Google Adwords Keyword Tool is a favorite tool for sure — it is free and powerful enough for many purposes.  It is the first (and only) keyword research tool that many people use who don’t want to pony up and pay for an even more powerful tool.

It is easy and fast. Here is an example I performed for Catalina Vacations which offers vacation rentals on Catalina Island:

Check out the SEMRush tool for awesome keyword insights based on phrases your competitors are using succesfully.

Keyword Research Tool: Demographic Research Tools

Keyword Research Tools: KeywordDiscovery by Trellian

After doing the “obvious” keyword research using a tool like KeywordDiscovery, I like to get some out of the box ideas using SEMRush.  SEMRush will show you the keyword phrases your competitors are ranking for, and, undoubtedly will reveal some phrases that you hadn’t even though of.

As an example, Hilton Head Vacations and Golf Rentals has several formidable competitors.  I use SEMRush to see who their competitors are.  I enter their domain name:

Then, I look down to their organic competitors:

Then, I select a competitor and look for some good keywords I didn’t consider in my previous search… here is an example:

SEMRush costs $99 for six months… the free version only gives the top 10 results, which probably won’t be enough for the purposes of finding some new and good keywod phrases.

Read an earlier article about using SEMRush to track your search engine rankings.

Other Articles about keyword research:

Keyword Research: Google Adwords Keyword Tool

Keyword Research Tool: Demographic Research Tools

Keyword Research Tools: KeywordDiscovery by Trellian

A popular question around the office is about a  favorite keyword research tool… if we could only subscribe to one keyword research service, it would have to be KeywordDiscovery. It is easy to use and fast. The paid version starts at $69.95 per month. It has an extensive feature list and is powerful enough for enterprise level keyword research.

If you do a search for Orlando rental it will provide many suggested keyword phrases:

One of KeywordDisovery’s strengths is that it shows a seasonal and geographic view of the keyword data… in the hotel and resort industry, this can make a difference! For example, the number of searches for Vail Skiing is would be a lot different in December than May.

You can look at seasonal breakdowns:

(more…)

It is getting harder and harder to get a good domain name.  Just finding a name that is available is tough, especially if you want a .com

The first tool I usually use is the Domain Suggestion Tool which will create dozens of suggestions if you give it a phrase or a domain.  It usually adds and/or substitutes you didn’t think of.  When I put in Glenwood Springs it came up with domains like www.glenwoodspringsworld.com, www.myglenwoodsprings.com and www.glenwoodspringsalive.com. It also suggested www.glenwoodbrooks.com.

Another tool that is more fun is the Domai.nr which creates new combinations using top level domains like www.glenwoodsprin.gs. Domai.nr searches hundreds of lesser-known TLDs (top level domains, like .com, .org and .net) for creative solutions.

OK, I admit it.  I am color challenged.  I know great color when I see it, but am not confident in my own abilities to pick colors.  Recently I have been using online color tools to find new and better color schemes.

Kuler by Adobe is a handy tool that lets you choose different colors to base your palettes on:

to create color palettes like these:

Another similar program that I like even better is Color Scheme Designer. It has a slick color selector and shows off the colors intuitively:

You can take your palette and see what it would look like on a website too:

Find our other favorite tools in our Toolbox.

As most people know, how a search engine sees your webpage is different than how a human sees you page… search engines cannot read your graphics. They also have problems with Flash, Javascript and Ajax to name a few.

It is important to design your webpages so they are usable to both humans and search engines.   I like to use this tool to visually (and viscerally) demonstrate to clients how their page functions (or fails) in the eyes of a search engine.

It is actually pretty easy to see how your page actually looks to Google.

First, you have to do a search in Google and find the page you are want to research.  Try searching for ’site:www.yourdomain.com’ to get a list if it helps.  After you find your domain, click on “Cache”:

Click on the Cache

Then, in the upper right hand corner note the date that the “cache” was created and then click on “Text-only Version”:

Click on Text Only Version

Voila, you see what your pages looks like to Google:

Thanks Wilson for sharing TinEye, a reverse image search engine.  Wow, I found some shocking results I can’t even post.

Do you want to see if anyone is stealing or at least sharing images with you?

Give TinEye your images, and it will produce other instances of that image on the Internet.

Give it your stockphotography and see who else uses it.