Maintaining a successful online business requires a multitude of
disciplines, not the least of which includes a watchful eye on the
changes and trends in your industry. It’s now imperative that you
understand the needs and interests of your demographic, and that you
respond to large-scale shifts as quickly as possible.
Likewise, it’s just as important to spot trends that are just quick
blips on the digital landscape. These are the waves you can ride out
without adjusting your business strategy. The question is — how do you
stay on top of what’s trending in your industry, and which trend do you
need to respond to? There are many worthy tools that help you see the
big picture, and one such gem is Google Trends.
Google Trends has been on the scene for about a year now, and it
features data dating all the way back to 2004. It’s a free tool that
displays historic search query information, updated hourly, which is
sliced and diced in various ways to optimize full scale analytics.
It’s most useful to small business owners who are about to embark on a
new frontier, or who need to assess how their current offerings are
faring in the world of search. With this tool, you can amass data about
specific locations, age groups, niches, and related demographic info.
Google Trends gives you the power to study any search term and see
how it measures up to other keywords, during specific time periods
and/or in specified geographic regions. It’s important to note that you
won’t learn how many individuals are searching for your selected
keywords, but instead be able to gauge the popularity of a term over
time. This is precisely the kind of invaluable insight that can help
propel your business to new successful heights.
Types of Google Trends Data
In Google’s own words,
Google Trends “analyzes a portion of worldwide Google web searches from
all Google domains to compute how many searches have been done for the
terms you’ve entered, relative to the total number of searches done on
Google over time.” Since the results are updated hourly, the data is
about as current and relevant as it gets. Here are a few aspects of the
data your business might be interested in analyzing:
1) Seasonal Results
If you run a business that sells sports equipment, there will be
obvious sales spikes for certain sports items based on the time of year.
Google Trends will show you exactly when baseball bats start trending
more on a yearly basis, as an example, and can help you map out your
marketing campaign strategies down to the day and hour.
2) Comparing Degree of Interest
Looking to see how different products compared to each other based on
search volume and traffic? Google Trends will show you. You can slice
this data based on location, keywords, or time of year. For example, if
you run an online florist store and need to compare the interest level
of roses versus carnations for a given time period, Google will chart
the results side by side. Likewise, you can see if Louisiana is more
interested in roses than Nebraska for the same time period. The side by
side comparison options are hugely powerful.
3) Forecasting
Since studying trends should be a long term task, setting up forecast
searches that you absorb on a regular basis is also a potential
business booster. Watch and see how your targeted keywords fluctuate
over time. Choose time chunks that range from weeks to months and years,
and monitor predictable shifts. If you notice, for example, that for
your flower company roses are less popular search terms in September,
and Gerber daises are in fact more popular, you have insight on an
excellent marketing shift.
4) Singular vs. Plural
Have you ever wondered if it matters whether your search terms are
singular or plural, and which are more popular? Every letter of your
keywords does indeed matter, so understanding exactly how your users are
searching for these terms is critical. If your company sells exercise
equipment, as an example, you’ll need to know if people generally search
for “exercise bike” or “exercise bikes.” Google Trends will tell all.
5) What’s Hot
You can also eyeball the hottest searches from the past 24 hours, or
look for searches that have had significant shifts in traffic. These
insights are fabulous for media outlets and bloggers looking to report
on hot and current topics.
Top Tips for Getting the Most out of Google Trends
The obvious top way Google Trends helps boost your business is
through the accurate selection of keywords. Use the tool for extensive
studies on which of your targeted keywords are actually used the most,
and in what exact format. Trends will also suggest similar keywords and
provide an analysis. It’s best, however, to use the information you find
here in tandem with other keyword and analytics tools. Because this
simply charts overall popularity, you don’t want to bank your entire
keyword strategies only on Google Trends results, but you absolutely
want to carefully consider everything you uncover.
Next, you need to analyze the quality of the search popularity, and
not just assume high numbers means high interest. Oftentimes keywords
trend in a negative fashion, due to scandals or current news topics. You
obviously don’t want to associate your business with negative news
stories, so be sure the spikes in popularity you are studying match up
with the tone and spirit of your business. One of the best features of
Google Trends is that it highlights which stories may have spiked the
keyword trend for the given period you are plotting.
Use the tool to see how well your competitors are trending as well.
Additionally, you can analyze the results to see which keywords they may
be using with more success, and adapt your strategy accordingly.
Likewise, look for search terms that directly relate to your industry;
see which are currently popular, which have maintained popularity over
time, and which are simply not used much at all. This allows you to
monitor your specific brand, competitors, and overall industry.
Highlighting current trends in your marketing strategy is a great way
to attract more traffic. For example, if you sell novelty items and
have noticed the current moustache trend, you know for sure you want to
include related keywords in your content and marketing materials.
Lastly, Google Trends is a great tool to help you spark content
ideas. As mentioned above, if you’re looking for popular current search
terms to shape a marketing campaign, or to write compelling content
about, Trends is a goldmine. It’s the perfect place for social marketers
to get ideas on what to talk about. Relevant and engaging content is
the single greatest SEO tactic available, so use Trends to help you
chart your next great piece of media.
From SPN
How to Use Google Trends to Boost Your Business