When conducting keyword research, Google Trends is a surprisingly helpful tool, especially when using the virtually invisible advanced search features.
Explore the various Google Trends menus and options to find what seems to be an infinite number of ways to learn more about keyword search volume.
Discover new approaches to maximize the potential of one of Google’s key SEO tools.
How To Use Google Trends For SEO
1. Get More Accurate Data By Comparing Keywords
On a scale from 0 to 100, Google Trends presents a relative visualization of traffic.
Because the graph is based on a scale from 0 to 100, you can’t really tell if the trend shows hundreds of keyword searches or thousands.
But the relative numbers can be more useful when compared to keywords whose traffic levels are known from a different keyword phrase.
One way to do this is to compare the number of Google trends search for a keyword to the exact number of visits for a keyword that is already known, such as from a PPC campaign.
If the keyword volume is very high and you don’t have a similar keyword to compare it to, there’s another way to find one.
A comparison keyword need not be associated. It could be in an entirely different vertical or even the name of a popular celebrity.
The most important information is the overall volume of keywords.
Google publishes a page titled Google Trends Daily Trends that displays popular Google trends search queries.
This page is useful because Google provides keyword volumes in numbers, such as 100,000+ searches per day, etc.
Example Of How To Determine The Volume Of Searches
I’ll use the search term “how to lose weight” as an illustration of how to use Google Trends to approximate actual search volume.
I accomplish this by comparing known search volumes to the targeted keyword phrase.
Google provides search volume information on its trending searches page, which can be customized for any country.
On this date (September 22, 2022) the actress Ana De Armas was trending with over 50,000 searches, while the American former football player Bret Favre News was trending with over 20,000 searches.
Step 1. Find Search Trends For Target Keyword Phrases
The keyword phrase under investigation is [how to lose weight].
Below is an image of the one-year trend for the keyword phrase in question.
Google Trends screenshot for the keyword phrase “How to Lose Weight” September 2022 Google Trends screenshot
As can be seen, the trend line from September 2021 to September 2022 is relatively stable.
Then, I added the two keyword phrases for which we have comparable search volume data in order to compare all three, but for a 24-hour period.
I use a 24-hour period because the search volume for our comparison keywords is on the rise for this day.
Google Trend Comparison Screenshot from Google Trends, September 2022
Our desired search phrase, marked by a red trend line, is located in the middle, between [Ana De Armas] (blue) and [Bret Favre News] (green) (yellow).
According to the comparison above, the phrase “how to lose weight” has a keyword search volume of more than 20,000 but less than 50,000.
The relative amount of searches for [how to lose weight] is half that of [Ana De Armas].
Because [Ana De Armas] has a search volume of approximately 50,000+ queries on this particular day and [Bret Favre News] has a search volume of approximately 20,000+ queries on the same day, we can say with reasonable accuracy that [how to lose weight] has a daily search volume of approximately 30,000, give or take a few thousand.
Google Trend displays the peaks and valleys at particular times of the day, thus the true numbers may be higher. The daily total is quite likely to be greater.
This hack is not 100 percent accurate. However, it is sufficient to provide a strong ballpark estimate and can be used to compare and confirm data extrapolated from a paid keyword research tool.
2. Discover Insights From Time-based Trends
Open the google trends website. There are two general ways to examine the keyword data: over longer time periods and over shorter time periods.
Long Period Trends
You can configure Google Trends to display traffic trends dating back to 2004. This is helpful for revealing audience trends.
Long-Term Trends
Moving Continually Upwards: If a trend is consistently rising, you should prioritize the creation of content for it.
Downward Long-Term Trends
If the trend line is steadily moving down, then it may be a signal that audience content consumption is changing.
Consider the following five-year trend for [WordPress] as a search term, WordPress as software, and WordPress as a website:
An image of Google Trends tool showing a five year trend.Screenshot from Google Trends, September 2022
There is a clear downward trend for all three variations of WordPress.
The declining trend extends to phrases such as:
- WordPress themes, plugin and hosting.
There are numerous causes for declining search trends. People may have lost interest, their interest may have moved elsewhere, or the trend may be obsolete.
The digital camera product category is an excellent example of a product replacement-induced downward spiral.
Traditional analog camera searches decreased due to the introduction of digital cameras.
The iPhone initiated the decline of digital cameras.
