How To Use Google Trending Searches To boost Your Own Traffic

Google owns roughly 90% of desktop searches and 95% of mobile searches.

As such, the search giant has a massive trove of search data–some of which is shares for free via an awesome little tool called Google Trends.

In this post, we discuss how you can use Google Trends search data to make strategic marketing decisions that can significantly increase your own website traffic.

What is Google Trends and How It Functions?

Launched in 2012, Google Trends stands out as a critical tool, offering insights into the ever-evolving search trends that frequently change.

This tool enables you to uncover everything there is to know about a particular search term: its search frequency, the timing of those searches, the geographical regions from which these searches were made, and much more.

It considers the website’s search volume and the specific timeframe when presenting you with results.

Google Trends is engineered to delve into detailed, real-time data.

It facilitates comparative keyword analysis and unveils the fluctuations in search volumes triggered by specific events.

Thanks to Google’s integration into the daily lives of millions worldwide using its search features, the insights provided by Google Trends are remarkably precise.

Overall, Google Trends offers invaluable insights through segmented keyword research, including search volume, user demographics, geographical data, and beyond.

However, it's a common misconception that Google Trends is merely a tool for scientific polling data collection.

In truth, this tool offers a much more profound, comprehensive, and detailed extraction of data that accurately reflects market search interests, revealing the most frequently searched terms and topic spikes based on the keywords you input.

Yet, it’s important to remember that the data from Google Trends represents just one aspect of the story. Marketers should analyze this data from various perspectives to draw the most accurate conclusions.

Why is Google Trends Essential for Driving Web Traffic?

Every consumer's journey is distinct, yet collective search trends emerge when a large number of people search for the same thing at once. The repetition of certain words, queries, and topics online quickly indicates whether a product or service is in demand.

Attracting customers to your site involves presenting what they're looking for, necessitating insightful data to understand how to appeal to your target audience.

While many rely on Google Analytics for this data, not everyone recognizes the significance of Google Trends in a marketer's arsenal. Unlike analytics that offers periodic data, Google Trends provides real-time updates, allowing marketers and businesses to explore data spanning decades and delve into search engine history to observe historical trends and consumer search behavior.

Google Trends is celebrated for offering data sets vital for crafting various search engine marketing and link-building strategies to drive traffic, be it through PPC, SEO, or social media marketing. Knowing the trending search queries enables you to chart the most effective course to engage your consumers.

Google Trends Data – What Does It Include?

Google Trends offers an unbiased collection of anonymized, categorized, and aggregated search data in real time, empowering marketers to gauge audience interest in any topic across search results, refined by location from city to global level.

Utilize the free data explorer on Google Trends to research any topic, keywords, or phrases, and learn about their search volume, uncovering other relevant search terms gaining online traction.

Trends data falls into two categories:

• Real-Time Data: Search data from the past seven days.
• Non-Real-Time Data: Data dating back to any year up to the last 36 hours.

Now that you're familiar with the basics of Google Trends, its data, and how it differs from other Google tools, let’s explore further.

Leveraging Google Trend Searches to Drive Traffic

Google Trends is your gateway to enhancing your digital footprint and accelerating traffic to your website. Not utilizing this powerful tool puts you behind competitors, missing out on crucial insights that could instantly elevate your website’s traffic.

If staying updated with the latest online Google trends is your goal, Google Trends is your go-to for insights. It grants access to trending topics, keywords, and phrases to fortify your marketing campaigns. Here’s how:

What Should You Do?

Start by accessing Google Trends to search for data, sorting by type, category, region, or timeframe. Experiment with various filters to draw conclusions, then compile your findings to identify the best outcomes. Use trending topics, forecasts, and related queries to optimize your content and website, thereby attracting more traffic and enhancing sales.

For instance, determine the search volume of a phrase over time to pinpoint its peak season, aiding in content planning.

Create Content Based on Trending Topics

If your website's content is overlooked despite its quality, it might not align with current interests. Marketers should explore trending topics, informing their SEO and content marketing strategies.

