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As the SEO industry grows the number of keyword research tools grows along with it too. There are tens, if not hundreds, of keyword research tools and extensions utilising search engine APIs to present the user with all possible synonyms and relevant keywords.

One of the recent trends in keywords research tools development includes making the results more pleasant for the eye. They still use the same Google, Yahoo or other search engine’s API, but they can present the query output in a nice and logical way, particularly useful for those who prefer to see a visual representation of the data. Here are some of the best ones out there right now:

Visual Keyword Research Tool No. 1 – Keyword Eye

http://www.keywordeye.co.uk

Very visual and useful keyword research tool showing the results in a tag cloud where keywords with higher number of monthly searches are displayed bigger and in different colours.

The monthly search volume is shown when you hover over the keyword. You can also add the keyword to the right hand side panel and then export all keywords to csv, excel or text file.

The keyword research tool also includes a 3D view of the results tag cloud:

Visual Keyword Research Tool No. 2 – Thesaurus

http://www.visualthesaurus.com/

Although Thesaurus is not the first keyword research tool you would think of, it has a nice feature called Visual Thesaurus which is an interactive tool that allows you to discover the connections between words in a visually captivating display. Word maps let you search for just the right word and then explore related concepts, revealing the way words and meanings relate to each other. It’s a word-lover’s delight, with more than 145,000 words and 115,000 meanings organized in an innovative and intuitive design.

Visual Keyword Research Tool No. 3 – Google Wonder Wheel

Just search Google for anything and switch the standard view to Wonder wheel view on the left.

Useful visual keyword research tool which allows you to see relevant search results to your query in a unique semantically relevant and graphically design way.

Visual Keyword Research Tool No. 4 – Google Trends

http://www.google.com/trends

Google Trends is not a keyword research tool as such, but it provides extremely useful visual representation of the number of Google searches for the particular keyword during the chosen period of time. We found it very useful when planning the SEO strategy, especially for retail and travel ecommerce clients – you can easily spot when people search for holidays, resort destinations or specific gifts.

Visual Keyword Research Tool No. 5 – Google Sets

http://labs.google.com/sets

Google Sets is an experimental keyword tool at Google labs that creates sets of items based on a couple of seed keywords. You simply enter one or several words and the tool generates a list of related terms.

Visual Keyword Research Tool No. 6 – Microsoft adCenter Labs Keyword Research

http://adlab.msn.com/Keyword-Forecast/default.aspx

This tool forecasts the impression count and predicts demographic distributions of keywords. Enter keywords separated by semi-colons and click the submit button.

Visual Keyword Research Tool No. 7 – SEO Keyword Tag Cloud Generator

http://www.scotiasystems.com/keyword-tag-cloud/keywordcloud.php

This tool can be used to analyse keyword placement and frequency on any website. It displays a 3D tag cloud for each of the ‘SEO-sensitive’ areas of the page, e.g. different tag cloud for meta keywords, image titles, page titles, headings, etc.

You can read more about Pod1’s SEO Services London and general ecommerce design offered by Pod1.

Google has announced the latest change to their ranking algorithm on Friday 20^th August in their Webmaster Central blog post. Google now shows more search results from the same domain. The search engine giant claims that “for queries that indicate a strong user interest in a particular domain, we’ll now show more results from the relevant site”.

For example, one of Pod1 ecommerce design clients, the women’s shoes retailer Kurt Geiger, has now 7 out of possible 10 search results for the query ‘Kurt Geiger shoes‘:

Although Google claims that they “expect today’s improvement will help users find deeper results from a single site, while still providing diversity on the results page”, it’s arguable whether they should do it and if this is actually what users really want.

One thing is certain though. There are some very serious SEO implications that every search engine marketer should consider in near future. Firstly, the importance of a ’strong’ website domain is more important than ever. Secondly, SEO specialists and brand owners have to consider optimising the site for branded search terms as well as generic key words. Thirdly, the move has definitely favoured brand owners websites and has certainly disadvantaged affiliate / price comparison websites which traffic from brand name related search terms will drop as their listings would have suddenly dropped in rankings from position No. 2 or 3 down to No. 6 or No. 7 or even lower.

The algorithm update has already sparked a wildfire of comments in the search engine marketing community. Some say they really like it as it’s easier to find what they really want. Others don’t like it and they feel their choice is restricted when viewing search results. My personal opinion lies somewhere in between as I do think it’s a useful feature and will definitely help smaller businesses to defend their brand from more powerful comparison and affiliate websites. However, I also think that the number of possible listings should be restricted to 3 or maximum 4 top spots in SERP. My another personal disappointment was when I realised that the update is not resolving the issue that many big jewellery and retailer brands, including Links of London, face when dealing with fake website listings.

