Google Trends offers a wealth of insightful data about the trends Google users are searching for. This resource allows businesses to gain valuable information and insights into current search volumes and patterns to improve their strategies.
Google Trends is a free tool that provides data and graphs about the popularity of certain search terms on Google and YouTube.
It was originally introduced in 2006 and the latest version was released in May 2018.
You can use Google Trends to:
Google Trends allows you to track the development of keyword volume over the past year.
Why is that important?
Because you can stay one step ahead of the competition by searching for increasingly popular keywords and create content on the industry-relevant keywords that people are actually searching for.
For example, if you use a keyword research tool like Soovle or Jaaxy, you only see the number of searches, but with Google Trends you can also predict the future performance of a keyword.
Google Trends also helps you avoid keywords that are trending poorly.
But how can you tell if a keyword is truly trending or just a fad? You simply need to adjust the timeframe for trends. If you extend this timeframe to the last two to four years, you'll have a better understanding of what constitutes a trend and what is merely a fad.
This way, you can also identify seasonal keywords – those that peak at quarterly intervals. You might want to focus on these keywords, but it's always helpful to distinguish them from the true trendsetters.
Another powerful feature of Google Trends is its unique ability to recommend related search terms that are also gaining popularity. Let's say you have your main term in mind; search for it and then scroll down to the "Related Searches" table.
You'll notice that Google Trends suggests keywords closely related to your search term and lists them in order of their percentage popularity. Both of these actions contribute significantly to market research.
Sometimes you'll notice that Google Trends replaces the percentage (%) search volume with the term "breakout". Pay close attention to this, as it means the keyword has increased by more than 5.000%.
Don't misunderstand this number, though. It doesn't mean the keyword is oversaturated and hard to rank for—quite the opposite. You should jump on this keyword as soon as possible, since it might not have become competitive yet. If you're quick enough, you can secure a spot on Google's search page.
But beware, it is not advisable to build an entire business model around them, as they will likely (and often quickly) fall out of favor again.
But for a few months of traffic and a coveted spot in Google search results, it can be a smart move if you do it at the right time.
That's not all. Google Trends can help you discover related keywords to a search, as mentioned earlier, but it can also provide insights into related topics that you should consider for future content.
On the left side of the "Related Searches" table, you will find another table labeled "Related Topics." This table does not contain specific search terms but provides insight into more general topics that consumers are searching for.
If you switch back and forth between "Rising" and "Top," you'll notice that the latter lists topics that consistently receive a large number of monthly searches, even if they aren't necessarily growing. "Rising," on the other hand, gives you results for topics that are currently trending.
These broad topics are very useful for search engine optimization, as they can help you create content that anticipates new trends. Once you've determined the specific keywords you want to rank for, you can compile a list of blog posts, videos, or social media posts on those topics.
This feature is fantastic for brick-and-mortar stores serving a local community. As mentioned earlier, a search is often an action that accompanies the purchase of a product. As a business, you can use statistics on search activity to monitor, analyze, and even predict whether a product, service, or new idea will be accepted by a local audience.
It would be even more worthwhile to search Google Trends for "interest by subregion". Even if you live in the same country as millions of others, keywords can show completely different trends in different cities, states, and subregions.
For example, if you manufacture athletic shoes and are considering launching an ice skate line, Google Trends shows how search volume for this keyword varies from city to city and canton to canton. "Interest by subregion" can help filter out the geographic areas with the greatest demand for your products and... SEO-To strengthen and sharpen the strategy.
Additional options from Google Trends
The results found in this way help to identify popular topics and search queries from different segments of a potential market. While you won't get specific keywords, you will gain insight into trending search queries: real-time data on searches that have been particularly frequent in the last 24 hours.
Just be careful not to focus too much on keywords that are short-term "outliers".
LSI is an acronym for "latent semantic indexing"—a computer program designed to learn a wide range of synonyms based on context. This revolutionary AI uses mathematical systems to find the relationship between a word and its concept within a given piece of content.
Google Trends can also help with on-page SEO by showing LSI keywords. Let's say you've written a post about Bitcoin. By using "Related searches" and "Related topics," Google will show you a list of terms closely related to a main keyword.
All you have to do is include these terms in the right context or in a meaningful way in your blog posts (remember to avoid indiscriminate keyword stuffing).
As Google Trends progresses, contextual aspects become increasingly important. Adding context can be done in various ways:
Google Trends works very relativistically, so you should never disregard the context. The results are not compared to the general popularity of trends, but rather to the past success of your keyword choice. Let's take the term "beauty pageants" as an example.
Before the pandemic, this was a popular search term, but if you look at beauty pageant trends over the past 12 months, you'll see it's hit an all-time low. Change this to "2005–present," and the graph shows stability, similar to a steady heartbeat. This is also one of the characteristics of seasonal search.
With Google Trends, staying up-to-date on the latest and hottest trends has never been easier. On the homepage, you can see the most searched topics in real time.
You can see which search queries have experienced a surge in popularity within moments, such as those relating to people, cities, text, or events. Furthermore, regular updates can be used to reflect the potential interest of specific audiences within a given topic.
For content marketing and search engine optimization (SEO), the "Explore" function is the most exciting. Google allows you to track search interest for any keyword – all the way back to 2004 and even minute-by-minute changes within the last hour.
The search volume is not given in absolute numbers, but in relative values. The highest value is 100; this expresses the highest search interest. The other values in the diagram show the relative demand compared to the peak demand.
Here, the diagram can be adapted to your own needs.
The filter options for the chart are:
This allows SEOs and marketers to not only take a closer look at individual terms, but also to compare relevant search queries across different browsers. Furthermore, Google provides additional data below the primary chart – such as demand in selected countries, related topics, and similar search queries across browsers.
© 2012-2025, MIK Group GmbH | General Terms and Conditions | Imprint | Privacy policy
