything else is I guess.
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  • Profile picture of the author staxx
    There is so much more to keyword research than googles tool.
    You should always use several tools to get a better overview of whats really going on.
    One tool I always use is google trends.
    If you target a keyword that gets a high number of searches that alone does not mean it will make you money. If you are on first page on google adwords and not getting any clicks your ad may not be good, or you may be targeting a highly searched term with lots of competition, or it may not be a buying keyword. From what you have presented here I would advise you to go out and research how to pick good keywords. I'm talking about what good keywords are, not just trying to find high volume searches that may not make you a dime. The only thing that really matters is your bottom line-How much are you profiting.
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  • Profile picture of the author GeorgR.
    Check out Google, Keyword Tool - And Weird Results | www.1UP-SEO.com

    I observed some oddities also with that tool.
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  • Profile picture of the author joan007
    I wonder if you had compared other keyword tools (Free SEOBook, and Wordtracker), to the google keyword tool if you would have had the same results for your keyword?
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  • Profile picture of the author jasonl70
    if it's a hot kw, google will not always give you a lot of impressions at first.

    For example, I've bid big money on these terms, and it took over a month before google opened the flood gates:

    dodge
    chrylser
    jeep

    so you MAY be experiencing something similar..
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  • Profile picture of the author jasonl70
    another thing to consider - was your google ad only using exact match? I ask because the keyword tool shows broad match by default.
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    -Jason

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  • Profile picture of the author dsmpublishing
    if we all admitted it i bet it has happened to all of us at some point myself included.
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  • Profile picture of the author Steadyon
    Yes, there can be anomalies.

    The over-riding criteria is that common sense has to be applied.

    Always ask yourself the question "does this make sense?"
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  • Profile picture of the author BizBoost
    Sounds like you didn't cross-check your results on WordTracker or any other keyword tool. This is where the term, "due diligence", comes in... I hope this did not cost you much but it's a good lesson.

    Eric
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  • Profile picture of the author Fernando Veloso
    Maybe you can use this too: Google TrafficEstimatorSandbox

    Hope it helps.
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