Is Suggest Causing the Google Adwords Keyword Tool Loose Volume

I’ve been re evaluating some campaigns recently which has seen me digging through old proposals and keyword research and I think I’ve made a startling discovery. Pretty much across the board I’ve noticed that past volumes are around five times higher than their current values in the Google Adwords Keyword Tool. So from this we can conclude that either:

1. People are not using Google’s search for long tail searches any more
2. Google Suggest is having a dramatic effect on long tail searches
3. The data in the original keyword research is inflated
4. Googles search results are more relevant meaning people are finding answers and/or product higher in the research/buying cycle
5. Global demand is down

With the state of Googles search begin what it it we can pretty much rule out option four (I resort to using bing when Google’s garbage results cause me rage), however I think the other points are highly likely.

One startling observation is that head terms are maintaining their volumes meaning the drop off to long tail is a steeper curve.

So what’s my advice? As always I believe it’s wise to do a full re evaluation of your campaigns.

• Look at your keyword research and formulate new keyword pools
• Check analytics and look at keywords driving conversions which can provide valuable insight into Title Tags, keyword use in content and context… maybe you need to make the page more resource based?
• as always you can use the basic SERPS formula to identify the commercial viability of your keyword choices:

average monthly search volume divided by click through rate at a top four position = traffic per month. Divide this by 30 (days in a month) and times this by your sites conversion rate and times again by your average basket. Now divide by the items percent margin to work out each keywords potential.

vol/ctr/30*conversion*av basket*margin= worth

If your clever and get your keyword pools and synonyms right a little re optimisation could see huge rises in sales/leads.

What formulas do you use to evaluate keyword research?