Upon identifying a trend, produce blog posts, articles, videos, infographics, etc., optimized with trending keyword phrases to improve SERP rankings. This approach can significantly increase website visits, proving to be an effective traffic-driving strategy.

Additionally, discover regions where relevant searches are prevalent and target those audiences in your local SEO and content strategies. Always prioritize real-time data for the latest insights.

Plan Content Around Seasonal Trends

Seasonal trends sometimes emerge unexpectedly, but often, seasons themselves ignite these trends. By researching various keywords, you'll notice certain times of the year when specific keywords become more popular.

Google Trends allows you to forecast potential shifts in upcoming seasons. Yet, these predictions should be one of many data points you consider, not the sole basis of your content strategy.

For instance, if winter is approaching and you sell warm clothing through an ecommerce store, analyze predictive phrases several months in advance. To leverage your content effectively, it needs time to rank before the peak season begins.

For example, aiming to dominate search results by Christmas means preparing your content and having it live by September. This strategy ensures your content has ample time to rank, making it more visible on SERPs than your competitors' newer content once the season starts.

Revise Your Keyword Strategy for SEO and PPC

When planning SEO content for SERP dominance, adjust your keyword strategy based on trending phrases discovered through Google Trends. Selecting trending keywords with high search volumes can significantly boost organic traffic.

Use non-real-time data from Google Trends to assess how specific keywords have performed over time, determining their potential value for your strategy.

Expand Your Keyword Base Related to Your Brand or OfferingsRelying on a limited set of keywords for optimization can limit your traffic potential. Including a variety of relevant keywords in your strategy can drive traffic from multiple directions.

Explore related queries to gauge your audience's interests and optimize your content accordingly. Creating content for related queries targets your audience more effectively, enhancing your platform's ranking and traffic.

Focus on Region-Specific Marketing Campaigns

Whether for SEO, PPC, or general advertising, identifying where your products or services are most in demand is crucial.

Broadly targeted ad campaigns or content optimization can waste resources. For example, marketing warm clothing in regions without winter is ineffective.

Analyze trending search phrases by region to identify potential markets for your offerings. Use Google Trends data to target specific regions or locales, creating content optimized for those areas to attract relevant audiences.

Additionally, compare search queries from different regions for local SEO, tailoring content to each area's unique trending interests.

Refresh Existing Content with Trending Context

Instead of crafting new content for every purpose, consider updating existing content with trending keywords and phrases. This strategy involves revising old content to align with current trends, thereby enhancing its SERP visibility and relevance.

Promote Trending Products or Services

For PPC and other paid advertising efforts, use Google Trends data to focus on products with rising demand in relevant regions. Entering your products or niche into Google Trends and selecting items with increasing demand ensures your advertising resonates with current consumer needs.

Advertising products without assessing demand is inefficient. Use Google Trends to understand market needs, optimizing your campaigns for effectiveness.

For instance, with the onset of winter, the demand for warm clothing naturally rises, indicating an opportune time to promote such items from your online store.

Monitor Competitors' Performance

Understanding your competitors is one thing; learning from their strategies is another. Keep tabs on competitors' keyword usage and performance through Google Trends to refine your approach, potentially driving more traffic and increasing sales.

Refine Your YouTube Video Strategy Based on Trending Topics

Videos often outperform text, with many consumers preferring video content. Creating trending videos requires selecting highly relevant topics.

Brands and influencers often capitalize on current hot topics to engage their audience. As these topics trend across Google, Twitter, YouTube, and other platforms, related video content gains traction.

Use Google Trends to identify hot topics within your industry for your video content or YouTube channel. Targeting these trending topics can significantly increase your channel's traffic and visibility.

Conclusion

Staying abreast of global search trends for marketing can be challenging due to the dynamic nature of the industry and evolving trends.

However, understanding and aligning with your audience's interests according to market trends is crucial. This approach ensures your marketing efforts remain effective, helping you connect with your audience, drive traffic, increase conversions, and boost sales.

Google Trends enables informed marketing decisions, ensuring your strategies are customer-focused and responsive to current needs.