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Spyfu vs keywordspy vs SEMrush - wildly different results

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MarkHazeldine
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Hi,

I am in the market for a tool to help me narrow down my selection of keywords (currently 200) to a more manageable number (something like 50). I could guess, but I'd rather have a bit more data to go on so that once we start testing AdWords, we won't waste money on poor keywords.

I like the look for Spyfu, KeywordSpy and SEMrush, but I can only pick one. I tried using the free versions of all these tools on my own domain, some competitor domains and some keyword terms. They all give TOTALLY different results to each other.

Can anyone explain why the data in these 3 specific tools is so different? Can I trust any of them to be accurate at all? I find it hard to trust any of them when the numbers returned are so wildly off.

For example, for a particular search term get the following for search volume:
  • Spyfu: 390 (global) per month
  • KeywordSpy: 18100 per month
  • SEMRush: 110 (average over 12 months)

For estimated CPC:
  • Spyfu: $10.78
  • KeywordSpy: $15.13
  • SEMRush: $32.25

As you can see, certainly wide ranges of data there. Any explanations?

Thanks, Mak
#keywordspy #results #semrush #spyfu #wildly
  • Profile picture of the author dburk
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    Hi MarkHazeldine,

    Each of those tools have their own unique ways of gathering data, they each define their metrics uniquely, and none of them have a complete access to all pertinent data, they are just estimates based on their own small data samples. You should just consider them as hints, or rough guesses, not true valid data.

    Google AdWords has their own keyword tool, you should use that to get accurate search volume data.

    As far as CPC, only AdWords and the advertisers have access to that data, those tools can only estimate (they're just guessing).

    Beware of any CPC estimates as each advertiser pays for clicks based on an ad rank formula that calculates the advertisers bid dynamically based on many real-time factors, so each advertisers CPC is uniquely calculated, and some pay much lower than average, while some pay much higher than average.
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  • Profile picture of the author MarkHazeldine
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    So, given the above...what is the point of any of them? If their data is so wildly different, it must all be totally inaccurate. So why would anyone want to pay money for that and base decisions off of that data? Is there something I'm missing?
    • Profile picture of the author dragonsfire1981
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      I'm looking into this myself actually. I know some people are members of two or all of them. I'm currently looking at reviews and I think my choice would be SEMrush. I did some research on this site, where some PPC/SEO agencies have used both Spyfu and SEMrush (Keywordspy is not on here) and the consensus seems to be SEMrush is the better tool.

      https://www.g2crowd.com/compare/semrush-vs-spyfu

      I do know some people say they're each better/worse in different ways.
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    • Profile picture of the author LucidWebMarketing
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      Originally Posted by MarkHazeldine View Post

      So, given the above...what is the point of any of them? If their data is so wildly different, it must all be totally inaccurate. So why would anyone want to pay money for that and base decisions off of that data? Is there something I'm missing?
      No, you're not missing anything. As usual, I agree with Don. Unless they have access to actual account data (which of course they don't), the only thing they can do is guess based on their own data gathering.

      Your question of what's the point should be asked before using these services. Will it help you knowing the keywords used by competitors? I say no. Would it help knowing or in creating better ads by knowing their CPC? Not in my opinion.

      These tools are popular and have been for years, although I can't fathom why. I suppose a lot of people think it's helpful or been led to believe it is. As long as that's the case, they will exist and take your money.

      There are tools in your Adwords account that provide more interesting information on competitors that I think are more useful.
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  • Profile picture of the author MarkHazeldine
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    Well, I plumped for Spyfu in the end. I preferred their PPC info and the way the info is displayed. SEMRush might be better on the SEO side. At some point I may get that too and then try to compare, but I think as long as you are using either service as a way to compare sites against each other, rather than for getting absolute numbers, they'll still be somewhat helpful, even if not entirely accurate 100% of the time.
  • Profile picture of the author Sidra Condron
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    Hey Mark. I'm glad to hear you chose SpyFu. I think you'll be pretty happy with how far you can take your research. You're also getting information that Google can't give you. Every recommendation we offer is based off your competitor's bid history. Knowing which ad copy won out over other tests definitely gives you an advantage along with knowing the very AdWords (and match types) they bid on. Google knows it, but giving you that info is a serious conflict of interest. You're smart to bring tools into your work. Best of luck with your research!
  • Profile picture of the author MarkHazeldine
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    LucidWebMarketing, yes you are right in that having actual account info would be obviously awesome/impossible, but educated guesses based on reverse engineering are better than nothing in my opinion. You say that knowing what your competitors are doing will not help, but then don't say why.
    Having been using SpyFu for a few days, I have found it very enlightening in some areas, particularly around PPC spend. The problem it doesn't solve however, is in knowing what opportunities competitors are ignoring. For example, there are certain keywords which, if you ranked #1 for, you'd get lots of clicks. For some of these, I can see that my competitors have not ranked highly or not bid much/at all. The unanswered question is why? Is it because they found it too hard/expensive or is because they don't believe its worth going after? Or did they just not think of it?

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