Register
Forgot Password?
Score
-
-
-
  /100
Certificate
SEO Certificate

Option 2: One click to choose the best keywords

Sorry, you are not logged in. Please login to get full access to this page or register if you're not registered yet.

Yes, the time comes to see how keyword software makes the final decision swiftly and gracefully. So I'm anxious to say, it's already there. Rank Tracker is done with keyword research — and with the choice as well.

Let's have a look. On the right of the keyword tool's window, find the combo box with workspaces and choose Keyword Research View. Now you can see a column with KEI. In this column, the tool has put a color marker for each word, ranging from green to red.

Keyword Efficiency Index In Rank Tracker SEO Tool
Keyword Efficiency Index in Rank Tracker

So, What's KEI and Why Do We Need It?

As I already told you, KEI, or keyword efficiency index is an SEO know-how. It shows you how good a keyword is for bringing traffic to your site. Or, putting it simple, how much positive effect keywords have on your paychecks.

You need keywords with high KEI. The greener the marker is in Rank Tracker, the better the keyword. So just sort keywords by KEI (click the header of the column), and separate the best keywords from non-worthy ones. And, you can just remove the keywords having bad KEI.

Keyword Efficiency Index In Rank Tracker SEO Tool
In the beginning choose keywords with "green" KEI

Leave about 100-130 keywords. First, pay attention to the top 5 ones. You'll use them a lot to optimize your website. The next 30 will be a good alternative, say, to create variations. Then, the remaining terms are good enough and should be there just in case.

DO IT NOW! Calculate KEI for your keywords, sort them out and choose 5 best keywords, 30 alternative ones, and leave 65 more to be able to create more variations.



Let's sum it up. You will hardly realize it at the moment, but now you have a list of premium quality keywords that are worth a fortune. As a next step, we'll check where your site ranks for these words. To put it simple, let's find our starting point.

prev_image
Previous: Shortlist your keywords
Next: Making Your First Ranking Report
next_image
 

35 comments

Add comment Hide commentsShow comments

Please log in or register to leave a comment.

2008-07-31 16:46:26: Adrian Beadell

Well.... you will get this info IF you BUY the "free" tool !!!

Answer
2008-07-31 17:14:09: Gerben Bouwhuis

@adrian,

You should really buy it. it's a big help, especially for comparison of your trackings!

Answer
2008-08-01 08:46:13: Dan Richmond

@Adrian Beadell:
I thought I was fair. Whatever I advise you to do, I'm describing a FREE option along with a quicker paid option.
I do trust in Rank Tracker and it's a huge time-saver, that's why I recommend it.

Answer
2008-08-02 03:59:59: Guenter Buch

This is also my experience.
Do to the time I use rank-tracker, I save a lot of time and increase my conversion rates.
Just give this tool a try...

Answer
2008-09-23 17:48:56: satish kumar

Can you recommend me in choosing the number of keywords, or atleast the maximum total keywords length. I even want to know whether to give a comma between keywords or better to leave a space(as we get more keyword combinations).

Answer
2008-09-24 05:37:41: Dan Richmond

As I'm explaining here:
http://www.seoinpractice.com/start-keyword-research.html#1_1
it's all relevant. (Pay attention at the diagram.) If your keyphrases include two words, they will be searched for more often. But they won't be as precise (read tartgeted) as longer phrases.

As for the comma, people searching in Google are very unlikely to enter their query with commas, and (with very rare exceptions) Google won't differenciate between queries with and without a comma. So my answer would be, if you need a comma grammatically, use it. If you don't then don't.

Answer
2008-09-24 09:34:23: satish kumar

Hi, Thanks for the reply.
I mean comma between each keyword.
For live example keywords for my movie downloads site:
Shall i use keywords tag as "movie download, download movies, free movies download"
or
"free movie movies download"

In the first case download word is repeated thrice, where as in second case with four words more number of combination's can be made right?

On the whole is it ok to separate each keyword with space's or need to place comma's.

Answer
2008-10-13 05:39:12: jonny flores

Going with the last comment, I too am wondering about the placing and spacing of the keywords? Any advise on this maestro?

Answer
2008-10-13 12:52:35: Dan Richmond

Hi,

if that's gonna sit on your webpage, then my common sence says it's better either to use commas or to write "free movies download" rather than "free movie movies download". Firstly, people will see this. Secondly, search engines may also frown at keyword overuse. But that's a different point already, called over-optimization. That's why I recommend competition research for onpage optimization (WebSite Auditor does this well) - to see what's good in your niche.

