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SEO is an essential component of internet marketing and navigating the world of SEO tools can make the difference in a digital world today. Google Trends is one of the strongest weapons in an SEO specialist’s armory if only because it is underutilized more often than not. It gives an idea about what people are looking for online, and helps marketer and SEO specialist to find trends, compare keywords, and to predict fluctuations in search traffic depending on the season.
In this guide, we will go through how to really use Google Trends for search engine optimization (SEO) purposes so that your methods correspond with current and upcoming user trends.
1. What is Google Trends?
Google Trends is a tool from Google, which for free, displays current information on the popularity of certain keywords in certain areas and languages. It enables its users to track the changes of interest over time, find related queries and analyze the trends. This can be especially useful for SEO while making the content that will in one way or the other match with what people are searching for.
2. To extend our keyword research topic, we will add Google Trends.
Keyword research will always be the starting point of any SEO plan, and Google Trends can add more value to your keyword research compared to tools like the Google Keyword Planner and SEMrush. Here’s how to use it for effective keyword research:
a) Identify Trending Keywords
Google Trends offer a clear and one of the unique qualities that are the trending keywords in real time. This can be of greater importance when you are taking advantage of a trending event, a newly-launched product or when in a certain season. Just type a keyword of your field of interest and Google Trends will give you the trending popular searches in that category.
b) Long-Tail Keywords
Short, broad keywords are general, and they have high competition; however, long-tail keywords give high conversion rates because they narrow down. Google Trends enables users to find out these keywords because it displays related search terms to the main term entered. If you target long-tail keywords that show a rising trend, you will likely have a better shot at ranking higher and therefore getting better traffic.
c) Compare Keywords
Sometimes you may find yourself having no clue as to which keyword will perform better than the other; this is where Google Trends comes in handy as it provides you with the popularity rating between two keywords. It may be useful when it is required to select the most suitable term from several similar ones or determine which keywords can be used for definite materials. Knowing which of the two has more search interest than the other over a period of time is useful for an SEO plan.
3. Understanding Seasonal Trends
Most industries go through a cycle of highs and lows during the year, and knowing them helps your SEO strategy. For instance, during the period, which is usually associated with gift buying such as Black Friday, retailers may record high levels of interest while during summer, when people are more likely to be planning for their next vacation, travel agencies will record high interest. They can be defined and discovered using Google Trends.
a) Plan Your Content Calendar
It is advised to use Google Trends to find out when a certain keyword is likely to be more popular and therefore write articles at that time. For instance, you may understand that the phrase “Christmas gift ideas” has a higher search volume starting from October so you can create your holiday content beforehand and begin optimizing under related keywords during this time. This way, you’ll be ready to capture traffic when interest peaks.
b) Monitor Declining Trends
Similarly to what was mentioned as a plus about Google Trends, it can be used to track keywords, which lose their popularity. This is particularly relevant with regards to updating existing content that is relevant to these topics or choosing whether to create new content on such topics. G4 Keywords identified may not be so interesting anymore to generate new content, which helps minimize efforts towards such topics.
4. Geographical Targeting: A Step in Local SEO
Anyone that depends on local SEO would find Google Trends very useful when it comes to how people search for information in different places. Here’s how to leverage it for local SEO:
a) Keywords as per the Locality
If you are running a business at the local level, you need to focus the keywords that are being searched by the local people. However, in Google Trends, one can set a geographic preference, which will in turn display data concerning preferred geographic region. For example, those using the search networks might type different words to search for the same product or service. If these variations are to be used as bases for changes, content creators must use Google Trends to find search habits that correspond to those locations.
b) Regional Search Interests Comparison
Google Trends can also be used to see the difference in popularity in a keyword in different geographic locations. For instance, it can be taken that a particular keyword is more popular in one state and less so in the other. This idea is useful if your business is aimed at many places; by developing relevant material for some areas, will increase the level of the company’s chances to rank for local searches.
5. Maximise for Video and YouTube Search
Since video content is fast becoming more relevant, Google Trends can also be used for searching and optimizing for videos. I discovered that Google Trends also has an option to combine it with You Tube search for you to know the populacy of that keyword on You Tube. This may prove extremely beneficial to anyone developing a video and interested in boosting the SEO on it for the YouTube platform.
a) Discover Video Trends
If you type “YouTube Search” in Google Trends, you are provided with the trends specifically related to videos. This you can use to determine what people are searching for on YouTube and then create videos that match their search terms. This is particularly beneficial in those fields where product or context is highly dependent on visuals, for instance fashion, food, or tech review niches.
b) Exploit Video Titles and Tags
After knowing the kind of keywords all the users of YouTube search for you need to make the right changes by optimising the title, description and tags of your video. It is also important to incorporate trending keywords in the descriptions of your videos so as to increase the probability of getting your YouTube videos listed under the trending tab and thus increase the number of views to your channel.
6. Analyse the performance of Competitors and respective Brands
Google Trends also has another interesting feature, which consists of observing the activity of competitors in search trends and the trends related to your brand.
a) Sector Keywords Competitor
You can compare the relevance of your brand’s keywords to the overall keywords with the same for your competitors. It can be useful to determine to what extent your competitors are growing or shrinking in terms of search visibility.
b) Monitor Brand Searches
In case you are more concerned with brand equity, Google Trends also provides a way to determine how frequently people are searching for your brand. This kind of traffic is easy to explain as a sharp increase in branded search queries may point to heightened awareness either due to a recent advertizing campaign or a new product release.
Conclusion
Google Trends is a very useful tool for getting the much needed information that will help improve your SEO strategy. With the help of trend analysis, seasonality, local and video search optimization, and competitors monitoring your content will always be relevant to what people are searching for. When you include Google Trends in your SEO campaign, you are setting yourself up for making data-informed decisions about your website or app, for further information contact us.
