Overture Keyword Database Back? So What
September 25th, 2007 — KeithIt’s returning results to Niche Inspector again, but is that a good thing?
My initial reaction, when Overture went down, was “So what!”
And I feel pretty much the same now it is back. I was getting tired of weeding out so many unusable keywords. Not that the alternate database is faultless, but there are far less obvious bad searches, and the results are definitely more up-to-date - vital if you are building sites for tomorrow, rather than yesterday.
There is a quick way to weed out suspect keywords - very important irrespective of which database, or even which keyword research tool you use.
Focus on profit
The huge benefit that Niche Inspector gives over tools such as Wordtracker, is it’s focus on profit. It is one reason for taking your Wordtracker data into Niche Inspector - you can see if those Wordtracker recommendations are going to make you any money.
Apart from the obvious benefit of steering you away from easy-to-rank niches that do not return much money, there is a second benefit.
If Niche Inspector cannot find any CPC data, then it is unlikely that the keyword is going to bring you much in the way of AdSense income. This is not an absolute reason to stay away, but it is wise to proceed with caution. If it combines with no advertisers, then it is unlikely to be profitable, unless you have a good monetization model that does not rely on AdSense or similar advertising schemes.
To weed out the rubbish in Niche Inspector, click the Searches column heading, then the G Ads column heading. This sorts your data by ascending number of Google advertisers, then ascending demand. Look down the list to where the advertisers start. You will see often high numbers of searches with no advertisers. Almost always script generated rubbish that you can get rid of.
Sometimes there are valid keywords that simply do not have current advertising campaigns. Maybe for seasonal goods. Apart from those, you might as well delete the rest and get rid of some clutter - you’ll have less data to transfer into my free niche site planning tool. I will be telling you about the fantastic new features in my next version due soon.
What do you think about the Overture keyword database? Do you still use it? What are the good and bad points for you?
