I purchased some software a while back, IBP , to help amongst other
things to aid in keyword research. I'm thinking I may have wasted my
money. I ran a report to see how I was listed in google etc for the key
word phrase, job in ireland , the report didn't have my site in the top
80 for google.com and google.ie. But sitting here in ireland at my computer
if I type the same phrase in to google I am listed on the first page.

I am thinking this is because I am in Ireland and the software is probably
running on a server in the US.

So is this software useless for running local keyword ranking reports ?

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jobs in ireland | Search Engine marketing Ireland

Different DC (data centres) have different sets of data to work off. So if you query different ones you are likely to get different results.

As for the software, it all depends on how old their datasets are I'd say.

PM me if you are interested in swapping a link with my jobs site in my sig.

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my sites :

irish poker / irish jobs / seo faq / advertise jobs free / green card / skiing / geansai gorm

Are you sure your not using (Without knowing) google personalized search? Do you have a "Turn OFF Personalized Search (Beta) for these results »" in the top right hand corner of your search results?

Have a look for your search terms through a load of DCs here:
Website Metrics Reporting Tool

(Report type, Metrics report). It takes AGES, but wait it out.

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Web Design | Search Engine Marketing | Pay Per Click Management

You can also try mcdar.net q-check for multiple DC reports (and it only takes a couple of seconds)

These tools can be helpful, but if you are trying to compete in the jobs market you will have an uphill struggle. It's a very competitive niche.

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Search Engine Optimisation - Red Cardinal Internet Marketing
Internet Consultant Ireland | Search Engine Optimisation Services
Catering Company Dublin - My sister's handmade canape company!

thanks for the advice. I think I understand the problem now. I also
found the following article useful,
SEO Answers #13: Duplication, Google Backlinks and Datacenter Headaches

I'm not really in the jobs business. I have an old domain that I own
that I have resurected and am doing seo on it for a few less
compeditive terms. More for education than anything else. Doing
well in poland ( google.pl ) interestingly