Top 11 Ways to Use Google Trends for Keyword Research
Being an SEO professional, if there is one word that you must have heard or used frequently, it is ‘keywords.’ Ultimately, if you know what users are searching for online, you can produce content around it to drive them to your website. A potent way to spot valuable keywords is by using Google Trends, one of the most prominent real-time data sets worldwide. This powerful tool can help you gain insights into what users are interested in or searching for online at the moment.
Reportedly, the world’s largest search engine, Google, handles more than 3 billion searches every day. Taking that figure into account, you just can’t neglect this useful tool. Google Trends lets you analyze minute by minute, real-time data behind the billions of searches occurring on Google monthly. Users can go in-depth about the topics they are interested in and get an idea about how their content will perform.
By now, you must have realized how beneficial this tool can be for you when it comes to creating content. If you are new to this or are wondering where you should start, this blog will come in handy. Let’s discuss the best 11 ways for using Google Trends to identify trending, relevant and related keywords that can help drive massive amounts of traffic to your site.
- Understand Keyword Search Volume
Keyword search volume indicates the total number of times users have searched for a particular keyword(s) within a set time period. If a website includes more relevant keywords with a high search volume, clearly, they will be able to drive more traffic to their site.
You can type any keyword into the Google Trends search box to see the way interest in that specific topic has risen or reduced over time.
For instance, if you search for “Covid-19,” you can observe the ups and downs in user interest. It will also show you the regions and sub-regions where the specific keyword is more or less popular.
However, it is essential to note that the popularity of the keywords displayed is comparative. The graph indicates the ratio of the number of times users searched for that keyword compared to the total number of all searches performed during the given time frame.
- Spot Seasonal Trends
Having the real-time search data represented on a graph has its own sets of benefits, including the ability to identify the peaks and valleys of the number of times users searched for a particular keyword.
As a marketing professional, you must be aware that cashing in on seasonal popularity means driving more traffic and leads. You can build your campaigns around these trends and modify your sales strategy and inventory correspondingly.
For example, if you search for pasta in Google Trends, you will see a somewhat stable and almost flat graph. On the other hand, if you search for “Christmas trifle,” you will notice a roughly consistent line rising to a very high peak during the month of December.
Spotting such seasonal trends appropriately will help you plan ahead of time and enable you to capitalize on this intensified interest, which seems like something you’d definitely like to do.
- Refrain From Jumping on the Trendy Keyword Bandwagon
When performing keyword research, you need to find out if a keyword will remain popular or if it is merely an outcome of a momentary buzz. And once again, Google Trends can help you in this regard.
There is a section on the page that shows you the search interest for a particular keyword over the past couple of years. This will let you see if the specific topic has only shot up once and then dipped or if it is of long-lasting interest.
For example, if you search for “Dalgona Coffee,” you will notice a sudden spike last year in 2020 when people just couldn’t get enough of this beverage. So, if you were banking on driving traffic to your website using the keyword “dalgona coffee,” that won’t happen.
- Avoid Unicorn Keywords
Have you ever heard of unicorn keywords?
For those who haven’t heard of this term, it refers to generic industry terms that might appear good to incorporate in your content, but they don’t essentially make a lot of difference. Unicorn keywords have high volume but low competition.
It is always better to use more accurate keywords. For instance, you could alter unicorn keywords to reflect your products or services more precisely. You can use Google Trends to gain information on these types of generic keywords, which you can then modify for your requirements.
- Discover Relevant Trending Topics
Everyone wants to be on top of trends in order to engage more people. And well, once again, Google Trends can offer some help for this as well.
You can use Google Trends to determine the topics which are trending in your niche or industry currently and then monitor your traffic.
- Discover Related Topics
Many times, even those keywords which are not linked to your business directly can prove beneficial. There are some keywords that might be related, but they’ll still increase your site traffic.
You can find related topics with the help of Google Trends. Once you search for a keyword that is relevant to your business, you can scroll down to the sections of related queries and related topics.
For instance, enter “courier services,” you will see a graph representing the increasing and decreasing trends for this keyword. But when you scroll down to the related queries section, you will spot search phrases such as “overnight courier services.” If you use this as a relevant keyword on your website, you’ll have better chances of driving more traffic to your site.
- Utilize Trends Predictions
Google Trends can act as a mirror to reflect what users are interested in currently. However, this tool also enables you to use forecasting and trend data to see suggestions of keywords that will grow in popularity in the upcoming days. This allows you to plan in advance and get ready for opportunities to boost traffic that will crop up in the future.
For starters, according to the Google team’s predictions for the year 2021, equality, data ethics, and reaching the at-home consumer are some of the topics that are going to rise this year.
- Use Local SEO Strategies
As a marketer, you must be aware of how vital it is to leverage local SEO strategies. There are plenty of customers who are in close proximity to you, and these people can be targeted easily by using powerful digital and keyword strategy.
Once again, Google Trends can prove useful in this case too. You can utilize local keyword trends to identify the regions that require your products or services. Then, you can tweak your strategy accordingly to mirror this.
For instance, you can enter “courier services,” applying a USA filter to see the overall trends for that particular search phrase. And then scrutinize further to find out the cities and towns where that keyword is used most.
- Video SEO
According to reports, more than 80% of businesses utilize videos as a marketing tool. However, that isn’t surprising at all, given that the majority of internet users worldwide watch video content online every month across all devices. In fact, more than half of the users want to view more video content from a brand or business they like.
Therefore, video SEO is crucial. It refers to the optimization of your video that you want to index so that it ranks in the search results for relevant searches.
Wondering how Google Trends can help you in this?
Type in your keyword and then change the filter from web search to YouTube search. It will show you the relevance and also related search queries along with the trending keywords. This will provide you with valuable insights to fine-tune the titles and descriptions for your video to produce better results.
- Use Long Tail Keyphrases
Long-tail keyphrases differ from general keywords. They are more specific to the products or services you are offering to your customers.
For instance, while “party-wear dress” can be a generic keyword, “floor-length party-wear dress with cut sleeves” could be its long-tail keyphrase version.
And as one can observe, these keyphrases have low competition but a high conversion rate. That’s the reason they are so essential for powerful SEO.
Google Trends lets you cross-reference the popularity of various keywords. After that, you can merge related search terms to get a better idea of relevant long-tail keyphrases. No matter what business or industry you are operating in, using long-tail keyphrases makes a difference.
- Recognize Blind Spots
Blind spots exist in real life as well as in keywords.
There are some search terms that we think are significant, although they might be generic and high volume. On the other hand, there are some keywords that, for some reason, never cross our minds, although they might be of interest to users.
Smartly using Google Trends means that you can examine these areas to gain insights that allow you to currently take advantage of what is trending with your target audience.
Use multiple combinations of search terms, look at the related queries section always, and get a broader view of the timeline. Merge these to check if keywords are popular over time, if there is just a particular spike, and if there are some other aspects that matter to the customers.
Doing all this will help you overcome the blind spots and have a sharp sight.
Wrapping It Up
When all online experts are searching for keywords, using Google Trends can provide you with a competitive edge.
You can use this powerful tool to find popular and effective keywords to boost your site traffic in positive and surprising ways.
There are so many incredible ways in which Google Trends can help make the whole process of keyword research easier and more efficient for you. All you need to have is the right information at your disposal.
You can find keywords that make sense in context, identify profitable trends, and think up long-tail key phrases that customers are searching for.
These top 11 ways discussed above will help you come up with accurate, relevant, and effective keywords that work wonders for your business by attracting more traffic to your website. So go ahead, keep these 11 ways in mind and make the most out of this powerful tool.