I was telling someone the other day about what I’ve been up to. I explained how I had been researching all of the major Keyword Research tools and was writing about my findings. They had some foundational knowledge about keyword research, but the big thing was, they really understood its importance. They asked me the process I undertook to get my head around comparing all these different tools in one report.

Now you have to remember that most people I socialize with do not work Internet based jobs. They work traditional jobs. Hence, I get little opportunity to speak about this kind of thing so was excited to chat to someone about it. I don’t think he will ask me a question like that again, after I talked his ear off for some time about how I researched these different tools.

The way I approached it was simple in philosophy, but quite difficult in application. In simple form, it went something like this.

1. I firstly researched the different tools that were available on the market and made a list.
2. I acquired the software and installed it on my test machine.
3. I casually used the software to get acquainted with it in a general way. I did this for a particular reason. I wanted to get a feel for the cross section of methods for completing particular tasks. I didn’t want the first tool I used to be the comparison point for the rest of the tools.
4. I continued to look for tools and repeated the process above.
5. Once I thought I was ready, I began to plan out how I was going to tackle the comparison.
6. I understood that different users have different requirements. I formulated 4 groups of people and the kinds of things they are looking for in a keyword research tool. I have been fortunate enough to have a fairly diverse background in Internet marketing, so at different times I have worn all 4 different hats. The groups I decided on were SEO people, niche miners, AdSense publishers and PPC advertisers.
7. I researched a topic that had the kind of keyword depth and complexity I was looking for. I narrowed the group down, did some preliminary testing and then decided on a single keyword phrase.
8. I took that keyword phrase and did real life research on it with each of the tools ensuring that I spent time in each of the four roles that represented the four user groups.
9. I then cross referenced the tools with each other, other keyword phrases and actual real life scenarios for our business. This took a lot of time!
10. During the whole process I took detailed notes for each tool.
11. I then began the arduous task of bringing together all of my thoughts to try and normalise the standards across all tools, looking at their strong and weak points.
12. I began to write the 153 page report, while at the same time going back and using the tools once again during this process to clarify my thinking.

While I expected the process to take some time, I didn’t anticipate the time it would take to get a clear picture of the keyword research landscape in my head. It really was a distilling process.

I had so much information and experience in my head (after all it was hundreds of hours of testing) that it took time for me to get clarity and form some sort of usable framework in my head for what it was all about. The clarity eventually came and I hope I have accurately portrayed.