The majority of web users visit Google to search on the main search
page using their keyword term. More advanced users venture to the
image, video, or map search functions of Google. However there are a
great many more tools that Google offers which aren’t necessarily
advertised on the main site, or even in their ‘more Google products’.
They’re usually found in the Google Labs and one of these tools in particular can help one in the beginning phases of an SEO upgrade – and it’s called Google Trends.
Google Trends allows you to view search trends of multiple keyword
terms and compare them. This allows you to see where the trends lie for
your specific industry in terms of keywords and what your target market
is looking for. This tool can be very powerful depending on what you
use it for. It can allow you to see seasonal trends and steady traffic
patterns that you otherwise may have missed.
For example, you can search for yearly events like “xmas gifts” that you think may have seasonal trends:
These results should have been exactly what you were expecting – that people search for “xmas gifts” around Christmas time.
It’s also possible to browse trends based on calendar dates rather than searching for them by viewing the Hot Trends. For example, by browsing the top 100 hot trends of November 4th, 2008
it’s obvious you’ll see the majority of results circle around the 44th
presidential campaign between Barack Obama and John McCain.
It is important to remember that just because a certain search term is
a ‘hot trend’ does not mean that you should put into your keywords or
website content if it doesn’t fit with your topic. If it isn’t already
apparent to why it’s a bad idea to incorporate content that doesn’t fit
your topic or audience I strongly suggest you revert back to either my
post on copywriting for SEO or Jess’ post on building the right audience.
