August 23rd, 2010 by Mike
If you have a basic knowledge of the principles of search engine optimisation you’ll know that keywords are extremely important. The words users type into searches to get to pages they’re interested in are a pivotal part of SEO because without them we’d all be groping in the dark. Keywords order the Internet and we should all be grateful.
If you’ve received advice from a good team of SEO consultants about keywords, you’ll probably be aware of some of the SEO tools at your disposal for conducting effective and exhaustive research. Free tools are available from Google, Yahoo and Microsoft, the three biggest search engines in terms of traffic. Other useful tools on the market include WordTracker, KeywordMax, Keyword Discovery, Marketing Samurai and many more. If you want to start thinking globally, you might well ask whether these tools are sufficient.
Most of the free SEO tools for keyword research provided by the big name search engines already allow users to select particular countries and cities when they do research. This can be of use, but if you’re using a search-based keyword tool from, say, Google, you need to be aware that Google might not be the most popular search engine in the countries you are starting to target.
With that in mind, a list of SEO tools that will aid international keyword research will be of use to anyone setting their sites on expansion toward a more global market. There are many countries and many tools, of course. If you’re wondering how to start your global keyword research, here’s a list of just a few that are available to you.
Keyword Research in Russia
The big domestic search engines in Russia are Rambler and Yandex, and the largest e-mail provider is mail.ru. Along with the Live Internet company, all of these provide Russian language keyword research tools.
Keyword Research in China
If you can read Chinese, you’ll be able to make use of the keyword research tool provided by China’s main search engine, Baidu. You can take advantage by joining their pay per click network and investigating the free SEO tools to be found in that section.
Keyword Research in Europe
Miva have a pay per click network that extends far and wide in terms of popular websites, and so the data they have is very significant. The keyword research SEO tools they feature are separate for Germany, France, the U.K. and other countries in Europe. Paying to advertise on their network is a good idea if you want to take advantage of all the SEO tools available for researching keywords through them in Europe.
Keyword Research in Germany
The Germans have a reputation for being thorough when it comes to SEO, and there’s a good community of people with a special interest in keyword research. The Keyword Datenbank is the best tool available for researching keywords in German.
Keyword Research in the Philippines
Google succeeded in cornering the market for Internet search in the Philippines, overshadowing every other tool for searching the web soon after its introduction. That being said, there’s a site called Sulit.com.ph which is basically a large forum for classified ads, selling, providing a service. The site serves a large community of users, and they records of keywords used. These records can provide a lot of valuable information about patterns in keyword use there.
Keyword Research in Korea
The biggest search engine in Korea is Naver. They have their own advertising platform which is based on keywords and you can easily check on which searches are popular and which keywords are used etc.
How to Approach Keyword Research in Countries Not Mentioned Here
If you’re from the country where you want to research keywords, it’s likely that you’re familiar with sites that people are using and which probably keep records or provide keyword research tools. If not, the best idea might be to ask someone who is. If Google, Yahoo, Bing etc. are not the search engines of choice there, find out which search engines are popular and work from there. Think about commercial sites that are likely to have a broad appeal too. Keyword research from those sites can be very useful indeed.
The beauty of the Internet is that it brings people together. There’s probably never been a better time to extend the ambitions of a company to the global market. International keyword research needn’t be daunting. Take our word.
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