How to Use Google Trends to Rank Higher in SERPs
Out of many different SEO tools you can use to improve your SEO strategy, Google Trends is among the most practical ones. The free trending keyword search tool created by Google comes with some great and wide-ranging features designed to help you monitor different search query stats. These include the analysis of popular topics and search terms according to the region, time, and platform. For this reason, we’ve decided to show you how to use Google Trends to rank higher in SERPs.
But before we begin, let’s take a brief moment to see how Google Trends can be useful.
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How Can Google Trends Benefit Your Business?
Google Trends is particularly useful when it comes to getting ideas for writing about topics that are most popular in a particular industry or niche. In turn, this can help you achieve a higher ranking in search results and bring more valuable traffic your way.
For example, if you plan to run an online store, you can check which products are the most popular in your field and analyze how their trends change month by month. You can boost your video SEO by analyzing what topics are trending on platforms like YouTube. In addition, you will be able to easily monitor your competition and even compare the popularity of different terms, topics, and rival brands and companies, all with the goal of enhancing your content marketing strategy.
So, we will cut straight to the chase and explore how to use Google Trends to boost the potential of your business. Regardless of what your ultimate goal is, there are a lot of different ways in which you can explore the potential of this useful platform. Here are some of the things you can do:
Monitoring search trends is a great feature you can use to learn more about how “trendy” a particular topic is at different points in time. Then, you can simply set up a timetable of when your articles will be posted according to the times when those topics tend to be most searched for.
Once you head to Google Trends, simply type in your desired search term.
For example, if you type in “gothic fashion”, you will be able to view the chart that will indicate interest over time for this particular topic. You will see that it had more searches in April and October of 2021 and that it was visibly less popular in the periods of July, August, and December.
Of course, there will always be topics that are consistently popular throughout the entire year. Still, when it comes to topics that are more popular during certain seasons, learning the periods when they’re at their peak in terms of trending can be greatly beneficial. That’s because it will help you better determine the ideal time to publish or even update said topics for the maximum number of website visits.
You can also check the validity of certain topics for more than a year. More precisely, you can go all the way to the year 2004. If you want, you can be as specific as to see the trend for the past seven days or a past hour only. In addition, you can also change the country of interest, or view the trending statistics worldwide. The latter can be particularly useful if you want to reach a global audience.
When exploring a specific topic in your niche, you might want to look into related topics to find more similar terms that your potential audience and/or customers might also be interested in.
For example, if you specialize in selling (or blogging) about gothic fashion, you might also want to get your hands on topics or products related to Japanese street fashion or, say, punk rock, as these represent topics somewhat related to this fashion type.
To find the “Related topics” section, scroll down after typing in your keyword. You can browse through 25 suggested topics by clicking on the arrows below.
Even if you find some topics that might be unrelated to your field, there are bound to be some suggestions that will get you inspired.
Another great way in which you can use Google Trends is to engage in some keyword research. To be more specific, you can search for related keyword suggestions and get inspired by exploring similar trending topics that your audience may like. Ultimately, this will also help you create relevant posts that will rank for the right keywords.
To use Google Trends to find new keywords, simply enter the main keyword, choose the country and the desired time range, and then scroll down the page until you find the “Related queries” section (in the bottom right corner of the page).
Here you will find some suggestions that will be associated with the search query you typed in above. You can also sort the keywords so that you can see the top results first. This will show the keywords that relate to your specific keyword the most.
On the other hand, the “rising” option shows keywords that are currently getting the most buzz. We urge you to be careful with these “rising” keywords, as they tend to be popular only for a brief moment, and then disappear and become completely irrelevant.
Google Trends is also great if you want to find out more about the latest most popular searches. This can especially come in handy if you’re writing time-dependent content. For example, if you’re dedicated to posting about the latest tech or fashion news, or writing about the latest happenings and/or accomplishments in your specific field, then this feature can prove to be quite useful for you.
Once you pick the country whose trends you want to explore (in the top right corner), you can scroll down and find the “Recently trending” section. Here you will be able to see the searches that have been trending most recently in the country you selected.
Just note, however, that these can very well be only momentary popular topics, and their status might change as soon as the next week.
We suggest that you also try out the Compare option to compare two (or more) search terms and their popularity over time. Simply enter your search term and then hit the “+Compare” button to add another term.
You will instantly be able to see the graph of both keywords in the “Interest over time” section. Here you will be able to learn how the two terms differ in popularity.
For example, these are the results when we compare the terms “gothic fashion” and “punk fashion”. Punk fashion is a search term that is consistently more popular than gothic fashion during the entire year.
Aside from boosting your website’s ranking in SERPs, Google Trends search can also help you when it comes to improving your video marketing and eCommerce strategy. To be more specific, instead of performing a default Web Search, you can switch this option to analyze the popularity of terms for Google Shopping and/or YouTube Search instead.
For example, there are different terms and/or topics that may be particularly popular on the YouTube platform. By finding out what these are, you can maximize your reach on YouTube for your particular niche and greatly enhance your video SEO.
We’ve entered the keyword “vintage fashion” and selected YouTube Search. You can see that “Fashion”, “Vintage clothing”, and “Fashion show” are related topics that are most commonly used on YouTube.
Similarly, you can select the Google Shopping option if you own an eCommerce business and want to get personalized results for your industry. This can help you determine which products tend to be the most popular. You can then try selling those products as well to maximize your sales potential.
Finally, by searching for results that are tailored to fit specific platforms such as YouTube, you can get more precise trending statistics and can easily create your content around them.
One awesome Google Trends feature is its ability to show local searches, i.e. how local audiences in specific areas are reacting to certain queries. Once you enter a specific search query, Google Trends will also display interest by subregion and show cities where your query has the most popularity.
This is particularly useful when it comes to optimizing your content for local SEO. If you personalize it in a way that will cater more to these regions, you can only expect to achieve a more positive result in terms of your sales and conversions.
Sometimes, the Related queries section may also show specific brands that are most popular in a given field. Users usually type in the names of these brands together with specific search terms.
For example, when we type in “vintage fashion” and choose the “Worldwide” option for the region, Fashion Nova, an American popular fashion store will come up in the related queries section.
You can do the same and check out your top queries to see if any of your competitors show up. Then, you can view their stats to learn more about their particular strategy. Moreover, you can use the Comparison option to compare your searches against your competition’s – or anyone else’s, for that matter. All this can help you get one step closer to improving your overall content and branding strategy.
Wrapping Things Up
Whether you want to find some inspiration for creating content in your niche, aim to learn which products are most popular in your industry, or if you simply want to find out which topics are currently trending in your region, Google Trends will be able to help you out, and then some. This keyword research tool is completely free to use and is as simple and intuitive as it can get. You just need to type in the desired search term, select the region or the country you are interested in, choose the platform of choice (web search, Google shopping, YouTube, etc.), and customize your time range. Then, you can follow some of our suggestions to explore the platform’s useful features in more detail.
We encourage you to go ahead and learn how to use Google Trends for market research and use its power to enhance your content strategy, improve your ranking, and ultimately, get the most out of your business. And remember – while being familiar with trends can be incredibly valuable for any business, some trends can only be a one-hit wonder. So, be careful and make sure to differentiate the topics that are only popular temporarily (i.e. seasonal trends) from those that fall into the evergreen content category and are relevant at all times. Knowing this can help you go a long way when it comes to implementing the content strategy that works best for you.
