By now, nearly anyone with a website knows what search engine optimization (SEO) is and how important it is. But, have you heard of the Google Trends Tool? If not, then now is a great time to learn what it is and how to make it work for you and improve your SEO.
What is Google Trends?
We all know that Google has a myriad of tools that can be utilized to improve our web experience, but how many of these tools are you taking advantage of to benefit your website? If one of them is not Google Trends, then now is the time to start using it.
Originally introduced in 2006, Google Trends has gone through several iterations with the most recent one being in 2018. It is a free tool providing information on specific search terms, based on their popularity, and how they are being used YouTube and Google. When you use this tool, you will know what is trending, be in touch with local search trends and know what the popular topics and subtopics are within an industry or theme.
Having this type of knowledge can help you tailor your website and social media activity so that you rank higher in search engine results.
8 Ways to Make the Most of the Google Trends Tool
- Keyword Research – Know what words are most likely to help your website rank higher. The free Google Trends tool will run a search of the most popular keywords in Google Search, or you can have it search YouTube. The tool will then create a graph of the most popular search terms from the past year – or you can set a specific time frame- thus allowing you to see what terms are ‘hot vs. the not!’When the results are given for a particular keyword or phrase (a.k.a. longtails), you will be given an exact percentage of how often it is searched for. If the word “breakout” is used with a percentage symbol it means that the word has increased by over 5,000%. This is often indicative of an important word/phrase to use because they haven’t become competitive and help boost your ranking higher. The only risk with this approach is that on occasion these words can fall into the fad versus trend category (see number 3).
- Find Related Queries – Want to beat the competition? Then you need to know what search terms others are looking for. By using the Google Trends Tool, you can see what terms others are using versus the keywords you are using and then determine how to utilize the best terms to achieve the result(s) you want. This can be especially helpful in determining blog posts topics or social media posts.
- Fad Versus Trend – Fads- they come and go, and that is okay. But when it comes to utilizing keywords you don’t want to waste a lot of resources chasing the fads. The tool allows you to see phrases and words that have stuck around for a significant period of time. Sure, throwing in those occasional ‘fad’ words isn’t going to hurt anything- but you don’t want to build your website around them!
- Unicorn Word – While unicorns might be considered magical and cool, and a unicorn company is one that is valued at over a billion dollars, a unicorn word is not something you want! In the world of keywords, a unicorn is a generic industry word that might sound good as part of your text but adds no real value to your website. It is always better to use specific words over the generic. The Google Trends Tool will help you identify the words more valuable to you.
- Identify Possible Clientele by Location – Want to reach people of specific demographic? The Tool allows you to identify what regions, will be most likely to seek you out. The Google Trends Tool will create a map for you and provide the exact percentage of potential customers within a particular area. You can adjust your queries or change the word variables and terms to find which term works best. Knowing this means you can target a particular region of the country/world simply by changing the terms you include in your web content – ultimately allowing you to expand your reach.
- Seasonal Search Terms – As to be expected, certain words or phrases are used more during specific times of the year. But do you know how to capitalize on them? With the Google Trends Tool you can:
- Determine what services or products will do best at a specific time of year
- Beginning creating relevant content so it is ready at the peak season
- Update website pages to have up to date information prior to the peak
- Be sure your content creation calendar includes notations to promote pages/products that will be most searched for.
- Find Related Topics – While it is important to use industry-specific words on your website and in social media posts, you can also benefit from incorporating keywords not directly related to your business. After all, there are words that will be related – synonyms if you will – to what you do that can help improve SEO. With the Trends tool, you can type in your relevant keyword, then scroll down a bit to find lists of related topics and queries.
- Start Big and then Reduce – When you enter a term or topic into the Google Trends tool, your immediate results can be a bit overwhelming. However, the tool allows you to customize the results based on your needs. You can do this by-
- Using worldwide helps you narrow things down by a particular geographic location
- Time selection means you can find out what was popular from 5 years ago, or as recent as 5 hours ago. If you want to see long-term vs. short-term trends you can use multiple time selections.
- Filtering by category is crucial. If you are running a search on “hair products” you don’t necessarily want to read about 80’s hair bands.
- Looking at the web search type helps you see what is important based on images, news stories, YouTube, and Google Shopping.
With 6.3 billion searches done daily, and 2.3 trillion global searches annually, it is important to find the right words for your content. So, starting big and then trimming down is an effective approach.
Sold on the value of Google Trends but not sure where to start? No problem. The Page Progressive team is well versed in the Google Trends tool and is here to help make your website and company a success. Give us a call or fill out the contact form today. Before you know it, you can implement the actions needed to take your marketing to the next level.