Good Keywords User Guide

Resources

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Good Keywords User Guide

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The Startup Window
Explains the main program window and the basic options
Keyword Suggestion Tool
For finding related keyword suggestions
Misspelled Words Tool
For generating common misspellings of your keywords
Web Page Explorer
For exploring web pages, obtaining additional keywords from other pages and checking keyword density of pages.
Keyword Phrase Builder
For building more keyword phrases by combining two or more keywords
Site & Link Popularity Tool
For checking the site and link popularity of your sites and those of your competitors
Keyword Organizer
For organizing and managing your keywords
Common Problems
The most common problems you may face when using Good Keywords. Please check this before contacting us
Frequently Asked Questions
Frequently asked questions about the software and its uses
Screen Shots
Screen shots of various Good Keyword tools

The Startup Window

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Why Use Good Keywords?

Using Good Keywords simply saves a lot of time and effort. It stores your entire research so that the data is always available to you (even if you are not connected to the Internet). You can copy the generated keywords into the clipboard and then paste it into any external application. You can also organize the keywords into groups and export the data to text files.

Good Keywords Main Window

Good Keywords includes the following tools.

Basic Tool Settings

Allow only one tool to be on top at a time

Good Keywords includes a number of different tools each of which opens in a new window. Checking this option will cause only one tool to be open at a time. For example, if this option is checked and you click on the keyword suggestion tool button, it will hide any existing tools and then open the keyword suggestion tool window. If this option is not checked, multiple tool windows will be open and you will be able to use the tools at the same time.

Check this option if you want to keep the desktop clean and simple.

Uncheck this option if you wish to use different tools simultaneously or wish to copy and paste data from one tool window to another.

Run On Windows Startup

Checking this option will cause the software shortcut to be added to the startup folder of the Windows Start menu. The software will then run automatically whenever Windows is started.

Run From System Tray

If this option is checked the software will minimize to the system tray (instead of closing the application) when you click the exit button. You will be able to access Good Keywords again by simply double clicking the tray icon.

Use this if you use Good Keywords often and want to access it easily.

Minimize To System Tray At Startup

This will cause the software to minimize to the system tray whenever you start it. You will need to double click the system tray icon to actually open the window.

Use this if you wish to only have the software available from the system tray. It is probably best to use this option in combination with run on Windows startup option.

Keyword Suggestion Tool Window

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Lookup error problems?

The purpose of the keyword suggestion tool is to find keywords that online users are likely to use when they search for information on the Internet. It will also suggest additional keyword phrase combinations you may not have thought of.

All you need to do is type in a base word (or phrase) and click the Go button. The software will use one of the online tools (made available by search engines) to find additional words and phrases related to the base keyword.

Note: You can resize the various tool windows of Good Keywords using the mouse.

Search Suggestion Tool Options

Base Keyword

The base keyword is the starting point for your research. For example, if you are looking for keyword suggestions for comics you would type in comics as the base keyword and click the Go button.

Research Using... (dropdown box)

Good Keywords obtains the keyword suggestions from the various public tools offered by search engines. These include the different Overture keyword suggestion tools and the additional keyword suggestions offered by the web searches from Yahoo and Ask (Teoma in earlier builds).

The Overture suggestion tools also provide additional data on the number of times each keyword phrase was searched for during the previous month.

For example, if you type 'computer' the Overture US suggestion tool will tell you that during the last month the word 'computer' was searched 3127749 (these numbers are not exact and are used as examples only) times at Overture US. Similarly 'computer game' was searched 158666 times. Also, given one word it will tell you all relevant combinations of that word (again this is based on actual searches done by people).

If the word you typed in not a common search term you will not get any results. It simply means that very few people actually searched for that word during the last month.

If you research using Yahoo or Ask, the suggestion tool will tell you the other combinations of keywords similar to the one you typed in (related searches). If these search engines have no suggestion it doesn't mean that there are actually no search results. Please note that the results are different from the Overture suggestion tool, though Overture is actually Yahoo Search Marketing.

The software is useful for researching how people search the web and then optimizing your own web pages so that more people find your web site.

Clearing the previous search entries from the dropdown box

To clear the drop down boxes (containing the base keywords etc.) in each tool window, simply type

(including the angled brackets) and click the Gobutton.

Local Cache and Cache Life

The software will save all your keyword research to a local cache. This will allow you to build your own local keyword suggestion database automatically. If you try to do a lookup for a base keyword again, the software will pick up the data from the local cache instead of doing an Internet lookup.

