Being a savvy marketer means staying ahead through trend tracking. Google Trends offers a potent solution. To propel your business, mastering data analysis with this tool is key. But how do you work your way around Google Trends? Join us today as we guide you through the essential steps.
What Exactly Is Google Trends?
Google Trends is a free analytics tool from Google that provides data on the popularity of search terms and YouTube video topics. This software was launched in 2006 and released an updated version in May 2018.
Google Trends offers insights into:
Search terms: The tool shows how frequently a search term is entered relative to the total search volume across various regions and languages. This can help identify seasonal interest or declining interest in a topic. Google Search owns approximately 92% of the search engine market share.
Related queries: Google Trends identifies searches that are related to your chosen search term. This can uncover new opportunities or reveal consumer interests.
Video topics: Google Trends provides data on the popularity of video topics and categories on YouTube. This information can help with video optimization and content creation.
Geographical interest: Google Trends shows where search terms and video topics are most popular. This geographical data is useful for localized marketing campaigns and international expansion.
Time-frame comparisons: Google Trends allows you to compare search term interest over different time periods, such as year over year. These comparisons can identify growth opportunities or signal a need to reinvigorate interest in a topic.
How to Use Google Trends for Keyword Research?
On average, marketers employ keyword research 75.5% of the time while creating content for customers and companies. Google Trends provides valuable data that can inform your keyword research and content strategy. By analyzing trends, you can determine seasonal interest in topics and find opportunities to create evergreen content.
To start, enter one or more keywords or phrases into the search box at trends.google.com. Google will show you a graph depicting interest over time for those terms. Look for spikes and dips to determine the best times to post content on those topics. You may also spot related queries with higher volume, which could lead to new keyword opportunities.
You can filter Google Trends data by category and location. Choose “All categories” or drill down into areas like “Business & Industrial” or “Shopping”. Select countries, states or cities to see regional interest. Localizing your keyword research in this way helps ensure you're optimizing for your target audiences.
Compare multiple keywords or phrases at once to determine which topics resonate most with your audience. The terms with higher and more consistent search volume over time may make for better content focuses or keywords to target.
Google Trends also provides lists of related topics and queries to explore, which can spark new content ideas. Pay attention to “rising related queries” to discover emerging trends.
Tips for Analyzing Data in Google Trends
When using Google Trends, there are a few tips to keep in mind to extract meaningful insights from the data.
Choose a sufficiently broad date range to identify long term trends. Compare search interest over months or years, not just days or weeks. A wider date range will provide more context and help determine if changes are meaningful or merely short-term fluctuations.
Compare related search terms to provide context. For example, compare brand names versus generic product categories, or compare competing brands. Look for correlations between increases or decreases to determine if broader industry or economic factors may be influencing search interest.
Consider seasonality and events. Search interest often spikes around holidays, events, product releases, and other real-world occurrences. Look for predictable seasonal patterns and exclude short-term changes from event-driven queries when analyzing longer-term trends.
Look at regional interests. Google Trends provides insights into search interest by country and state/province. Compare regions to determine where interest in a particular search term is highest and lowest. Look for meaningful differences that could inform business or marketing decisions.
Note that Google Trends shows relative changes, not absolute search volumes. The data represents how often a search term is entered relative to the total number of searches done on Google. Actual search volumes and market sizes are not revealed. Keep this in mind when interpreting the data.
Final Thoughts
Google Trends is an invaluable tool for any digital marketer to have in their arsenal. By analyzing search trends and understanding the interests and behaviors of your target audience, you gain key insights to optimize your marketing strategies. Leverage this free resource to get ahead of the competition and provide real value to your audience. The possibilities for optimizing your marketing and growing your business are endless with Google Trends.