A Brief Guide to Using Google Trends for Search Engine Optimization

Google Trends is a useful tool for search engine optimization (SEO). I’m guessing you already know that. But do you know how to properly use it? There are many ways you can harness the power of Google Trends to help optimize your website and this brief guide will pinpoint some key areas you can focus on in order to get the most of Google Trends.
In today's SEO world, there are many, many ways you can optimize a website. Some examples include link building, smart keyword selection, and the art of content creation. Despite this wide range, a large amount of modern SEO revolves around using Google Analytics to track traffic and utilizing Google AdWords to test messaging and search volume.
Google Trends, on the other hand, is an invaluable resource for search engine optimizers and is somewhat underutilized as well. This tool allows users to view the rise and fall in searches over time for keywords, phrases, categories, and regions.
The abundance of data includes information on popularity over time, top related searches, the commercial reach of the terms being searched, and related social media conversations.

The Importance of Google Trends

Google Trends is the most reliable tool that you can use for your keyword research strategies. The reason is that Google Trends is the only tool that represents the actual and accurate data and gives insights based on Google’s own tracked data.
It is important to note here that Google Trends doesn’t show the traffic in number like some other paid SEO tools but there is no question about the accuracy of it. While the numbers on other paid SEO tools are estimates gathered by data providers, Google Trends shows numbers based on actual volumes of search queries.
It doesn’t mean you should not use those tools but the right mix of tools would provide near accurate data. Google Trends can also be used to segment data in order to get a better idea of the location and keyword trends.

Using Google Trends for Search Engine Optimization

1. Comparing keywords can put your data in perspective.

Google Trends displays a relative representation of traffic on a scale of 0 to 100. As the graph is on a relative scale, it gets difficult to tell whether the trend is reflecting hundreds or thousands of keyword searches. This is especially useful if you know how much traffic another keyword phrase generates.
SEO companies in Dubai and around the world religiously use Google Trends and encourage everyone to use this platform because of the accuracy of the data.

2. Getting accurate traffic data

Comparing an unknown keyword with a keyword you know something about can help you estimate traffic numbers more accurately.
If the keyword volume is particularly massive, another method for determining a close estimate of keyword volume is to compare your target keyword to any keyword phrase for which you have a rough understanding of traffic volume.
The comparative keyword doesn't need to be related. It may be something else altogether. The most important thing is to get a sense of the keyword volume in general.
You can also check the Google Trends Daily Trends page to see the most popular search phrases. This page is valuable since Google provides keyword volumes in numbers, such as 100,000+ searches each day, etcetera.
Although Google Trends won't show you exact figures, knowing the statistics for one term will help you comprehend the traffic levels for the other keyword.
Unfortunately, this hack is not foolproof. Yet, it is sufficient to provide a rough estimate and can be used to verify extrapolated data from a paid keyword research tool.
There are mainly two approaches to looking at keyword data: over long periods and shorter periods.

3. Time-Keywords Analysis

Long Period Trends

Google Trends may be configured to display traffic trends dating back to 2004. This is useful for displaying audience trends.
Long-Term Trends That Are Peaking: If a trend is going up, it's time to focus your efforts on developing content for that trend.
Long-Term Downtrends: If the trend line is descending, it could indicate that audience content consumption is shifting.
It is critical to recognize when a trend is heading in the wrong direction.

• The digital camera was the catalyst for the analog camera's downfall.
• The iPhone was the reason for the digital camera's demise.

Knowing which direction the wind is blowing might assist a content marketer or publisher figure out when it's time to abandon digital cameras and focus on mobile phone-related products.

Questions and Related Topics

Related Topics and Related Queries are two of Google Trends' most useful feature
Topics
Topics are a type of search query that has a common theme. Topics are generally language-independent, although it's unclear whether this is the case with Related Topics.
Google says:
Related Topics: Users who looked up your phrase also looked up these topics.
You Can View Based on the Metrics Below
Top: The most popular topics are listed at the top. The scoring is done on a relative scale, with 100 being the most often searched topics and 50 representing a term that is searched half as frequently as the most popular term, and so on.
Rising: Topics that have had the greatest rise in search frequency since the previous time.
The number of "Breakout" results increased dramatically, owing to the fact that these topics are fresh and have had few (if any) prior searches

Related Queries

Related Queries are comparable to Related Topics in terms of description. In general, top inquiries are the most popular, whereas rising queries are those that are growing popular.
Also Read, How AI is changing the future of digital marketing?

