{"id":142987,"date":"2021-02-12T12:09:20","date_gmt":"2021-02-12T12:09:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.searchenginewatch.com\/?p=142987"},"modified":"2021-02-12T12:21:09","modified_gmt":"2021-02-12T12:21:09","slug":"a-comprehensive-guide-on-using-google-trends-for-keyword-research","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/searchenginewatch.com\/2021\/02\/12\/a-comprehensive-guide-on-using-google-trends-for-keyword-research\/","title":{"rendered":"A comprehensive guide on using Google Trends for keyword research"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"well\">\n<h3>30-second summary:<\/h3>\n<ul>\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Keywords are still important for SEO, but what\u2019s increasingly important is their relevance, uniqueness, and popularity over time<\/span>.<\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Google Trends is a powerful tool that lets you gauge this and more<\/span>.<\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">With Google Trends, you can get a view of what keywords to include, what to avoid, and what to plan for<\/span>.<\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">You also get deeper dives into related topics, predictions, and how to overcome blind spots<\/span>.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">As an SEO professional, we\u2019re sure that there\u2019s one word you\u2019ve heard and used often, and that is, &#8220;<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">keywords&#8221;<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">. <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">After all, if you know what people are searching for, you can create content that guides them to your site. <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">A great way to identify effective keywords is by using Google Trends, one of the world\u2019s largest real-time datasets. It can give you an insight into what people are searching for, interested in, and curious about.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">With <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/firstsiteguide.com\/google-search-stats\/#:~:text=There%20are%20more%20than%203.5,Google%20search%20results%20are%20new.\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">more than 3.5 billion Google searches conducted every day<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, this is a powerful tool you can\u2019t ignore. In the<\/span> <span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">words of the Google Trends <a href=\"https:\/\/blog.google\/products\/search\/a-new-window-into-our-world-with-real\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">team<\/a><\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, \u201cyou can now explore minute-by-minute, real-time data behind the more than 100 billion searches that take place on Google every month, getting deeper into the topics you care about.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Now, you may be thinking that this sounds great &#8212; but where do I begin? Take a deep breath and pay attention because we\u2019re going to outline the <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">11 best ways <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">you can use Google Trends to come up with apt keywords.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Ready? Let\u2019s go.<\/span><\/p>\n<h2><b>1. Understand keyword search volume<\/b><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Keyword search volume refers to how many times specific words were searched for during a given time frame. If sites contain words with a high volume, it\u2019s clear that they\u2019re going to get more traffic.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">If you enter any keywords into Google Trends, you get to see how interest in that topic has increased or decreased over the course of time.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Here\u2019s an example. Type in \u201ccoronavirus\u201d and see for yourself the peaks and valleys in consumer interest. You can also see which regions it is more or less popular in.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-large wp-image-142992\" src=\"https:\/\/searchenginewatch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/Image-1-1024x305.png\" alt=\"Google Trends graph for &quot;coronavirus&quot;\" width=\"640\" height=\"191\" srcset=\"https:\/\/searchenginewatch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/Image-1-1024x305.png 1024w, https:\/\/searchenginewatch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/Image-1-300x89.png 300w, https:\/\/searchenginewatch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/Image-1-768x228.png 768w, https:\/\/searchenginewatch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/Image-1.png 728w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px\" \/><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Here, we should point out that the popularity of the keywords shown is relative. The graph represents the ratio of the number of times that word was searched relative to the total number of all searches during that time.<\/span><\/p>\n<h2><b>2. Identify seasonal trends<\/b><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">One of the great advantages of having search data mapped on a graph is that you can easily spot the highs and lows of how many times keywords were searched for.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">As a savvy marketeer which you must be, or you wouldn\u2019t be reading this \u2013 you know that capitalizing on seasonal popularity means attracting more customers. You can craft campaigns around such trends and adjust your sales plans and inventory accordingly.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Here are some obvious examples. If you type in \u201cpizza\u201d, you get a graph that\u2019s fairly consistent and more or less flat. But if you type in \u201cChristmas pudding\u201d, you\u2019ll see a flat line rising to a very high peak in December. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-large wp-image-142993\" src=\"https:\/\/searchenginewatch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/Image-2-1024x355.png\" alt=\"Google Trends graph on &quot;Christmas pudding&quot;\" width=\"640\" height=\"222\" srcset=\"https:\/\/searchenginewatch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/Image-2-1024x355.png 1024w, https:\/\/searchenginewatch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/Image-2-300x104.png 300w, https:\/\/searchenginewatch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/Image-2-768x266.png 768w, https:\/\/searchenginewatch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/Image-2.png 728w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px\" \/><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Correctly identifying such trends means being able to plan in advance and then taking advantage of heightened interest. Sounds like something you\u2019ll want to do.<\/span><\/p>\n<h2><b>3. Avoid jumping onto the trendy keyword bandwagon<\/b><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">When doing keyword research, you need to know whether a search term is going to remain popular or whether it\u2019s just a result of short-lived buzz. Here again, Google Trends can help.