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By Scott Buresh
Longtime readers of the Medium
Blue newsletter know that we often make reference
to Wordtracker,
a powerful keyphrase evaluation tool that gives popularity
figures for individual search terms based upon actual
search engine activity. Since the keyphrase selection
process is the most important step in any search engine
optimization campaign, we recently interviewed Andy
Mindel, Wordtracker's founder and president. Andy
was gracious enough to provide some interesting information
about the London-based company and the service that
it provides.
MB:
Tell us a little bit about your background and the
origins of Wordtracker.
AM:
We initially entered the search engine positioning
field. Whilst carrying out some work for ourselves
and friends we only had access to the Overture suggestion
tool. We achieved a number of top ten rankings and
waited for the traffic to flow. The Overture suggestion
tool reported hundreds of visitors a day from each
keyword, so we braced ourselves. Whilst testing we
realized something must be wrong with the search predictions.
We were expecting over ten thousand visitors for the
week and we received about ten. So we carried out
our own research and utilized a keyword source available
on the web at the time. The source was taken from
metacrawlers and the results we received from these
engines were very different. We started to use these
words and found them to be far more accurate. So initially
a simple tool was created for our own use. We then
started to sell this tool to other positioning experts,
who requested additional features. Slowly we integrated
all these and created what you see today.
MB:
Where exactly does the popularity data in the Wordtracker
Database come from?
AM:
Popularity data is taken from the largest metacrawlers
on the web, Dogpile and Metacrawler. After much testing,
we found that results from these engines were more
accurate than other sources. We examined keywords
from other engines and noticed a distortion from position
checkers and hard coded queries. One thing we notice
is that the top keywords always fall into a certain
pattern - these usually consist of google, hotmail,
sex, mp3, etc. When this pattern changes then we know
something's up- and often it's because the engine's
database is being used at another site (for example
gambling or shopping sites).
MB:
For each phrase entered, the Wordtracker database
gives both a "count" and "predict"
number. For those unfamiliar with Wordtracker, can
you explain exactly what these figures represent?
AM:
In a nutshell, the count is the total number of times
that a keyword has been looked up in the past 60 days
using our 350 million keyword database. This database
is the *complete* log of all requests made at the
Metacrawler/Dogpile Metacrawlers (we don't use search
engines because of software robots/position checkers
distorting the results but the lookups are very similar).
The predict column, however, attempts
to predict the total searches of that keyword in the
next 24 hour period for all search engines/directories/pay
per bids to give you a rough idea of whether it's
a good choice or not. It utilizes the predicted total
number of searches made on the net each day (see the
first article referenced below). Sometimes the count/predict
will be very similar. This is because the predicted
total number of daily searches may be the same as
our total database size.
The count is from keywords in our
database. This database is taken from the major metacrawlers
which only get about 2/3% of the total search market
(this number constantly changes). Using the formula
above we work out a predict that represents all engines
on the web. When we work out this number it is often
much higher than the count, as we are taking into
account all the searches on the web and not just the
major metacrawlers.
Please look to the following sources
for detailed explanations of count and predict:
1)
http://www.wordtracker.com/articles, in particular
'How many queries are performed on the web each day'
which explains how we calculate count and predict.
2) Click on the count/predict columns
when you do a search on Wordtracker. Or go directly
to http://www.wordtracker.com/help/counthelp.html.
MB:
How has the increased monetization of search changed
Wordtracker, if at all?
AM:
In our current version we offer the ability to find
niches within the PPC engines. This will be expanded
upon in Wordtracker's new release. There is a much
greater importance placed on these engines and Wordtracker
will be catering for these needs.
MB:
Do your customers consist primarily of search engine
optimization experts, or is there a wide mix?
AM:
Our mix has been getting wider and we now cater for
marketing sites and those just starting out looking
for the idea and inspiration for a new product. However
our predominant base is still positioning specialists.
MB:
What are the limitations of the free Wordtracker trial
(as opposed to the full product)?
AM:
Here is a summary:
The full Wordtracker system returns
300 related words per search (and another 300 from
the thesaurus) whilst the free trial returns 15.
The full database returns up to 500 keywords for each
popularity search. You may also enter any number of
your own keywords. The free trial returns 15.
You can store up to 5,000 keywords with the full membership.
You also clear your basket and delete your last keyword.
With the free trial you can store up to 30 keywords.
You can find out how many people misspell your chosen
keywords (e.g. Altivista, alttavista). This feature
is not available on the free trial.
With the full subscription we provide you with a number
of different ways to search our keyword database -
including word stemming (tie, ties, tieknot), upper
and lower case separation or compression, and pluralisation.
You also have the option to include or exclude adult
search terms.
The full database allows you five projects for each
account. They can be implemented as you need them,
cleared of keywords, renamed or deleted, the choice
is yours. This option is not available on the free
trial.
There are two reports, the short term top 1000 which
shows you data from the last 36 hours, and the long
term top 1000 which shows you data from the last 8
weeks. This allows you to spot trends, sudden surges
of interest or keywords which stick around consistently
from day to day.
MB:
What future changes or additions do you anticipate
for Wordtracker, in the short and long term?
AM:
For the last year and a half we have been working
on a new and updated Wordtracker. We have rewritten
the infrastructure to make its workings faster and
smoother. We have been receiving suggestions over
this period from our users, all these will be implemented.
We are also releasing a webservices side to Wordtracker
which will allow users to connect to all parts of
Wordtracker via an API. There have been big changes,
far too many to list. We are hoping to release Wordtracker
in Beta mode early next year and then we will implement
any other changes and suggestions throughout this
period.
MB:
Thanks for taking the time for this interview, and
good luck with the upcoming release.
AM:
No worries.
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