Short-term trends have the potential to generate a lot of traffic

When looking at keyword trends in a short time frame, such as 90 days or even 30 days, you may gain useful insights on how to profit from swiftly shifting search patterns.
Google Discover and Google News both receive a lot of traffic.
While Google Discover is less responsive to trending subjects than Google News, staying on top of current interests is really beneficial for attracting a lot of visitors through Google Discover and Google News right now.
For example, How To and Near Me searches are two of the most popular term trends.
You can see which days of the week certain searches are popular when you zoom in to a 90-day view. Knowing which days of the week a specific topic generates the most interest might aid in planning when to post various types of material so that it is available when the audience is looking for it.

Keywords by Category

Google Trends may limit down your keywords based on categories in order to get more precise statistics. The Categories tab is vital since it helps you focus your keyword research.
If your search context is autos, it's a good idea to use Google Trends to filter the data to just show data for the vehicle context.
You will be able to obtain more accurate information on the themes you're studying for content if you narrow down the Google Trends data by category

Make the most of keyword data by geography

The keyword data from Google Trends by geographic location may be used to determine which locations are ideal to target for site marketing or to customize content to certain regions.
For instance, if particular types of items are popular in Washington, D.C., and Texas, it makes sense to target promotional activities and localized material to those locations.
Information on keyword popularity by area is useful for link building, content generation, content promotion, and pay-per-click campaigns.
Localizing material can help it become more relevant to those who are interested in it.
Google prioritizes sites based on who they are most relevant for, so including regional subtlety in your content might help it rank higher for the most people. Especially if they start sharing your work on social media, blogs, and podcasts.

Use Categories to Discover Search Intentions

Google Trends allows you to further narrow the keyword data by segmenting it by Search Type, which is a great way to see how common different types of search intents are.
Search Types provide information on searchers who are intently focused on a single type of purpose.
Refining your research helps you to cut through the "noise" that may be cluttering your keyword study and get right to the signal - the most relevant facts.
The data from Google Trends may be fine-tuned by:

• Image Search.
• Google Shopping.
• YouTube Search.
• Web Search.
• News Search.

Searching YouTube for "how-to" information is a great method to find it.
According to a Google Trends search for "how," "what," "where," "when," "why," and "who," search queries that begin with the word "how" are by far the most popular on YouTube.
If you are looking for instructional content with terms like [how to], expanding your search to YouTube may yield valuable results.
For example, I have discovered that using YouTube Search instead of "web search" produces more relevant "similar themes" and "related inquiries" data.
The search tendencies in Google News are strikingly different from those in YouTube. This is because individuals on Google News want to know "what" and "how" information.
When the same terms are searched over a 5-year period, it becomes evident that "who" type keywords surge in response to current events.
The most substantial increase came in the days following the 2020 presidential election. All of the different search type query improvements work together to improve the accuracy of the results.
Try those options because the information they provide may be more accurate and valuable than the more general and perhaps noisy "web search" version.

The Bottom Line: Google Trends Is Useful

Google Trends is a helpful tool, and with a little imagination, it may provide valuable search marketing data.
With current customers' needs increasing and Google's algorithm being updated, we've arrived at a time when utilizing Google Trends data is more useful than ever. If you're willing to roll up your sleeves and look beyond the basics, you'll discover unique insights that can drastically improve your SEO.
Take some time to look at Google Trends. I'm confident you'll learn something new that will help you improve the way you develop and promote content online.
This is it for today’s blog. I hope you enjoyed reading it and that you’ve learned a thing or two about Google Trends and how to make the most of it. Feel free to reach out to me if you have any questions or comments.
If you are a business owner and finding it hard to rank your corporate website, contact Prism Digital, the best SEO Agency in Dubai and our SEO experts will help you devise and execute strategies that would help you rank in those top positions in the Google SERPs. See you on the other side. Thank you.