Keyword Research/Rank Tracking/Analytics

[macapples]

Hi All,
I'm trying to figure out the best tools to use for keyword research, rank tracking, and analytics.

The keywords info I'm interested in is a tool which provides suggestions and shows the popularity of keywords. Rank tracking simply for tracking the rank of a site in the major search engines based on keywords. Analytics mainly for traffic hits, browser types, etc.

I've come up with using the free google adwords keyword tool for checking keyword popularity, RankTracker from link-assistant, and google analytics.

I haven't been able to justify dropping 325 on wordtracker as well as paying hundreds for analytic software. RankTracker costs 89.00/yr.

Also, I'm on a Mac so it limits my selection. I do run windows on Parallels if needed but it's a PIA.

This is for a portfolio of about 20 sites, none of which are e-commerce at this time.

Many thanks for your thoughs/experiences.

Eric

[WebJoel]

I saw something like this recently, -free & online, -but did not bookmark it. I'll try to find it and post back when/if I can locate the URL.

Good to know what your visitors are using to find your site. Hope you don't plan to insert these words into a META tag as this just tips your hand to competitors as to what is working for you (not that META does much good these days). I suppose though, that having META tag keywords that brings visitors to your site is no worse than having a 'tag cloud' section, which is basically the same thing except that it is useful, dynamic and visible. Google loves tag clouds and site maps..

[macapples]

I saw something like this recently, -free & online, -but did not bookmark it. I'll try to find it and post back when/if I can locate the URL.

Good to know what your visitors are using to find your site. Hope you don't plan to insert these words into a META tag as this just tips your hand to competitors as to what is working for you (not that META does much good these days). I suppose though, that having META tag keywords that brings visitors to your site is no worse than having a 'tag cloud' section, which is basically the same thing except that it is useful, dynamic and visible. Google loves tag clouds and site maps..

So you are advocating to skip meta all together? I'm just asking because any SEO book/tutorial i've read advises to at least insert a META descriptions/keywords. The only place to put your "keywords" is in the content?

Thanks,
Eric