Wonder Wheel Helps You Think Like A Search Engine

You've heard it everywhere, even from me. Good keywords are important for many reasons, including SEO tactics. They also help you find exactly what you are really looking for. And there are a lot of tools out there that will help you uncover some really good keywords.



The problem for those who are beginning to flex their keyword finding muscles is where to start. What sounds good to one person may not sound good to another. That why good tools will help you see how many people are actually using specific keywords.



I often have to bite my tongue when so-called SEO experts extol their SEO prowess to uninformed business professionals on the net. They will say something like, "I can help you get to the number 1 spot on Google for the keywords 'Book Marketing Expert Tony Eldridge In Forney Texas'" There are so many things wrong with that, none worse than the fact that there might only be one person who ever uses that string of keywords. So what if my site shows up first on that keyword search. No one is using it. (I witnessed something like this earlier in the week.)



Good, relevant keywords are keywords which match your content and are keywords that people are actually using to find information. So that brings us back to our problem of how can the average person find valid, relevant keywords for their online presence. I have mentioned a lot of good tools, but I want to introduce you to one I have not mentioned before. It's called the Wonder Wheel. It's Google's free tool that they rolled out a couple of years ago.



In a nutshell, the Wonder Wheel is available on every Google Search. When you do a search, look down the left column until you see the words "Wonder Wheel." That's when the fun begins.



(Click on any image to see a larger pic with more detail)



































You'll see in this illustration where the Wonder Wheel is located after a Google search. The first time you use it, you may have to click on the "More Search Tools" link.



Once you do, you will see something that looks like this:































The neat thing about the Wonder Wheel is that you start to see more keyword ideas that Google find relevant to the term you entered. Now I have 8 more keywords to explore to seek out the ones relevant to my site, giving me ideas on what I want to use in my SEO efforts. And watch what happens when I click on the term to the left, Book Marketing Strategy.





































Now I have a new set of keywords to consider and I see how they relate to my original keywords. This is a great way to let the largest search engine in the world help us uncover other keywords during our research.



Here are a couple of disclaimers I think are important for us to remember:



1. No one tool is the end-all to keyword research. Otherwise it would be the only one on the market.

2. There are other tools out there that can give you excellent results.

3. Don't underestimate the value of a professional SEO expert who really knows his or her stuff. They have experience, tools and knowledge that can blow away any free tool available to everyone. They have already lived through the trial and error learning curve and they know what works.



Still, if you are doing all this yourself, you should add Google's Wonder Wheel into your toolbox. It's worth considering the results it yields.