Review of Keyword Research Software:

Who Needs Keyword Research Software?

If you don't know the answer to that question, read this page that has an overview of keyword research.

What Does Keyword Research Software Do?

All keyword software consults databases (sometimes proprietary) that contain many millions of key phrases that have actually been typed into the search engines.  Many will also investigate synonyms of the major terms within each of those phrases.  Some will also check what is called the "meta data" of thousands of relevant web pages.  Ultimately, all of the major software packages will generate a large list of keywords that are related to your niche.

The major software packages differ by cost, their power (how widely they search), the breadth of their results and the depth of the key phrase results that they report.

Review of Three Leading Contenders:

Wordtracker is a membership software.  You can join for a day, for a month or for a year.  It used to be considered the best investment, but it has become my third favorite primarily due to cost.  You will do far more keyword research than you probably realize.  Consequently, with Wordtracker, you need to constantly renew your membership.  (Note: You actually end up saving money with the longer memberships, if you can afford the once a year investment.)  I use this service infrequently, now.

Traffic Travis is a one time purchase.  It does most things that you need in keyword research, although its reporting is neither as deep nor as broad as the next software that I review.  It also provides some search engine optimization data, which makes it a good buy at under $100 (one time fee).  Mark Link offers a free version, but I find it to be misleadingly incomplete.  The paid version has a very inexpensive trial offer, so you can try it out before you invest meaningfully in it.

Keyword Elite is the best keyword software for the money on the market.  Along with Google's free tool, Keyword Elite is the only keyword research software that I regularly use (at least once or twice a week).  It offers an enormous database, great flexibility and rich data.  It is an absolute bargain at well under $200.  (KE has just come out with an amazingly powerful update, version 2.0.  It has just increased it's market lead three fold!  Furthermore, for a brief time, they are including SEO Elite as a bonus!)

My Ratings:

Wordtracker     ***

Traffic Travis   ****

Keyword Elite ***** (or higher)

A Side Note About Keyword Elite:

The same company also makes my favorite SEO (search engine optimization) software: SEO Elite.  Usually if you buy the two together, they have a special in which you get a substantial savings.  I recommend that combination strongly to you! (See above for a bonus with KE2.)

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