If you’re building your online marketing strategy, search engines will play a key part in that process. For any business that wants to grow, you need to appear in Google search results which will help gain visibility and bring in that important organic traffic. Part of that is understanding what search queries your target audience is searching for and if there are any trends to them. That is where the SEO tool, Google Trends can help.
What is Google Trends?
Google Trends is a search trends feature that shows you how often a term has been entered into Google’s search engine, in relation to the site’s total search volume over a given amount of time. Google Trends can be used as a keyword research tool while also highlighting event-triggered spikes in search volumes of keywords.
The search data that you can get from Google Trends includes search volume index and geographical information about search engine users. This means you can view what people are searching for most and from where, whether you’re targeting the UK, the United States of America or beyond.
Now we know what it is, we can explore all the things business owners and marketers can do with the tool by finding out how to use Google Trends.
1. Find Niche Trends
In Trends, you can identify a niche that has seen a huge spike in searches. If you’re looking for a new niche in the tool, you must ensure that you change your range from “Past 12 months” to “2004-present”. This will help you see whether the search volume is increasing or decreasing. It can also help you see seasonal trends in one clear graph.
As you can see below, Green Tea as a niche continues to grow in terms of search volume.
While it has its ups and downs like most niche trends, it still grew as it headed into 2020. You can predict with this when another upsurge happens here and market a product accordingly to take advantage of it.
You can also see search terms that display a more consistent trend:
Men’s fashion has typically stayed around the same level of search volume, with its only dip coming in the form of the Covid-19 pandemic, which has affected the fashion industry. Once a new normal is in place, you can expect this to go back to its usual levels.
You can also see when items were just a fad. Do you remember the hoverboards craze?
Until the summer of 2015, there was very little interest in the term hoverboards. By the end of 2015, everybody wanted one. After the Christmas rush, interest in the product tailed down fast and has never reached those same levels.
2. Explore Relevant Product Categories
There is a section of Trends that explores the Related Topics of a particular search term. If you’ve got a particular product and want to sell other products that the same audience is interested in, the Google Trends can help you identify them.
If you’re selling eyelashes, you will find topics like the above in related search trends. While not every topic listed here will be of interest to you, it will give you an idea of the kind of products you could source for your store.
3. Keyword Research
Imagine you’re selling men’s shirts. If you’re looking to optimise content – blogs and on-site content – related to this product then you can use related queries in Google Trends.
This section will give you the language your audience is using in relation to men’s shirts. It will help you when adding a title to pages, fleshing out your content with keywords and also potential ideas for blog posts that can drive traffic to your site. You can also narrow this down to the different types of shirts you are likely to sell and find further keywords to embellish your content with.
4. Work With Seasonal Trends
Seasonal trends can be an important part of the success of your business. Throughout the year, certain products will have dips and peaks that will impact your sales. In the peak times, there will be increased competition, so you may find opportunities to sell during the dips.
For example, interest in bikinis tends to peak during the summer months, with dips between September and December common. It’s during the colder months that you can build that side of the business. That means when the usual January search volume increase takes place, your website is ready to take advantage of this renewed interest.
5. Find Topics for Fresh Content
Search engines love fresh content, especially if it’s related to a topic that is gaining popularity. It will also help you increase your brand awareness and drive more customers to your website. One way you can get quick wins is to find sudden spikes in search terms related to your sector and freshen up any related content you have with new content.
As you can see for the search term “how you paint a wall”, because the UK went into lockdown after the Coronavirus pandemic, there was a surge in interest towards DIY jobs. If you have a business in this sector, you could have freshened up and re-optimised the content that targets this keyword or created new content to target it.
How To Use Google Trends Search Data
In relation to marketing, we can use Google Trends data in three ways:
1. Paid Search/PPC
In PPC, Google Trends data can give you important information for your seasonal campaigns, helping with cost planning and stocking inventory. Additionally, Google Trends is a great way to spot irrelevant trending terms, which you can set as negative keywords, ensuring that a particular search trend doesn’t massively affect your costs.
2. SEO & Content Marketing
For SEO and content marketing, Google Trends can be used to learn what people in your target audience are searching for. By writing about the latest trending topics you will drive more traffic to your site.
3. All Marketing Campaigns
To inspire all your marketing efforts, you can browse Google Trends to see what currently has the attention of the public. Referencing a new trending topic such as a hit song or big dance craze in your email blasts or Facebook ads can increase engagement.
If you need support in understanding Google Trends information and you can harness it for wins on your website, get in touch with the experts at SEO agency, Ricemedia. By working with us, we can use all the SEO tools at our disposal to create a winning digital marketing strategy. Contact us today to get started.