Answer
2008-10-17 16:39:13: satish kumar

Thanks for the reply Richmond,
What about my last question? Do we need to separate each keyword with space or need to use comma in keywords content?

Answer
2008-10-20 05:28:37: Dan Richmond

I thought the answer's already clear:) Put commas where it's required by grammar.

Answer
2009-04-02 13:25:51: Adam Lavery

Question: on the previous page you presented an alternative KEI formula that includes Relevance. Makes perfect sense. But from the Rank Tracker screenshots, there's no indication that Relevance can be added to your list of keywords. So how does Rank Tracker account for Relevance? Seems quite important in ensuring the keywords with the best KEI are actually relevant.

Answer
2009-04-03 10:05:37: Dan Richmond

@Adam Lavery
Unfortunately to make the software determine relevance you would need to develop artificial imtelligence, which even Google hasn't done so far :)

Answer
2009-04-07 09:15:12: Adam Lavery

That would be cool! But I was thinking more on the lines of manually adding relevance to the list of keywords so the tool results would be more accurate and beneficial.

Answer
2009-04-09 08:04:05: Dan Richmond

@Adam Lavery

Thanks for your suggestion, Adam, I'll pass it on to the developers. But just to be sure it gets on the users wish list drop a comment on the Rank Tracker forum I'm pretty sure the feature will be approved and implemented.

Answer
2009-06-09 12:51:37: George Walker

Wow, this looks really cool. My site at www.creditcard-debtsolutions needs help so I will try all your tools and see the results.

Answer
2009-06-19 11:49:16: Magnus von Bromsen

This book is good. Very good.
But one question: Where do I find "number of searches" for a word not in english (but in swedish). Rank Tracker reports 0, Google keyword tool "not enough data" and Wordtracker free tool "No result found..."

I can't calculate the KEI without it :(

Regards, Magnus

Answer
2009-06-26 09:56:38: Dan Richmond

@Magnus von Bromsen

Right now there's only one more or less reliable online tool that is able to find search volumes for non-English keywords - Google AdWords keyword tool but the developers will need some time to add it to Rank Tracker. As far as I know this will be added in a couple of weeks and as soon as it's ready you will be able to check # of searches for non-English keywords.

Answer
2009-10-06 20:21:36: Dirk Weemaes

Hello,
for 60 of my keywords the KEI is not calculated because I keep getting 'no data' for the # of searches.
I have repeatedly tried to recalculate the KEI but it does not solve the problem.
Awaiting your news.
Best regards,
dirk weemaes
http://www.sabandari.com

Answer
2009-10-08 03:15:21: Dan Richmond

@Dirk Weemaes

Dirk, please email me at dan@seoinpactice.com with your website URL and keyword list. I'll check what's wrong.

Answer
2009-10-08 04:36:04: Dirk Weemaes

O.K Dan I have sent out the requested information.
The address given bounced but I added the 'r' ;)
greetings,
dirk

Answer
2009-10-08 04:57:23: Dan Richmond

; Thanks Dirk! Looking into it.

Answer
2009-11-14 10:17:17: Andrew Hughes

Hi Dan,

I'm now starting to get to grips with my Rank Tracker software having tired the free version for a month or so. I've been trying to compile a list of key words and use the KEI but I'm having the same sort of problem as a couple of those above have mentioned.

I'm in the UK and I'm trying to get a list of key words for web design in my local area. The results returned mostly say "no data" or "forbidden". This makes the choosing of efficient keywords almost impossible. Do you know why this is happening or how to get round it.

I've posted a ticket to the folks at Link Assistant but their 24hr response hasn't quite materialised yet. Any help you can give would be much appreciated as I need the KEI to work properly to feel sure I'm optimizing for the right keywords.

Andy h

Answer
2009-11-18 11:23:47: Dan Richmond

@Andrew Hughes

As far as I remember this problem was known back in the late summer and has been fixed. You need to make sure that you're using the latest version of Rank Tracker. You can download the fresh version here: http://www.link-assistant.com/rank-tracker/update.html

Also, if the problem persists (though it should not), try checking keywords in smaller portions (10/15 KWs each time) and enter the captchas correctly if the software is asking you to.

BTW, they told me at LA's support that they cannot find any recent tickets from you...

Answer
2009-11-19 16:14:52: Andrew Hughes

Dan,

I've had contact from LA to ask me to send them an error log from Rank Tracker, which I've done. No response yet, but I'll keep you posted. I've now tried to generate a list of keywords for the UK a few times and each time it's the same.

