You might have heard about Google Trends. You may have even used it in the past. But do you know how to get the most out of it? If you’re like many other SEOs, you don’t. That’s a shame because Google Trends offers two benefits you should immediately recognize: It’s developed by Google, the same company that hosts the largest search engine in the world
It’s free
What’s Different About Google Trends?
The first question you might be asking yourself is: “How is Google Trends different from any other keyword research tool?”
Here’s the brief answer: it shows relative search volume. Now, here’s the long answer: Google Trends shows you the popularity of a search term as compared to other search terms.
If you just want to see how many people are searching for a keyword every month, head over to Keyword Planner. However, if you want to see how a specific search term ranks in popularity as compared to other keywords, head over to Google Trends.
Keep in mind, though: the tool only shows you data for popular search terms. In other words, if you’re looking for info about a very specific keyword unique to your business, you might have to use another service.
Next, let’s go over the basics of using Google Trends. Google Trends Review: Start by Doing Nothing One of the best ways to start using Google Trends is by doing absolutely nothing. Really.
Just head over to the tool and look at the front page. You’ll see the topics that are trending in the U.S. and around the world right now.
Google also lets you filter your keyword analysis results using drop-downs at the top of the page. Here are the criteria you can choose from:
- Country – If you’re interested in gauging search interest for another region, Google Trends allows you to do that. The tool will default to your home country.
- Timeframe – Google Trends defaults to showing you data for the last 7 days. You can select other date ranges, though. You can even enter a custom date range.
- Categories – Maybe you’d like to see how popular a search term is for a specific category, such as Autos & Vehicles or Books & Literature. If so, select the appropriate option from the drop-down.
- Search Type – Google Trends doesn’t limit you to searching for the popularity of a specific keyword only in web search. You can analyze it for News Search, Image Search, and YouTube Search as well.
Finally, Google Trends also lets you compare keywords.
Suppose you want to see the popularity of searches for Taylor Swift as compared to the popularity of searches for Judi Dench. If so, just hit the “+ Add Comparison” button at the top and enter the new search term.
The resulting page will look just like the page you viewed when you were analyzing only a single keyword. However, the line graph at the top will display two color-coded lines. Those lines show you the popularity of the two search terms over time.
Next, we’ll go over a few specific ways that you can use Google Trends to boost your brand online.
Identify Seasonal Trends Before the Season Begins
One of the easiest ways to use Google Trends to identify seasonal trends before the season begins. Why is it necessary to identify the trends ahead of time? Because that gives you time to plan your promotions and produce content. If you identify a trend right now, it might be over by the time you start making changes. Then, you’ve wasted all that effort.
But how can you identify trends before they happen? That’s where the “seasonal” part comes into play. Seasonal trends tend to repeat themselves.
For example, let’s say you’re running an online site selling saltwater fishing gear. You notice that the relative popularity of the search term “conventional saltwater fishing reel” spikes every April as people go shopping for the upcoming season.
Discover What People Are Searching for on YouTube
Remember: Google isn’t the only search engine in town. In fact, YouTube is the second-most popular search engine in the world.
You should mine YouTube for keyword opportunities as well
It’s a good thing, then, that Google Trends allows you to do just that. As we’ve seen, the tool allows you to select a search type from the drop-down at the top of the page. One search type you can pick is YouTube.
You can do two things with the info you get about YouTube searches: Find keyword opportunities that you didn’t spot in the Google web search
Identify keyword opportunities you can use in your video content