Use the AdWords Keyword Tool as a starting point, then grow your keywords beyond what the AdWords Keyword Tool provides. Try WordStream FREE.

1. AdWords Keyword Tool - Beyond Beginner Keyword Research Tools Try Our AdWords Keyword Tool: Start improving your Google AdWords performance today: try our keyword tool free! The AdWords Keyword Tool is an external keyword suggestion tool offered through Google AdWords. This easy-to-use keyword tool is a pretty good way to establish a baseline list of keyword ideas for your website. You enter a word or phrase, or alternatively, a URL, and the AdWords Keyword Tool spits back a list of related keywords and some additional traffic data. The WordStream keyword management solution includes a built-in keyword suggestion tool that provides all the functionality of the AdWords Keyword Tool, but WordStream goes several steps beyond Google's keyword search tool to provide a more complete and accurate way to aggregate keywords. On this page, you'll learn how to use WordStream's version of the AdWords Keyword Tool as well as how to build on that list to develop a far more extensive and relevant keyword taxonomy. Using the AdWords Keyword Tool through WordStream When you sign up for a free trial of WordStream, you'll be prompted to get started by uploading keywords. You have several options for importing keywords. The keyword suggestion tool option makes use of the Google AdWords Keyword Tool API and provides very similar results. As with the AdWords tool, just enter a word or phrase to get started. From here you can adjust the relative volume of keywords or delete unwanted keywords, or just select all to import them into your keyword database. It's that easy! Alternatively, enter a URL (either your own site's or that of a competitor) to see a list of keywords pertinent to that site. The AdWords Keyword Tool will give you a basic starting point for your keyword research. It can be especially helpful if your website is brand new or you haven't yet created a website, but just want to check out the keyword landscape for a given market. However, you'll see much better results from your search marketing efforts if you take your keyword research beyond third-party apps like the AdWords Keyword Tool. How? WordStream: A Better Way to Aggregate Keywords So what's the problem with using the Google Keyword Tool in AdWords and stopping there? The problem is, as with any freely available, public, third-party tool, the keywords it returns come up short in a few ways: Their relevance is questionable: Take the AdWords tool's results for "
cat supplies"
as shown above. Say you own an online pet store and you're looking for keywords you can use to market the cat section of your website. Many of those keywords don't have much to do with pets: "
cat power supplies"
? "
cat birthday party supplies"
? You can never be sure that all these keywords apply to your specific business. Their accuracy is questionable: Notice how the AdWords Keyword Tool displays a "
Global Monthly Search Volume"
—these numbers are just estimates and don't tell you much if you're running a local business. Their number is limited: You might get up to 100 or so keywords—mostly popular, two- or three-word keyword phrases, with no long-tail keywords in sight. What then? To succeed as a search marketer, you need to grow and expand your list into the thousands and beyond. WordStream offers a couple of further options to build the size, value and relevance of your list: Import keywords from your Web server log files: WordStream will mine your historical server data to unearth the real keywords that actual search engine users have typed in to find your website. These keywords are highly specific and unique to your business, unlike those returned by the AdWords Keyword Tool. Plus, they're private, so your competitors won't have access to them. Establish a keyword stream from your website: This is where expansion comes in. Install a small JavaScript tracker on your website and WordStream will continuously research new keywords for you without you having to lift a finger. These keywords are sourced from the search queries that bring new visitors to your site on a daily basis. So your keyword database doesn't just grow—it grows more relevant. Using WordStream instead of or in addition to the AdWords Keyword Tool makes your keyword research so much more valuable as a marketing asset. You'll find you have a lot more leveraging power for both organic SEO and pay-per-click campaigns when your keyword database is private, personalized, maximally relevant, ever-growing and well-organized. Try WordStream Today: Free! Don't pin all your search marketing hopes on the Google AdWords Keyword Tool. See for yourself the difference private, personalized keyword research can make. Learn more about WordStream: Sign up for a free trial Sign up for a free webinar Download our best practices e-book Sign up for our newsletter