by Michael J. Taylor

For a number of years, the Overture Keyword Suggestion tool was the favorite of Internet marketers. That tool has been decommissioned…though you can still find marketing advice that recommends the Overture Keyword tool.

Keyword research is still needed for both marketers and writers. So, with the Overture tool’s passing, where are we to turn for our keywords? Here are three excellent keyword resources. Two of these will supply you with keywords. The other one will help you determine the commercial potential of the keywords you find.

Wordtracker’s Free Keyword Tool

Simply enter a keyword and the free Wordtracker tool will return a list of up to 100 related keywords. You can click on the keywords it finds to narrow your list. For example, if you enter the very general term ‘water’, Wordtracker will return a long list of keywords related to water. If you’re hunting for keywords having to do with water pollution, you would click that keyword phrase and Wordtracker would return a list of keywords related to water pollution.

Trellian’s Free Keyword Discovery Tool

As with the free Wordtracker tool, just enter your keyword. You’ll also need to enter a simple code provided on the search form. This code is used to prove that you’re a human and not an automated computer process. The Trellian free Keyword Discovery Tool is limited to 100 keyword results.

These two keyword power-tools are helpful…they can help you build huge lists of keywords. But, if your goal is to generate the kind of traffic that puts money in your bank account, you’ll need to dig a little deeper to know if a keyword has commercial potential. That’s where MSN comes in. The next keyword tool you must have is MSN’s Detecting Online Commercial Intention tool.

Detecting Online Commercial Intention

This tool can evaluate a web page or a keyword phrase. When you submit your keyword phrase, it will grade it as either commercial or non-commercial. The non-commercial grade indicates the searcher is probably looking for information, rather than getting ready to make a purchase.

A commercial grade shows that a purchase may be on the searcher’s mind. This is a very handy tool, as it helps narrow down the keyword choices you have and points the way to more profitable online marketing campaigns.

Of course, just like any other tool on the Internet, the results won’t guarantee a flood of traffic or even sales. But in the crowd of free keyword tools, it’s light years beyond anything else.

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About the Author
Michael J. Taylor publishes dmpage.com – a direct marketing news page. For late-breaking news affecting your place in the world of direct marketing and Internet marketing, visit www.dmpage.com today.