There are two ways to force the software to do a real lookup instead of cache lookup. You can right click within the current results and select Remove this result from history menu option or you can use the Settings button in the main window to change the cache life from the default 14 days.

If Lookup Fails

This is most probably due to 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?

Please check your firewall or security program settings and allow the software to access the internet.

Create misspelled keywords

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Use the misspelling generator to create misspellings of your keyword. The misspellings may be generated based on a number of options.

The supported options include duplicate characters, missing character, swapped characters and keyword proximity errors.

You can right click within the generated word list to copy the words to the clipboard or to the keyword organizer.

You may want come up with some creative methods for adding misspelled words to your copy. Otherwise it will appear as if you haven't proof read your copy. You can also use misspelled words in your PPC keywords.

Misspelling generator options

Duplicate characters

Checking this box will create misspellings based on duplicate characters.

Example:

Computer -> compputer

Missing character

Checking this box will create misspellings by removing one character at a time.

Example:

Computer-> comuter

Swapped Characters

This will create misspellings where two of the characters are swapped (a common error while typing on the keyboard)

Example:

Computer -> Comupter

Keyboard Proximity Errors

Create misspelled words based on keyboard typing errors. For example, often people type S instead of A because A and S are next to each other on the keyboard.

Example:

Computer -> Compiter

Explore Web Pages and Keyword Distribution

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Web Page Explorer allows you to research and study the keyword density of different web pages. Simply type in a URL and click Go. There are options to display the HTML source, HTTP Header, plain text, keyword density and so on.

You can also decide if Web Page Explorer should follow redirects or if it should use an actual browser to fetch the page.

Web Page Explorer can be used to generate thousands of additional keyword phrases by exploring web pages that rank on top at different search engines.

Web Explorer Options

Follow HTTP Redirects

Checking this option will cause the software to fetch the final destination page after following any redirects (HTTP 301/302, etc),

Use Real Browser

This is a powerful option to see a web page the way the end user views it.

There are a number of products that claim to encrypt html pages. Using the web page explorer with this option turned on will clearly show that these products are really not fool proof! These encryption products simply use a simple Java script to keep the html code obfuscated. Using a real browser will cause all the client side scripts to be executed (for example, java scripts) and the HTML obfuscation will disappear.

Combine multiple words to create Keyword Phrases

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Keyword Phrase Builder is a simple tool for combining one or more words or phrases to generate a large number of keyword phrases.

There are three word sets into which you can type in words or phrases. The Generate button will then combine these words to create the phrases.

When generating the keyword phrases the software will maintain the same order of the word sets.

For example

Word Set-1 contains

domain

Word Set-2 contains

name
registration

Word Set-3 contains

service

The created words will be

domain name service
domain registration service
domain name
domain registration
domain service
name service
registration service

It will not create

service registration
name domain
service domain
...etc

Check the site and link popularity

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The site and link popularity tool allows you to examine the relative popularity of different sites.

Alexa Statistics

Alexa ranks web sites depending on the number of times Alexa users visit the site. While this is not exactly accurate it gives a good indication of how your site compares with that of your competitors. Since Alexa is a browser add-on toolbar for a Windows browser (IE), the Alexa statistics will not be accurate for sites that are normally visited by non IE surfers.

Please note that Good Keywords will not install Alexa in your system. It just connects to Alexa's web based information page and retrieves the data about any domain you type in.

Link Popularity

The Link Popularity Meter displays the number of web sites that link to your site. This information is extracted from search engines (Altavista, MSN and Google).

Organize and Manage Your Keywords

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Keyword organizer helps you store the keywords that interest you. You can group the keywords into Keyword sets (while adding keywords into the organizer you will be prompted to select the keyword set).

All the the keyword generation tools found in Good Keywords support exporting the keywords into the organizer. This option is available from the context menu (right click within the keyword set to activate the context menu).

Google Adword Keyword Wrapping

You can automatically wrap keywords in the organizer for Google Adword usage (negative, phrase and exact matches) from the context menu. The keywords are wrapped and then copied to the clipboard, ready to be pasted into any other application including the Google Adword interface.

Adding, Renaming and Deleting Keyword Sets

Use the Keyword Menu button to add, rename or delete keyword sets.

Using the Windows Clipboard

The various tools in Good Keywords (including the keyword organizer) allow you to copy keywords into the clipboard.

The clipboard is a tool already available in Microsoft Windows and is very handy to transfer content from one application to another.

Once you copy something to the clipboard, you can paste it into another application by usually selecting the Edit > Paste menu of that application. For example, after you copy keywords from Good keywords, open the Windows notepad and select Edit > Paste from the menu. The keywords you copied to the clipboard will now appear in the Notepad window.

