KEI Concerns and CID Alternative

Like many folks, I have been using KEI for some time now to determine what keywords I should target with my web site. And this has led me to becoming concerned with the results KEI provides and the keywords it suggests. I need to say here that my concern is very subjective as many folks are happily using KEI and don't seem to have a problem with it.

My main concern with KEI is that, by the way it works, it strongly favours demand numbers without, I feel, sufficiently taking into account the corresponding supply numbers.

I need to say here that I interpret supply numbers as a representation of how competitive a keyword is. For example, if keyword 1 has a supply of 200,000 while keyword 2 has a supply of 5,000,000, then I would consider keyword 2 as being more competitive than keyword 1.

And all things being equal, I would prefer to target a keyword that is less competitive and with less demand, rather than a highly competitive keyword that has a higher demand. The reason for this is that I feel that I have a better chance of cornering a section of a less competitive market than I do that of a highly competitive one.

Based on my concern with KEI, I have decided to create an alternative. I have called this alternative "Competition Indexed Demand" (CID). Now, CID works out the marketing potential of keywords in a similar way to KEI but it uses a different formula, one that takes more into account the supply numbers of keywords (or their competitiveness).

For example, using "ranking" as the starting keyword with Overture, KEI suggests the following top 3 keywords,

Keyword........................Demand.....Supply.......KEI

nfl quarterback ranking........43,474.....75,800......24,934

nfl power ranking..............43,171....122,000......15,277

college basketball ranking.....71,149....541,000.......9,357

while CID suggests the following top 3 keywords,

Keyword.................................Demand......Supply.......CID

dick vitale college basketball ranking..16,983......33,400.......640

nfl quaterback ranking..................43,474......75,800.......427

vote nba power ranking...................3,129......30,200.......394

Comparing the 2 sets of results, you can see how CID favours lower competition compared to KEI. I have now used CID for quite a number of keyword research projects and have found that not only it favours lower competition, but it also suggests keywords that, I feel, have a better demand-supply balance.

Given that CID is an alternative to KEI, you now have to make a decision when doing your keyword research in order to determine the marketing potential of the best keywords to use. The decision is: shall I use KEI or CID? The answer to this question is straightforward: if you want to focus on high demand then use KEI, and if you want to focus on lower competition, then use CID.

Furthermore, based on my obervations of KEI and CID results, I have felt the need to come up with 2 rules to avoid both KEI and CID generating what I feel are inappropriately high numbers. My observation has been that these high numbers are generally generated because the demand and/or supply numbers are too high.

These 2 rules are:

- "the 100 thousand demand rule" which states that "any keywords whose demand numbers are above 100 thousands should be ignored",

- "the 10 million supply rule" which states that "any keywords whose supply numbers are above 10 million should be ignored".

Applying these 2 rules to KEI and/or CID will help you determine more realistically the marketing potential of keywords.

In conclusion, CID should be seen as an alternative to KEI and not as replacement for KEI. The reason for this is that CID focusses on the competitiveness of keywords while KEI focusses on the demand.

Serge M Botans

Contact: author@cattle-ramp-seo.com

Phone: 61-03-9478-7088 or 61-0415-642424

Web Site: www.cattle-ramp-seo.com

PS. I have not currently released the CID formula. However, you can download my program Keywords Analysis to research your keywords using KEI and/or CID www.cattle-ramp-seo.com/KeywordsAnalysis.zip

Copyright © Serge M Botans, Melbourne, Australia, February 2005

Serge M Botans is the CEO of the self-help search engine optimisation web site http://www.cattle-ramp-seo.com

---

The Search Engine Secret That Is No Secret At All

It's common knowledge - we all know that it is... Read More

Search Engine Strategies for Affiliate Websites

The major search engines are always on the lookout to... Read More

Google Is Not Only A Search Engine!

When you now organize a street interview and ask people... Read More

Keyword Density And How To Use It To Keep Traffic Flowing To Your Site!

Generating high traffic to your web site can be costly,... Read More

Search Engine Saturation Tool ? A Must Have SEO Tool

Search Engines have become the soul of the Internet. They... Read More

How to Make More Money with Your Mambo 4.5.1 Site

For those of you who are not familiar... Read More

Google Patent Application - SEO Highlights

The recent patent application filed by Google details numerous items... Read More

How To Find Good Keywords

Good keywords are frequently searched for (high demand) but not... Read More

How to REALLY Profit from SEO

I want to give you a few more things to... Read More

Keep Your Content Fresh with this Quick and Easy Tip

Some of the Search engines want only original content. So... Read More

Here Today Gone Tomorrow

Its a matter of here today, gone tomorrow at the... Read More

Cache in the Bank: Understanding Googles Advanced Operators

If you would like to know when your site was... Read More

Making Money with Popular Search Engines

With so many internet and home business opportunities on the... Read More

The Search Engine Showdown

If you're anything like me, you have a favourite search... Read More

Google Is Taking Descriptions From Alexa!

In a recent study looking at the "descriptions" of website... Read More

SEOs Relationship With Website Architecture

SEO's Relationship With Website ArchitectureSearch engine optimization for today's search... Read More

Work With The Search Engines - Dont try to Outsmart the Search Engines

Contrary to the claims of high-priced SEO firms, optimizing your... Read More

Five Tips for Search Engine Optimization

Search engine optimization sounds so daunting for most young companies.... Read More

Reciprocal Linking Scams, What to Look for and How to Avoid Them

Reciprocal linking scams have increased immensely during the past year.... Read More

Introduction to Google Page Rank (PR)

For anyone looking to enhance their Google Page Rank (PR)... Read More

Search Engine Optimization, Positioning: Is Chasing Google Algorithms Worth It?

Google is the undisputed heavyweight champion of search engines. Most... Read More

Google WebSearch? & Google Adsense - Yahoo!

The makers of the world renowned search engine, Google, have... Read More

Google Contest - Nigritude Ultramarine

Search engine optimization experts are having fun with Google. Experts,... Read More

RSS Feeds - a Website Owners Friend in Disguise

We've all heard about it-it seems like all the buzz... Read More

Click Click Boom: a Linking Strategy that will Blow Away Your Competition

Web marketers, do you hear what I hear?"Click-click BOOM"That's the... Read More

Achieving Better Search Engine Optimization

The search engine giants are locked in an all out... Read More

Reciprocal Link Exchange Management Software

When shopping online for Link Management Software that can... Read More

How to Prevent Duplicate Content with Effective Use of the Robots.txt and Robots Meta Tag

Duplicate content is one of the problems that we regularly... Read More

Top 5 Search Engine Optimization Mistakes

There are a lot of ways to promote your website... Read More

Link Popularity --- Its Role and Importance In Getting Top Search Engine Rankings

Introduction"Link Popularity" ? these words may have caught your attention... Read More

How To Get Listed in Yahoo!

Getting listed in Yahoo! (The Very Top Search Engine/Index) is... Read More

The Sandbox Effect

What once many people thought they had a penalty, is... Read More

Five Short Quick Tips on Web Page Titles

By Catherine FranzSearch engine spiders read and record page titles... Read More