SBI! Research Tool Full Review
Site Build It! Keyword Research Tool Review
Software Type: Web Based
Cost: $299 a year
Site Build It! is a well known and respected service that helps people research, develop and market niche websites no matter what their skill level. Many newcomers love Site Build It! because they don’t have to mess around with learning the technical aspects and can focus on the marketing side of their website. In a similar way, even experienced campaigners use SBI! as a way to streamline the development of multiple niche sites.
As part of the SBI! system they include a Keyword Research system that has been highly acclaimed by many Internet marketers. While there are many other features that are part of the SBI! software, I’m going to focus on the keyword research aspect. You can learn more about the how the whole system works by going to the website.
Ok, let’s have a look at what I found.
My Experience
I logged into SBI! with the understanding that this is not only a keyword research tool, but also offers a complete solution for building niche websites from scratch. However, as I believe that keyword research is such an important aspect in creating a successful online business, I was interested to see just how well the SBI! system handles it.
Once I was in there I had a look around and found Brainstorm It!, The keyword research tool of SBI!. Within Brainstorm It! there were two options, Brainstormer and Master Keyword List. I clicked on the Brainstormer and went to work.
I completed the Vertical Brainstorm and selected the Yahoo! keyword tool method. This basically goes out and grabs the data from the Overture (Yahoo! Search Marketing) keyword suggestion tool. It was a little strange - when you clicked it, it launched the actual page of the keyword suggestion tool. It asked you to save the HTML source and create a new file to load into the Brainstormer. I guess this helps get around any page scraping that other tools do that may be a violation of the terms of service. I completed these requirements and loaded the keywords into the Master Keyword List.
I went back to the Brainstormer and performed the other version of the vertical search and used the Wordtracker version. This is a neat use of Wordtracker without the expense of having to subscribe directly. You start with 25 free Wordtracker queries and then can purchase additional packages of 100 ($20) and 500 ($50) queries. This is full access to the entire Wordtracker database, not just the free component. I loaded up the Wordtracker keywords to complete my vertical search component of the Brainstormer.
I was now ready to use the lateral search aspects to see if there were some other niche areas I could tap into using this tool. The lateral search tool went out and looked up words from the top 200 sites that Google returns for the search phrase I was using (“fly fishing”). This was actually a really good way to find lots of loosely related keywords. However, I found the interface a bit clumsy when I tried to deal with them all.
This created a lot of work for me and was quite time consuming. There should ideally be a way to delete many at the same time without having to check each one individually. I guess that is one of the drawbacks of using web based software instead of desktop based. However, it found lots of useful keywords that no other software seemed to find.
It loaded all of the keywords up, but it was missing the demand and supply data for many of the keywords. This was due to the fact that many of the lateral keywords were found using methods that didn’t come with corresponding search volume. I was able to reload the keywords via the Wordtracker data with this information. I liked how it did it in this way as it was good to get a consistent measure across all keywords despite where it originated from. This consistency gives a clearer message on the value of the keywords in question. Once this data was brought in it would provide the corresponding KEI data.
I could now sort the list as I wished and had 617 good keywords to work with. For the words that seemed worthwhile pursuing, Brainstorm It! could provide me with a lot more information including the URLs that have a high ranking for the keyword as well as the ranking quality of the site. This quality included its Alexa rank, and the inbound links. This really helps you understand how stiff the competition is. The higher these values, the harder it will be to do well with this keyword. It takes a while to generate this info, but it is always available.
I was also pleasantly surprised that the software allowed me to create keyword sets based on my original seed keyword or phrase. This meant that I could do keyword research for topics outside my SBI! Site’s topic. They could have easily restricted you to just one set of keywords.
Unfortunately Brainstorm It! does not have any PPC data for comparison as it just focuses on organic search traffic. However, you can also attach notes and ideas to each keyword as you work which may be helpful depending upon how you work. You can also find free associated content and imagery to help you build your site.
There is a separate PPC module but it doesn’t provide the sort of data experienced PPC advertisers need. A new “Monetize It!” module is planned. It is believed this will provide more useful data.
Summary
So what did I end up with after using Site Build It!?
- 617 relevant keywords with Supply, Demand, KEI. There were also other tools included as part of the larger workflow required to successfully build a niche website.
Strong Aspects
The strong points of this product:
- Part of a larger powerful package and workflow.
- Great way to generate large lists.
- Uses both Wordtracker and Overture (Yahoo! Search Marketing) data.
- Excellent lateral searching.
- Unique approach.
Weak Aspects
The weak points of this product:
- The interface is a little clumsy and requires some reading to get up and running correctly.
- Doesn’t have enough PPC data.
- A little slow at times.
Who is it ideal for?
This package is perfect for people who are looking for more of a complete solution, of which Keyword Research is a part of this solution. This is especially the case for people who are looking at targeting niche areas.
Do you have a question about Site Build It? Talk to a successful SBI user and ask any question at all.
Rating
| For Niche Miners: |   |
| For Search Engine Optimizers: | |
| For Pay Per Click Advertisers: | |
| For AdSense Publishers: | |
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Site: Visit Site Build It! Now!
"This created a lot of work for me and was quite time consuming. There should ideally be a way to delete many at the same time without having to check each one individually. I guess that is one of the drawbacks of using web based software instead of desktop based." I found a way to speed this up quite a bit: instead of checking all the ones you don't want, you click "check all", and then UNclick the ones you want to keep. Then click "delete all checked keywords".