Out of interest, you mention checking words in smaller quantities. I'm not quite sure how you mean. When I start a project, the first step is to insert a webpage url and then a keyword. After it checks the page I then hit the suggest button and the program sets about generating words. I've no idea how to limit the number of keywords it's suggesting.

Can you explain further?

Answer
2009-11-24 11:30:07: Dan Richmond

@Andrew Hughes

After it simply generates the suggestions, it goes to check them. Hit "Stop" to skip checking - then your keywords will simply be added to the project. After that, select them in smaller portions and make checks.
(But I believe the support folks from LA will give you a more up-to-the-point assistance).

Answer
2009-11-24 16:47:37: Colin Joss

Hey Dan,

I'm having the same issue as Andrew H.

I've kept it simple. I'm using the keyword 'commercial photography'. I don't use the suggest tool - I go straight to the check tool then KEI.

# of searches is returned. But competition and KEI remain blank.

Any idea why?

Colin

Answer
2009-11-27 07:21:18: Dan Richmond

@Colin Joss

I'm just copying the answer that Tech support forwarded to me. This one pretty much explains everything:
--------------------------------------------------------
The competition gets extracted directly from google.co.uk .

It looks like you have been temporarily blocked by the search engine
for excessive querying. In fact this is a very common issue and any
SEO software would get you temporarily blocked eventually. Search
engines consider excessive querying from one IP address suspicious and
block it from searching. The block lasts up to two hours and is in no
way harmful for you, your website or your business.

You can read more about the nature of that in our knowledgebase
article on SEO SpyGlass:

http://www.link-assistant.com/support/index.php?_m=knowledgebase&_a=viewarticle&kbarticleid=34&nav=0,15

Unlike other software providers, we are securing ways to avoid
temporary blocks:

- human emulation
- user agents
- proxy rotation

Using human emulation alone would in most cases be enough to stay
block-free and search without limits. As an immediate solution
(without waiting for an hour or so we recommend using a proxy server
or the proxy rotation feature.

Please go to Preferences/Search safety settings and enable human
emulation.

Kind regards,
Dennis
--------------------------------------------------------

Answer
2009-12-03 04:29:01: Paul Wallace

HI I seem to have trouble with this bit, am not sure if its as I am trying out the programme. I am able to get 10 of 15 KEI, but then dont seem to be able to get anything only competition volume unless I restart the whole thing and what a bit. And loose all the data.

Or may it be something else?
Thanks
Paul

Answer
2009-12-07 03:53:12: Ken Taylor

This is great stuff Dan. I've been going after KWs using just 'high search' - 'low competition'. What I plan to do is make a site factoring in KEI (you did say it was one "factor") and see how things turn out. My only turn-off is if I have 3 or 4 KW's that are four word phrases I'm going crazy typing in CAPTCHA every 15 to 20 seconds for almost ten minutes.

I do get some great results.

Is there a way I can use RankTracker without having to type so many CAPTCHA's?

Thank you.
Ken

Answer
2009-12-15 04:22:28: Dan Richmond

@Ken Tailor

Google AdWords Keyword Tool requires captchas when you're searching for KEI. The developers seem to have partially overcome that in the last week's update.

Answer
2009-12-28 07:38:26: Paul Watchorn

I am not used to this type of software, so just for the sake of speed, could somebody please tell me about the little green triangle. It appears on the top bar sometimes.

For instance in the example above showing the screen shot, on the KEI tab the green triangle precedes KEI.

I have been doing test runs in the freeware to get used to the system, and this green triangle comes up all over the place.

If it is clicked on, different things happen, but I can’t put my finger on what actually happens, sometimes the whole list changes, (like I say, I am new to this).

Answer
2009-12-29 08:34:51: Dan Richmond

@Paul Watchorn

The green triange in the column header tells you that the records are sorted by that column.

Answer
2010-01-04 15:39:01: Paul Wallace

Hi Dan,

I am trying to get Kei's but I dont seem to get any, as most of the time either only the number of searches or competition comes up.
I have all the human emulation set up too.
Any ideas?
Is it something to do with being a demo version?

Thanks
Paul

Answer
2010-01-05 10:33:26: Dan Richmond

@Paul Wallace

Hi Paul,

no, it's not connected with the demo version. Could you contact the developer's support with that problem? I am sure that they will help. Please go here to submit a support ticket:
http://www.link-assistant.com/support/

Answer