Google Trends is an online tool, that analyses the popularity of keywords or phrases searched on Google. It does not show the average number of searches like Google’s Keyword Planner. Google Trends categorises keywords on the basis of relative popularity. When you search for a word/topic/query, Google Trends will show you its popularity. This data can be viewed for different countries/regions and for different time durations. They also provide you with a list of words, similar to yours, that others have searched for. You also get a list of related keywords/queries that are similar to your keyword.
Features of Google Trends
On their homepage, you can get an idea of what kind of information you can expect here. You can see sample data and infographics showing trending topics/queries from all over the world. Scroll a bit lower and you can see the latest trending keywords people have been searching for.
If you search for a keyword, you can see the popularity of that specific keyword. You can narrow down this data by selecting a country/region. If you select a time span, you will be presented with the data for that time period. You can sort the data by different categories.
For example, you could take 5 topics. Zica, Nipah, AIDS, Coronavirus, and chickenpox. Google Trends will show you the average popularity for these topics on Google, worldwide, for the past 5 years. Click to see it for yourself. You can see the spikes in interest whenever there was an outbreak.
There are many ways you can use Google Trends for your digital marketing campaigns. Some of the most obvious ones are:
- For content marketing
- SEO Purposes
- For your ad campaigns
Google Trends for Content Marketing
Google Trends is a great way of finding trending search topics across Google and YouTube. You can use this information to create content that is fresh and trending.
Consider this, you are assigned to manage a phone retailer’s website or their Facebook page. You need to be updated on everything related to phones. You need to be aware of other trending topics, news, etc. if you want to create relevant content that attracts more organic views. By keeping a close eye on trending queries on Google Trends, you can find what people are looking for. You may even discover news that you might have missed elsewhere. You may even sign up for email alerts to receive emails on the top trending keyword of the day.
Content marketing is all about attracting audiences to your products/services. You create content that is relevant, with the information that people want.
With Google Trends, it’s easy to know what people are searching for, what’s trending and more. It helps you keep your content up-to-date and relevant. You can even search for a specific keyword and see it’s popularity over a few years. Another thing you can observe on Google Trends is seasonal trends. For example, “gifts” is a very popular keyword every year before December 25th. By knowing seasonal trends of different keywords, you can even plan and create content in advance. During seasonal trends, your cost per click in AdWords will likely be higher, so be sure to allocate more budget for your AdWords spend. You can also use Google Trends to find irrelevant trending terms. You can set them as negative keywords. This is to prevent a trending search from affecting your costs.
Google Trends for SEO
Use Google Trends to find relevant keywords to include in your content for SEO purposes. It also suggests alternative keywords and topics you can use. You can also learn what people in your target market are searching for. Writing about trending topics can help drive traffic to your site.
Google Trends for ad campaigns
Even though Google’s Keyword Planner has more features, Google Trends is much easier to use and you can start researching keywords instantly. One of the most useful features of Google Trends is the ability to view the search popularity of different keywords, categorised into different countries/regions. It lets you see where a search query is most popular. This gives you an idea of where your services are needed the most. This is valuable information if you know how to use it. You could target your ads to those locations. You can also see where your competitor’s keywords are popular. While this may not prove to be as effective as the Keyword Planner, it is a much simpler alternative.
Google Trends is an easy to use tool that has a lot of application in marketing. Figure out how to make it work for you. If nothing else, it can at least provide you with breaking news from all over the world.