Is Market Samurai the best?

[graphicblueprint]

I recently come across Market Samurai. It seems to be a good tool as far as keyword reseasrch and checking out SEO competiton. Anyone out there have success with another piece of software? Is there anything out there better?

I am open to hear your opinions!

Thanks,

Brandon

[Spirit]

I used a trial version, but I found that it isn't very helpful for dutch sites. I got more info from google than market samurai, and google is free. If you target english websites, it's probably helpful.

[www.kfm24.com]

graphicblueprint wordtracker is another solid program, and google's keyqword tool I have used market samurai, and my whole take on it is I really like google's keyword tool, I build niche sites and I get all the infor I need from google keyword tool

[zerocool7]

SEO Spyglass is a good one for anything SEO related.

[kasiviswanath]

I got more info from google than market samurai, and google is free. If you target english websites, it's probably helpful.

[graphicblueprint]

This great to know. Thanks for the help everyone!

[Spirit]

I got more info from google than market samurai, and google is free. If you target english websites, it's probably helpful.

I'm having a deja vu.

[James]

I don't like to repeat what I have written elsewhere, but the best tool is the one between your ears, no matter what digital programs you use. You get the best idea of your competition by searching for the keyword and then looking at the sites to see how relevant they are, in particular by looking at the page sources to see if the keywords are used in the title, headings, etc.

Going by the numbers (which all programs have to do) cannot tell you whether there is a lot of effective competition or just a lot of pages using the words you are considering. I do agree that Google Keyword tool gives more than enough information to make a good judgment. I have to admit that people who sell these programs have done a good job of selling the idea that a lot of very intricate keyword research is vital. But a lot of really effective webmasters, including Lisa, get top results with just the basic information that can really help.

[lisa]

I don't like to repeat what I have written elsewhere, but the best tool is the one between your ears, no matter what digital programs you use. You get the best idea of your competition by searching for the keyword and then looking at the sites to see how relevant they are, in particular by looking at the page sources to see if the keywords are used in the title, headings, etc.

Going by the numbers (which all programs have to do) cannot tell you whether there is a lot of effective competition or just a lot of pages using the words you are considering. I do agree that Google Keyword tool gives more than enough information to make a good judgment. I have to admit that people who sell these programs have done a good job of selling the idea that a lot of very intricate keyword research is vital. But a lot of really effective webmasters, including Lisa, get top results with just the basic information that can really help.

Couldn't agree more James. You can't just rely on the tools and I think people sometimes obsess over the numbers without looking at the complete picture. I just recorded a video on this very topic and will hopefully upload soon.

[graphicblueprint]

James and Lisa, thank for responding!

James, I'm sorry you felt like you were repeating yourself. I wouldn't mind seeing what you posted elsewhere.

Perhaps the main factor for some is time. Out of all the keyword research tools that I have used, Google's Keyword Tool is what I have used the most. I still use it. I used the trial version of Market Samuari, but I feel content with using Google's Keyword tool.

I, myself, am not a numbers person, lol. I am not a fan of math. Algorithms... Equations.... Bleh

Patt Flynn, from Smart Passive Income, was challenged a few year back to see who could get their niche site up and running the fast. Market Samurai was the tool he used. He stated that he used it to speed things up a bit. I must say, it was interesting seeing the process of establishing a niche from scratch. It was also a VERY informative series.

Thanks for all your comments!

[Charles]

I liked the way Pat Flynn put it.

'You can do all of this without Market Samurai, but it does a lot of the work for you and speeds things up so that something that would otherwise take you 3 days will only take you 3 hours.'

...or something along those lines.

Did you see this video he uploaded recently?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VJktAd3Wjv8

He basically lets us watch over his shoulder as he uses Market Samurai to find keywords. He's a real pro with MS for sure. I found the video quite interesting.

[emvy548]

-> Market Samurai used to be the keyword tool of choice when it came to an alternative to the Google Keyword Tool. But it fell behind and is no longer as universally popular as before. Firstly it became extremely slow and hangs frequently and second, it does not pull results from Google anymore.

-> Another tool called Long Tail Pro has taken its place. It is faster and purportedly does more. It's been in use for some time and more and more marketers use it now.

-> Another popular but expensive keyword tool is the SECockpit which is cloud based and faster than lightning. I think they have a trial period too so you could check it out as well.

-> The Niche Sensei 2.0 that was released recently has created a storm - it uses the Google Keyword Tool interface and allows you to check keyword competition on the fly while getting GKT's results at superfast speed.

-> Then there is the Keyword Researcher which has a free version for the first half of the alphabet - it is very good for research on long tail keywords.

-> The Stealth Keyword Competition Analyzer is another popular tool for long tail keywords. I think they are about to launch a new version in a few weeks.

Conclusion - Agreed that it does take a little more time but Google's keyword tool is quite sufficient for keyword research. If you insist on spending money and you intend to embark on a deep dive into the world of long tail keywords and can also afford the monthly fee at the same time - go for SECockpit which is the undisputed leader among the paid keyword tools.

In any case SECockpit, MS and LTP have a trial period. So you can also try them and see which one you like and then continue that one and discontinue the others.

You can find all of their sales pages/ websites by searching in Google - most of the tools have their websites near or at the top of the search results for their name.

Personally, I have used GKT for keyword research and the free version of Traffic Travis for competition analysis and the combo has worked beautifully over the years. It is the best but only if you know how to do keyword research correctly.

[graphicblueprint]

I liked the way Pat Flynn put it.

'You can do all of this without Market Samurai, but it does a lot of the work for you and speeds things up so that something that would otherwise take you 3 days will only take you 3 hours.'

...or something along those lines.

Did you see this video he uploaded recently?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VJktAd3Wjv8

He basically lets us watch over his shoulder as he uses Market Samurai to find keywords. He's a real pro with MS for sure. I found the video quite interesting.

I haven't seen it yet. I will be sure to check it out!

[graphicblueprint]

-> Market Samurai used to be the keyword tool of choice when it came to an alternative to the Google Keyword Tool. But it fell behind and is no longer as universally popular as before. Firstly it became extremely slow and hangs frequently and second, it does not pull results from Google anymore.

-> Another tool called Long Tail Pro has taken its place. It is faster and purportedly does more. It's been in use for some time and more and more marketers use it now.

-> Another popular but expensive keyword tool is the SECockpit which is cloud based and faster than lightning. I think they have a trial period too so you could check it out as well.

-> The Niche Sensei 2.0 that was released recently has created a storm - it uses the Google Keyword Tool interface and allows you to check keyword competition on the fly while getting GKT's results at superfast speed.

-> Then there is the Keyword Researcher which has a free version for the first half of the alphabet - it is very good for research on long tail keywords.

-> The Stealth Keyword Competition Analyzer is another popular tool for long tail keywords. I think they are about to launch a new version in a few weeks.

Conclusion - Agreed that it does take a little more time but Google's keyword tool is quite sufficient for keyword research. If you insist on spending money and you intend to embark on a deep dive into the world of long tail keywords and can also afford the monthly fee at the same time - go for SECockpit which is the undisputed leader among the paid keyword tools.

In any case SECockpit, MS and LTP have a trial period. So you can also try them and see which one you like and then continue that one and discontinue the others.

You can find all of their sales pages/ websites by searching in Google - most of the tools have their websites near or at the top of the search results for their name.

Personally, I have used GKT for keyword research and the free version of Traffic Travis for competition analysis and the combo has worked beautifully over the years. It is the best but only if you know how to do keyword research correctly.

Thanks for the breakdown!