Internet Keyword Research Software

Frequently Asked Questions

General Questions

Keyword Questions

Site Popularity

Link Popularity

Search Engine Questions

Why is this software free?

Yes, we are aware of the fact that a lot of people will gladly pay for this.

We originally released Good Keywords as a freeware back in 2000 and it became popular very soon. Based on that we released a number of successful commercial software products and we found no reason to start charging for Good Keywords.

We develop a number of commercial software (including an advanced gold version of Good Keywords). Please see the related products page for details. We have many customers who have purchased our commercial products after using the freeware products for a while.

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Do you offer a Mac version of Good Keywords?

We have received numerous queries regarding a Mac version and we might consider it some time in the future. However we are unable to predict when this will happen.

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What does the "count" column (in the keyword suggestion tool Window) show?

The "count" refers to the total number of searches for the keyword (phrase) during the previous month at Yahoo Search Marketing (and it's partner sites).  Count column will show a number only when you use one of the Overture tools (from the "research using" drop down box).

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Why do I often get the message 'Lookup Failed', 'Lookup Error', etc while using the Keyword Suggestion Tool?

Good Keywords retrieves keyword suggestions by connecting to Internet resources like the Overture search suggestion tool. Unfortunately these resources  do go offline sometimes. You will need to wait till they come back online.

Another very common reason is a firewall or security program blocking the software from accessing the internet. Do you have any security software (McAfee/ Norton etc) installed in your system? If so, check your firewall or security program settings and allow the software to access the internet.

Good Keywords caches the results. This means that if you have searched for a word before, you can retrieve the results without actually connecting to the net again.

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Why don't you show the search counts with Ask (Teoma in earlier builds) and Yahoo?

The Ask and Yahoo suggestions don't include a search count. Use these engines to find related terms that may not really contain the original word.

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The Overture tool tells me that it has no suggestions for the word I typed in. But when I search for that word in various search engines I get lots of results!

Overture simply collects the actual searches done by visitors who used Yahoo Search Marketing (Overture) and its partner sites during the previous month. If Overture says that it has no suggestions it simply means that not many people searched those words on Overture.

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How accurate is the Alexa site popularity feature?

Alexa derives the site popularity information from the browsing patterns of its user base.

Alexa is a Windows tool and hence their user base will not include Mac and Unix/Linux users. So if your website is meant for non Windows users the site popularity measurement for your site will be highly inaccurate.

Also, your site popularity ranking will not be accurate if your user base falls under a category that is unlikely to use a tool like Alexa.

Otherwise Alexa will provide a fairly accurate idea about the comparative traffic to your site.

Please do not confuse Alexa visits and ranks with any absolutes. Alexa statistics are generated based on visits from Alexa users (people who have installed the Alexa plug-in in their system) and are useful for comparative study only.

Please visit www.alexa.com for more information.

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How do I improve my link popularity?

Here are some ways to increase your link popularity.

  • Request other sites with similar content for a link.
  • Create good content that others will want to link to.
  • Have an exclusive and good online tool on your site.
  • Actively participate in popular discussion forums and use a signature that link to your site.
  • Write quality articles and allow other sites to freely publish them in return for a link.

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Do you offer a search engine optimization service?

No, There are number of firms and individuals who offer these services.

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I don't have the time to do web promotion. What are the ways of purchasing traffic?

Here are some of the options you have:

  • Hire some one else to do your search engine optimization and marketing.
  • Use pay per click services like Google Adwords, Yahoo Search Marketing, etc.
  • Purchase banner and ad spaces on other websites and newsletters.
  • Start an affiliate program.

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Which are the major search engines?

Here is a list of the top search engines (not necessarily in any particular order)

  • Yahoo (search.yahoo.com)
  • Google (www.google.com)
  • MSN Search (search.msn.com)
  • Ask Jeeves (www.askjeeves.com)
  • All The Web (www.alltheweb.com)
  • HotBot (www.hotbot.com)
  • Altavista (www.altavista.com)
  • AOL Search (www.aolsearch.com)
  • Looksmart (www.looksmart.com)
  • Excite (www.excite.com)
  • Fast Search (www.fastsearch.com)
  • ODP / DMOZ (www.dmoz.com)

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I have a content rich site. Can I ignore all this search engine optimization stuff?

That depends on what your aims are. Ideally it is supposed to be enough if you create a good site with good content, title and a reasonably good keyword density. 

Are the search engines the only way for your visitors to find you? If that is the case, you certainly have to make sure that you rank high on various search engines.

Pay Per Click Search Engines offer an easy way to get listed by simply bidding for a position. However this also requires some work because you will be competing with other sites to retain your rank.

Ultimately you need to make sure that your customer finds your site before he/she finds your competitor's site.

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