Quick Start > TheDowser Interface

At first glance, TheDowser’s interface may look a little overwhelming, but once you understand how the different windows work, you will be well on your way towards achieving productive keyword research and management.

The 3 main components of TheDowser interface are described below:

 List Management Pane 

In this pane you can organize your keywords into a tree of lists and sublists (folders and subfolders).

• Each list (folder) can contain an unlimited number of keywords and sublists. For example, you can create a ‘web template’ list with the ‘flash’ and ‘html’ sublists, then move your keywords to corresponding sublists in order to better organize your keywords.

 Keyword Management Pane 

In this pane you can view the contents of any list or sublist selected from the List Management Pane.

• The Keyword Management Pane allows you to sort keywords by their names, length, number of words or popularity.
• You can add corresponding columns using the ‘Columns’ menu. Click on any of the column titles in order to sort your keywords, click on this title again in order to change the sorting order.
• You can filter the Keyword Management Pane using the filter toolbar in the top right corner of TheDowser window. For example, enter ‘template’ in order to temporarily hide all keywords that don’t contain the word ‘template’, enter ‘-free’ (minus free) in order to temporarily hide all keywords with the word ‘free’ in them.
• You can combine filters. For example, you can enter ‘web template -free’ in order to show all keywords that contain the words ‘web’ and ‘template’, but don’t contain the word ‘free’.

 Keyword Research & Reporting Pane 

The Keyword R&R Pane allows you to view detailed information about any keyword in the bottom pane of TheDowser.

• The Keyword R&R Pane shows summary information about all keywords you selected in the Keyword Management Pane. For example, you can select 10 keywords in the Keyword Management Pane, then open ‘Popularity’->’Overture’ tab in the Report Pane in order to view the popularity of each of the selected keywords.

When you have mastered the basics of navigating in TheDowser, move on to the quick start tutorial.