Good Keywords: Common Problems

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Here are some of the most common problems you may encounter when using Good Keywords.

Lookup failed or missing results when doing keyword suggestion lookups

How do I clear previous lookup results and base keywords from keyword suggestion tool window?

Why are the search counts missing when I do a keyword suggestion lookup?

What is the Keyword Organizer for?

I copied keywords to the clipboard. Now what?

I copied the keywords to the clipboard. Now what?

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If you have this question, you really should brush up your Microsoft Windows fundamentals ;)

Anyway, the clipboard is not something internal to the Good Keywords software. It is a tool already available in Microsoft Windows to transfer content from one application to another.

Once you copy something to the clipboard, you can paste it into another application by usually selecting the Edit > Paste menu of that application. For example, after you copy keywords from Good keywords, open the Windows notepad and select Edit > Paste from the menu. The keywords you copied to the clipboard will now appear in the Notepad window.

Using the Keyword Organizer

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Keyword organizer is used to hold keywords you find interesting or wish to use in your projects. You can add keywords to the Keyword Organizer from the other tool windows (like the Keyword suggestion tool, Misspelled Word tool, etc.). Simply right click within these tool lists and select the Copy To Organizer menu option.

Within Keyword Organizer you can also create different keyword sets for holding your keywords.

Missing or Different Search Counts

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When using the keyword suggestion tool, the search counts are displayed only if you select one of the Overture based search engines from the Research Using drop down box. The search counts will not be displayed for Yahoo and Ask (Teoma in earlier builds). This is mentioned on the program window (see the screen shot below).

Also, the software supports different Overture keyword selector tools (like Overture US, Overture UK, Overture AU, etc.). So please make sure that you select the required tool from the Research Using drop down box in the software. The search counts will differ based on the Overture tool you selected.

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How do I clear the previous results & base keywords

...from keyword suggestion tool window?

Use the Settings button in the main window and select the appropriate Wipe Cache button.

To clear the drop down boxes (containing the base keywords etc.) in each tool window, simply type

(including the angled brackets) and click the Go button.

You may want to clear the cache once in 3-4 months (more often if you use the software a lot and you notice the software becoming slow to startup).

Power Tip

You can also export your entire keyword research data into a CSV file using the Keyword Suggestion Tool > Menu Button > Export Keyword Data (CSV) option. So it is possible to save all the keyword research data in the cache before deleting it. Use Microsoft Excel or any other spread sheet software to open the CSV file.

Lookup Failed / Missing results...

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... when doing keyword suggestion lookups

June 2009 - Update!

Please note that the Overture Keyword Suggestion tool is now dead and buried. As of now, you will get empty results when you try to use the keyword suggestion tool in Good Keywords.

Also note that as of July 8, 2008, the Google Keyword Tool has started displaying the keyword search counts.

We will be updating Good Keywords and replacing the keyword suggestion tool in it with a basic version derived from our Keyword Strategy Studio.

timeout or connection problem at the search engine web page. This usually happens because too many people are trying to access the same tool. Simply wait a few seconds and try again. This problem is common during November-December (and other peak seasons) because too many people are trying to access the Yahoo keyword suggestion tool.

-- A firewall or security program is blocking the software from accessing the internet. Do you have any security software (McAfee/ Norton etc) installed in your system? Please check your firewall or security program settings and allow the software to access the internet.

So how do you know if it is because of a firewall?

The problem is not because of firewall or security software if you are able to get results using any one of the "research using" (the drop-down box) options. If all "research using" options fail, you should suspect firewall / security software.

Most times, temporary timeout problems exist for the Overture based tools. Simply wait a while and try again.

Frequently Asked Questions

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General Questions

Keyword Questions

Site Popularity

How accurate is the Alexa site popularity feature?

Link Popularity

How do I improve my link popularity?

Search Engine Questions

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

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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.

Which are the major search engines?

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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)

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

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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.

Do you offer a search engine optimization service?

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

How do I improve my link popularity?

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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.

How accurate is the Alexa site popularity feature?

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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.

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

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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.

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

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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.

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

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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.

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

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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).

Do you offer a Mac version of Good Keywords?

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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.

Why is this software free?

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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.

Main Screen Shot

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[Product Home] [The Startup Window]

Keyword Suggestions

[Product Home] [Keyword Suggestion Tool]

Misspelled Words

[Product Home] [Misspelled Keywords] [More Screen Shots]