So one day I needed to find some related keywords around a broad niche term and I found out that Google sets have been shut down!
After scratching my head for a while, I did some in-deep research through Google and found out two blog posts:
http://www.lifehack.org/articles/lifehack/finding-related-words-and-phrases.html
http://mattsmarketingblog.com/seo/find-related-keyword/
So I started using the following online tools. They are free, been around for years, and hopefully won’t vanish like the Google tool anytime soon! :D
http://thesaurus.com/browse/
http://www.onelook.com/reverse-dictionary.shtml
So let us say you wanna find out keywords related to the word ‘asthma’. What you do?
http://www.onelook.com/?w=*&loc=revfp2&clue=asthma
Now change the word to say ‘anorexia’. Then what?
http://thesaurus.com/browse/anorexia
And check the left-hand side too:
Plenty of related terms, you see! Now who gives a sh*t about Google sets! :D
The concept itself is not groundbreaking, let me tell you. I still have those old oxford thesaurus and reverse dictionaries I used during my school and college days. Back then there was no Google sets! :D Of course the idea of using these tools for niche research never occurred to me! So now it is back to the old days for me. So far this method is working well for me, but as always, YMMV! :D
Someone once rightly said that:
"Old is Gold"
and it is equally true that:
"Google *is* evil!"
Again remember that these tools are no direct alternatives to Google sets; they are like those torch lights you use when walking through a dark alley; while they are good, torch lights can never replace the brighter street lights, right? So in short, when using these tools, don’t just copy and paste blindly; rather, use your head! :D
Have you found any better alternative to Google sets? Feel free to share by posting a comment!
I think the less we rely on Google the “safer” we are. Never have all your eggs in one basket. This is an OLD and SOUND principle
I think second tool is better because it show the related search. the 2 tools are good for brainstorm in niche research.
Thank you for your advice.
Arindam,
Here’s another site which gives lots of boring related keywords.
Its Soovle.com
Nice site Wai, thanks. I wish their background were not overlapping; nevertheless it is still possible for me to read the keywords anyway. :D
Hi Arindam,
Many ways to Rome! You prove it.
Thesaurus gives many synonyms for almost single word?
But for the long keywords phrase Thesaurus almost does not work well, so i have to go back to Google Keywords Tool.
Regards,
Achmad K W
Yeah for single words only. I remember using Google sets for single words too. It is more like “LSI research” and not strictly niche/keyword research; only a keyword tool can help with the latter . :)
The “Searches related to” info at the bottom of Google Search results can also be useful to find related words
Hi ManieE,
Thank you for this reminding, i’ll check it.
Greeting.
Achmad K W
This method does not provide so many options, but each phrase can be used to provide more options relevant to that specific phrase
I’ve been seeing this question popup in almost every SEO community I participate in. “Are there any good alternatives to Google Sets?”
Well, I’d feel like a hero if I had arrived at the answer on my own, but a fellow named Ben discovered that you can use a simple Google Docs spreadsheet to pull data from Google sets.
I thought it was so useful that I wrote a blog post about it with instructions:
http://glenmcniel.com/google-sets-alternative-no-clone-replacement-api-needed/
Hi Glen,
My Greeting to Arindam!
Yes i tried this https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/
the result is okay as alternative in order to find the relevant keywords.
Thanks you to all.
Regards,
Achmad K W