Tuesday, November 30, 2010

Commercial Intent Indicators

Last time, we discussed what commercial intent is.  In this article, I am going to discuss some techniques or tools for us to determine the commercial intent of our keyword.  These are: Google AdWords, Microsoft OCI (Online Commercial Indicator), products related to our keyword in EBay, products related to our keyword in Amazon, E-Stores or Online Shopping sites, and Affiliate Programs.  Here are some of the steps in using the different commercial intent indicators.

Google Adwords

In Google, key-in our keyword first and see if there are a lot of ads in the results page. It means that there are a lot of advertisers who are willing to pay just to promote their website.  On the other hand, if there are no ads in the results page, it is a good indicator that the keyword that we chose is not a buying keyword. 


Microsoft OCI

Go to the website of Microsoft OCI and key-in our keyword. Remember to select the query option.  Then press the Go button.


As you can see, the keyword “buy weight loss equipment” has a 96% probability that the keyword is a buying keyword, while the keyword “free music” has a 78% probability that it is not a buying keyword.

It really shows that the “free” keyword is not really a good choice of keyword.  I think that this is a very helpful tool because it shows quantifiable values to measure a keyword’s commercial intent.

Products Related to our Keyword in EBay, Amazon, E-Stores or Online Shopping Sites


For websites whose main intent is to sell products, a good indicator that the keyword has a high commercial intent is to try to search for the keyword in EBay, Amazon, or E-Stores or Online Shopping sites.  It is a good indicator if there are a good number of search results in these sites.  More search results imply that there are a lot of people selling the product.  As a result, a lot of people are making money with that keyword.  Thus, it has a high commercial intent.

Affiliate Programs

Another way of checking our keywords’ commercial intent is through the number of affiliate programs available in the web.  If you are not familiar with affiliate programs yet, I found this site which pretty much explains everything about affiliate programs. 

To try to see the number of affiliate programs related to our keyword, I do a Google search and key-in my keyword plus the word “affiliate program”.  Then I check the top sites to see if the sites have affiliate programs.  A link is normally found at the bottom part of their websites.  

Just like EBay, Amazon, E-Stores or Online Shopping site indicators, the more search results we get, the higher the commercial intent is.  

Those are basically the different ways on how to determine the commercial intent of our keyword.  We are free to use any of the techniques mentioned.  Maybe the Microsoft OCI is enough for us to determine the keyword’s commercial intent.  For some of us, the Google AdWords is more important.  Personally, I prefer to use all of the techniques mentioned and compare the results that I got with each to verify everything.

That covers everything about keyword evaluation.  My next article will be about keyword competition so make sure to watch out for that.

No comments:

Post a Comment