The definition of the word “trend” as a verb from the Oxford dictionary as “(of a topic) be the subject of many posts on a social media website within a short period of time.” Many trending topics are floating around the Internet, but your content will be more significant if you use the topics and keywords that correlate with your brand’s identity.
Google Trends is a helpful tool that can be used to gather the top search queries throughout the world. To be more precise, you can explore topics through specific regions, time ranges, categories, and types of searches. Having access to this kind of data gives you insight into how to get more people to your website by using appropriate words in your content. Using Google Trends will also help you with keyword research. Your local marketing agency, Klout9, can help you along the way to make sure you’re getting a return on your marketing efforts.
How to Use Google Trends
- Get to know the platform
To start your research on search terms, go to trends.google.com. You’ll be met with the ability to enter a search term or topic or take a look at what is currently trending in the U.S. and around the world. However, after taking a look at where Taylor Swift or Kim Kardashian are trending, get back to the search bar and get into the data that will benefit your business.
- Explore search terms and topics
Let’s say you own a plant shop and want to know what trends there are around the search term “plants.” After you type in your search term, choose Louisiana as your region, with the time range of 12 months, category Home & Garden, and web search. You’ll see a section of “interest over time” and will be able to collect data on the time of year there’s a peak in the trend. And if you sell your products in multiple cities or states, you can cross-reference what trends are relevant in each region.
You can also begin the search by starting with the region and choosing a category without adding a search term. For instance, if you own a restaurant or work in the food industry, you can select the “Food & Drink” category. This approach will allow for a broader search.
- Compare trends
Comparing trends is a way to check out how your competitors are doing. If you own a clothing store in town, you can compare your store to another local store and see which of you has an advantage. If you are trending below your competitor, you can inspect their work find out where you can do better.
- Gather keywords and create relevant content
Google Trends can also serve as a search engine optimization tool. You can use the search queries as keywords to help develop your product names and blog content. For example, if I use the search approach from above to choose the category “Food & Drink” in Louisiana, I see a search query for “charcuterie board.” Also, reference the “interest over time” graph mentioned above to determine what time of year would work best for certain topics. The charcuterie board trend peaks around Christmas, so scheduling content on this topic for December would be ideal.
Getting a glimpse into what is trending is a great way to leverage your content strategy. At Klout9, we can help you find the right trends for your business and use SEO to get your website visible to search engines and your target audience. Contact us for a free site audit and quote today!