Advice and answers from the Advanced Web Ranking Team
>
>
Decoding keyword variations and their impact on Forecasting accuracy
This article highlights how the keyword close variants detection algorithm works and how these variants influence the accuracy of forecasts.
In the realm of digital marketing, forecasting accuracy plays a key role in strategic decision-making. Keyword variations, often referred to as keyword close variants, are a common challenge for marketers when predicting website traffic or search engine performance. To address this issue and offer users more realistic forecasting data, we have implemented an automatic algorithm for detecting keyword close variants coupled with the option to exclude these variations from the forecasts when the predictive estimations are computed.
How the keyword variations are identified
The detection algorithm verifies the keyword list selected when setting up the forecast and detects the keywords that have the exact search volume for the last 12 months, and where the keyword string similarity is higher than 70%. The variations may encompass plural forms, abbreviations, or misspellings of a keyword that fulfill the 2 mentioned conditions. For instance, if the keyword is "htc mini one," its variations might include "htc one mini" or "htc o n e mini."
Furthermore, from the pack of variations, the keyword with the highest ranking position is selected to be part of the predicted traffic and showcased in the "View data forecast per keyword" table.

Benefits of excluding keyword variations from forecasted data
Enabling users to exclude keyword variations when setting up a forecast is a feature meant to enhance the reliability of the predictive estimations.
When this option is enabled, all close variants of keywords are disregarded from the forecast calculation. Thus, the forecast becomes more accurate and realistic as the expected traffic is no longer falsely increased by the aggregation of search volumes across variants.

Feature availability
The Forecasting feature is available for all types of plans available, as follows:
Agency, Enterprise monthly plans, and all yearly subscriptions can create an unlimited number of forecasts per account & per project.
Pro monthly plans are limited to 1 forecast per project.
Trials plans are limited to 1 forecast per account.
Do you have any other questions? Don’t hesitate to get in touch and we will keep building the FAQ.
stay in the loop