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">There\u2019s a table on the page that lets you view search interest for a specific keyword over the last few years. This way, you\u2019ll immediately see whether a topic has just spiked once and then dropped or whether it\u2019s of lasting interest.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-large wp-image-142990\" src=\"https:\/\/searchenginewatch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/Image-3-1024x307.png\" alt=\"Avoid jumping on the trending keyword bandwagon\" width=\"640\" height=\"192\" srcset=\"https:\/\/searchenginewatch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/Image-3-1024x307.png 1024w, https:\/\/searchenginewatch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/Image-3-300x90.png 300w, https:\/\/searchenginewatch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/Image-3-768x231.png 768w, https:\/\/searchenginewatch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/Image-3.png 728w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px\" \/><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Here\u2019s another example. Type in \u201cfidget spinners,\u201d and you\u2019ll see that there was a huge spike in 2017 when no-one could get enough of those toys. <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">So if you were counting on attracting people to your site using &#8220;fidget spinners&#8221; that isn\u2019t going to happen.<\/span><\/p>\n<h2><b>4. Stay away from unicorn keywords<\/b><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Hold on. Aren\u2019t unicorns what they call start-ups valued at over USD one billion? Yes, that\u2019s right, but there are other types. Unicorn keywords, for instance.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">These are generic industry terms that may sound good to include in your content but don\u2019t necessarily make much of a difference. They are high volume but low competition. For example, \u201ccloud computing\u201d or even \u201ccourier services\u201d.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">It\u2019s always better to use more precise keywords. For example, you could modify unicorn keywords to more accurately reflect your services. Checking Google Trends will provide you with information on such generic keywords, which you can then adapt for your needs.<\/span><\/p>\n<h2><b>5. Find relevant trending topics<\/b><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Trends. We all want to stay on top of them as this will attract more customers. Well, Google Trends can obviously help in this case, too.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">You can check Google Trends to find out which topics are trending in your niche and then keep track of traffic.<\/span><\/p>\n<h2><b>6. Find related topics<\/b><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Often, even keywords not directly linked to your business can be helpful. There are other keywords that may be related but will still boost traffic.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">It\u2019s simple to do this with Google Trends. After you type in a relevant keyword, you can scroll down to find tables of related topics and related queries.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Typing in courier services, for example, will show you rising and falling trends for this search phrase. But in the related queries section, you\u2019ll see &#8220;overnight courier services&#8221;. If you can use this as a relevant keyword, chances are your traffic will increase. Overnight.<\/span><\/p>\n<h2><b>7. Use trends predictions<\/b><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">You can look at Google Trends as a mirror to show you what people are interested in at this moment. But this tool can also help<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> you use forecasting and trend data to suggest which keywords are going to rise in popularity in the future. This lets you plan ahead and prepare for traffic boosting opportunities that will arise in the days to come.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">As a start, you can look at<\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.thinkwithgoogle.com\/intl\/en-cee\/consumer-insights\/consumer-trends\/digital-marketing-trends-predictions\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"> <span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">this prediction from the Google team<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> on themes that are rising in 2021: equality, data ethics, and reaching the at-home consumer.<\/span><\/p>\n<h2><b>8. Use local SEO tactics<\/b><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">You already know the importance of <a href=\"https:\/\/searchenginewatch.com\/2021\/02\/10\/a-small-businesss-step-by-step-guide-to-dominating-local-search-in-2021\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">leveraging local SEO strategies<\/a>. There are many consumers near you, and they are the ones that can easily be targeted with effective digital and keyword tactics.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Google Trends can be a great help with this approach, too. You can use local keyword trends to see which regions need your products or services. And then, you can fine-tune your strategy to reflect this.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">For example, you could type in \u201ccloud computing\u201d, with a USA filter to get overall trends for that keyword phrase. And then drill down further to see in which towns and cities the phrase is most used.<\/span><\/p>\n<h2><b>9. Video SEO<\/b><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">A statistic on <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/blog.hubspot.com\/marketing\/state-of-video-marketing-new-data\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">HubSpot<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> indicates that 86% of businesses use video as a marketing tool. That\u2019s not surprising, after all, 85% of<\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.oberlo.in\/blog\/video-marketing-statistics#:~:text=Summary%3A%20Video%20Marketing%20Statistics,-Here's%20a%20summary&amp;text=becoming%20increasingly%20popular.-,54%25%20of%20consumers%20want%20to%20see%20more%20video%20content%20from,brand%20or%20business%20they%20support.&amp;text=is%20also%20increasing.-,87%25%20of%20marketing%20professionals%20use%20video%20as%20a%20marketing%20tool,of%20their%20digital%20marketing%20strategy.\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"> <span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">all internet users in the United States<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> watched online video content monthly on any of their devices. And 54% want to see more video content from a brand or business they support.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/ignitevisibility.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/03\/Dos-and-Donts-of-Marketing-with-Video-Content-YouTube.jpg\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">[Source.]<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Hence, video SEO is critical. It\u2019s the process of optimizing your video to be indexed so that it ranks on the results pages for keyword searches.