Knowing which direction the wind is blowing can help a content marketer or publisher determine when it’s time to abandon a topic or product category and pivot to those that are on the rise.
3. Related Topics And Queries About Google Trends
Related Topics and Related Queries are two outstanding features available on Google Trends.
Topics
Topics are queries that share a common theme.
Identifying topics that are on the rise is useful for determining how audience or consumer demand is changing.
This information can then inspire the creation of content or the selection of new products.
According to Google:
“Related Topics
Users searching for your term also searched for these topics.
You Can View by the Following Metrics
Top – The most popular topics. Scoring is on a relative scale where a value of 100 is the most commonly searched topic and a value of 50 is a topic searched half as often as the most popular term, and so on.
Rising – Related topics with the biggest increase in search frequency since the last time period.
Results marked “Breakout” had a tremendous increase, probably because these topics are new and had few (if any) prior searches.”
Related Queries
Similar to the description of Related Topics, Related Queries contains similar information.
Top queries are typically the most frequent queries. Rising Queries are queries gaining popularity.
Screenshot of Google Trends Related Queries feature.Screenshot from Google Trends, September 2022
The information provided by Rising Queries is invaluable for staying ahead of the competition.
4. Short-Term Trends Can Bring Massive Traffic
The 90-day or even 30-day perspective of term trends might provide valuable insights for capitalizing on fast shifting search patterns.
There is a great deal of traffic on both Google Discover and Google News.
Google Discover displays trending search-related topics.
Google News is current with regard to current events.
Sites that target either of these traffic channels can benefit from understanding the current patterns.
A benefit of studying short-term trends (30-day and 90-day trends) is that specific days of the week stand out as being particularly popular for these searches.
Knowing which days of the week interest surges for a particular topic might aid in determining when to publish various types of material so that it is readily available when the target audience is searching for it.
5. Keywords By Category of Google Trends
Google Trends provides the capability to limit down the inventory of keyword search queries based on category subjects.
This offers more precise keyword data.
Categories is significant because it refines your keyword research to the appropriate environment.
If your search context is [automobiles], it makes sense to refine Google Trends to display only data relevant to the context of auto.
By restricting trending on Google data by category, you will be able to get more accurate information about the content-related issues you are investigating in the relevant context.
6. Identify Keyword Data By Geography
Google Trends keyword information by geographic location can be used to determine which regions are ideal for promoting a website or for customizing content for specific regions.
For instance, if particular types of products are popular in Washington, D.C., and Texas, it makes sense to target those regions with promotional activities and localized content.
In fact, it may be advantageous to concentrate initial link-building advertising efforts in these regions, where interest is highest.
Information on regional keyword popularity is useful for link building, content generation, content promotion, and pay-per-click.
Localizing material (and promoting that content) can make it more relevant to its target audience (or product).
Google ranks websites based on who they are most relevant to, so including regional context in your content can improve its ranking for the largest number of people.
7. Target Search Intents With Search Types
Google Trends allows you to further refine keyword data by segmenting it based on the type of search that generated the data, the Search Type.
Refining your Google Trends research by search type enables you to eliminate the “noise” that may be clouding the accuracy and significance of your keyword research.
Google Trends data can be refined by:
- Web Search.
- Image Search.
- News Search.
- Google Shopping.
- YouTube Search.
Screenshot of Google Trends showing the different kinds of searchesScreenshot from Google Trends, September 2022
YouTube search is an excellent way to identify search trends for content containing the word “how” because many YouTube users search using phrases containing the word “how.”
Although these are YouTube searches, the trends data is useful because it reveals what users are seeking.
Trending on Google search for how, what, where, when, why, and who reveals that how-related queries are by far the most popular on YouTube.
Google Trends limits comparisons to five keywords, so this word is omitted from the following screenshot.
Screenshot of Keyword Popularity on YouTube.Screenshot from Google Trends, September 2022
If your keyword phrases pertain to instructional content containing words like “how to,” the YouTube search type may provide useful insights.
For instance, I’ve discovered that YouTube Search displays more relevant “related topics” and “related queries” data than “web search” does.
Unlock The Hidden Power Of Google Trends
Paid tools are generally regarded as more useful than their free counterparts. Not necessarily, according to Google Trends.
This article lists seven methods for discovering accurate and useful search-related trends and patterns, more than some paid search-related data.
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