Google Trends is a fascinating tool that lets you look up and even compare the search patterns of any phrase. So, you can see what people are really searching for and how that has changed. How can you use this to help your business?
Simple - you can research to find out not only what searches seem to be high up, but also WHERE they are being done! This can lead you to some really great long tail keywords.
EXAMPLE - If you go to Google Trends and search for Facebook,Myspace,LinkedIn, you will notice several things:
- Canada is the top place for Facebook searches
- Myspace has many more searches than facebook
So, this suggests several things:
1)MySpace is a great site to market services and products for, though the competition will be high. More research could be done on specific long-tail phrases (like myspace templates).
2) If you want to market a service of product for Facebook, NOW would be a great time to focus some serious advertising Canada. This could be as simple as buying ads that show up in Canadian browsers (like yahoo or google can do), or even just building up a buzz on forums and BBs that serve Canadian users.
DOWNSIDE - The only real downside is that the site will not display information on searches that are below a certain level. This is NOT a detailed, long-tail research tool.
Keep your research broadly based and look for patterns. Looks for locations, terms and ideas that are being under served (especially in non-english languages!).
Google Trends should be a tool in the belt of every Internet marketer and web master/mistress. Spend some time playing around with it and you will be amazed at the great ideas you can dig up.