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">How can Google Trends help you with this?.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Enter your search term, and then <a href=\"https:\/\/searchenginewatch.com\/2020\/10\/28\/googles-featured-snippets-how-to-get-your-youtube-video-featured-in-google\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">change web search to YouTube<\/a> search. You can find the relevance and also related queries, as well as which words are trending. This should give you invaluable insights to tweak your video titles and descriptions for better results.<\/span><\/p>\n<h2><b>10. Use long-tail key phrases<\/b><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Long-tail keyphrases are defined as those that are different from general keywords. They are specific to whatever product or service you\u2019re selling.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">For example, while \u201crunning shoes\u201d can be a generic keyword, a long-tail version of this could be \u201cmen\u2019s running shoes with thick soles\u201d.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">As you can see, such phrases have low competition and high conversion. This is why they are so important for effective SEO.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">With Google Trends, you can cross-reference the popularity of different keywords. And then, you can combine related terms to get a good idea of relevant long-tail keywords. Whether you\u2019re into cloud computing or running shoes, it makes a difference.<\/span><\/p>\n<h2><b>11. Identify blind spots<\/b><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Blind spots exist in life and also in keywords.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">There are keywords that we feel are important, even though they may be generic and high-volume. There are other keywords that somehow never occur to us, even though they may be of interest to consumers.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Intelligent use of Google Trends means that you can probe these areas to arrive at insights that let you capitalize on what\u2019s trending with your target audience.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Use various combinations of keywords, always check the related queries box, and get a wider view of the timeline. Combine these to check whether keywords are popular over time, whether there\u2019s just a specific spike, and if there are other aspects that consumers feel are important.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">All this will let you get over the blind spots to give you 20\/20 vision.<\/span><\/p>\n<h2><b>In conclusion: Google Trends is your powerful keyword partner<\/b><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">At a time when every online expert is hunting for keywords, Google Trends can give you the edge.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">You can use it to come up with powerful, popular keywords to boost traffic in surprising and positive ways.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">It can help you discover keywords that make sense in context. It can help you to spot profitable trends. And it can help you come up with long-tail keywords that consumers are searching for.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The 11 principles outlined above should go a long way in setting precise and effective keywords for your business. After that, if you want more of a deep dive, head on over to<\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/newsinitiative.withgoogle.com\/training\/lessons?tool=Google%20Trends&amp;image=trends\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"> <span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Google\u2019s own training center<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> for more lessons.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><i>Aayush Gupta is Sr. Manager, Brand &amp; Marketing at\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.uplers.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" data-auth=\"NotApplicable\">Uplers<\/a>. He likes\u00a0<span class=\"markc6d2g1661\" data-markjs=\"true\" data-ogac=\"\" data-ogab=\"\" data-ogsc=\"\" data-ogsb=\"\">to<\/span>\u00a0stay on his\u00a0<span class=\"markc6d2g1661\" data-markjs=\"true\" data-ogac=\"\" data-ogab=\"\" data-ogsc=\"\" data-ogsb=\"\">to<\/span>es when it comes\u00a0<span class=\"markc6d2g1661\" data-markjs=\"true\" data-ogac=\"\" data-ogab=\"\" data-ogsc=\"\" data-ogsb=\"\">to<\/span>\u00a0marketing and doing things worth risk-taking. He loves traveling and exploring local cuisines. In his free time reading books with coffee is all he wants.<\/i><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Google Trends can be a powerful tool for digital marketers. The 11 best ways you can use Google Trends to find relevant, trending, and related keywords that boost traffic.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1092,"featured_media":142994,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[27893,5],"tags":[369,37,90,583,19138,27111,27961,271,27518,137,27291,347,22,27949,32,1119,407],"content_type":[],"class_list":["post-142987","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-digital-marketing","category-seo","tag-evergreen-content","tag-google","tag-google-search","tag-google-trends","tag-guide","tag-keyword-planning","tag-keyword-research-guide","tag-keyword-strategy","tag-keyword-targeting","tag-local-seo","tag-long-tail-keyword-search","tag-long-tail-keywords","tag-seo","tag-seo-guide","tag-serps","tag-strategy","tag-video-seo"],"acf":{"tad_independentcommercial":false,"tad_content_format":false},"post_info":{"name":"idris.nagri@blenheimchalcot.com idris.nagri@blenheimchalcot.com","title":"","thumbnail_url":"https:\/\/searchenginewatch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/A-comprehensive-guide-on-using-Google-Trends-for-keyword-research.png","category":"Digital Marketing","timeago":"5y"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/searchenginewatch.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/142987","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/searchenginewatch.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/searchenginewatch.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/searchenginewatch.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1092"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/searchenginewatch.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=142987"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/searchenginewatch.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/142987\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/searchenginewatch.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/142994"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/searchenginewatch.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=142987"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/searchenginewatch.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=142987"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/searchenginewatch.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=142987"},{"taxonomy":"content_type","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/searchenginewatch.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/content_type?post=142987"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}