Came across this at the weekend, a shop window display for a travel agent claiming they were ‘No 1 on Google’

What does that even mean. When? / For what keyword? / For how long? / On which Google site? / Natural or Paid?

A stern letter to the advertising standards authority I think….. or am I over reacting in my ecommerce geekery?

Today Facebook launched Facebook Places. Places gives users the ability to share where they are, discover interesting places nearby and find their friends. Places provides businesses with a presence on Facebook, encouraging their customers to share their recent visit by “checking in” as they arrive.

You can get started here: http://www.facebook.com/help/?page=1159

This is the coolest Facebook integration campaign I’ve seen in a while and a great example of how offline PR can facilitate online content seeding through social media.

Attendees at the Coca Cola Village Event are given a wrist strap that stores the data from their Facebook profile.  At different checkpoints around the event, the attendees swipe their wrist to a reader.  The reader automatically updates the users profile & status.  Auto-image uploads and tagging is also enabled.

Over the course of one event cycle, 35,000 pieces of real-time Facebook content were generated by only 650 attendees!

Burberry hits social media with another great idea: Burberry Acoustic. These are very cool, acoustic DIY music sessions shot with a hand camera in the style of the very famous La Blogotheque and The Black Sessions.



Some new british bands and lots of new content are coming up on Facebook and Youtube. Here are “Burst its Banks” by Kill it Kid, and “Alleyway” by Life in film, live from their backyard on Neville Road, East London.

Following months of delays, Facebook has finalised the date for its removal of application boxes on profiles and the reduction in tabbed application widths on Pages. The tabs will be reduced to 520px in width (there won’t be a limit on height).

This will start to happen from August 23rd, according to a blog post from Facebook:

Boxes. We will notify users via messaging in profile boxes and in the Help Center that the “Boxes” tab, boxes on profiles and Pages, and application info sections will be going away.

Application Tabs. Next week, we will give Page admins the ability to preview their custom tabs in the new 520 pixel width so they can modify their layouts as needed. All profile and Page tabs will be resized automatically beginning the week of August 23.

This is important for any developers and marketers who are creating or updating applications and landing pages, in they need to make sure they are designing products to fit with the changes.

We have just launched a new app on L.K. Bennett ’s Facebook Page called Life is the Occasion which follows the concept of the New Autumn Winter 2010 Campaign.

This campaign was developed by L.K.Bennett to celebrate their customers by fronting their autumn/winter 2010 collection of shoes, womenswear and accessories. A nationwide search for L.K.Bennett ambassadors found four fabulous women: Anna, Gaby, Lydia and Helen who are of different ages and have pursued professions that are poles apart. Yet these women share one thing in common: they want to look and feel their very best every day. They represent every woman who needs a wardrobe that offers elegance, style and refinement while meeting the requirements of their demanding lifestyles.

We wanted to follow this great philosophy and its feel with the Facebook tab. Now all women can upload their photos to L.K. Bennett’s wall featuring their own special occasions while wearing L.K. Bennett and the images that receive the most “Likes” will go to the “Life is the Occasion” Tab. Every week one picture will be selected by the L.K. Bennett staff, to feature in the main header with a comment on why it was chosen.

Hermès goes for a more contemporary feel without losing its glamour with the new campaign “J’aime mon carré” (I love my scarf) plus some interesting Facebook content. The site shows how girls from some of the most stylish cities around the world (London, New York, Paris and Tokyo) wear their Hermès scarf, and tell a little about what they love/do in life: all of this with cool photography and videos (I like this one with Best Coast’s “When I’m with you” as the soundtrack)

On Facebook there’s also some fun content, like the surreal  video Je suis un cheval (I am a horse), the kids’ style drawing of the Facebook Logo and Hermès arrives on Facebook short clip. The Gantier video reveals the art of creating the maison’s gloves.

The new great viral video campaign from Lynx called the Wingman Academy was launched on Facebook – http://www.facebook.com/lynxeffectuk?v=app_17037175766. Wingman Academy videos feature actor and comedian Russell Kane, who stars as a head of training academy for wingman. He ‘teaches’ his students how to help their mates to get the most beautiful girls.

In order to ‘graduate’ from the Lynx Wingman Academy, cadets have to learn how to resist the temptations from ‘F-16’ and ‘Tomcat’ – two gorgeous ladies in gold bikinis. They have to master many tactical moves, e.g. the ‘cockblock’ and go through some endurance tests like the ‘Chic Chat’.

Really good example of a clever and fun Facebook campaign. See another cool Facebook campaign – Perrier and Dita Von Teese together for a virtual date.