SEO: Why should you use Google Trends?

 Google Trends, also called Google search trends, allows web professionals to know what Internet users are searching for over a given period and location. How can we precisely meet the expectations of Internet users?

This is of course the crucial question to ask, from the perspective of a marketing strategy truly centered on customer demand. This question is in any case inevitable for modern businesses, given the strong digital shift that consumption habits have taken, a shift further accentuated by the health crisis and the boom in e-commerce. And very often, any future purchase begins with the right match between the customer's query and the keywords of your own site...

How to use this tool effectively and improve your SEO? Answers.

The Google Trends tool in brief

Google Trends calculates the number of searches made by Internet and mobile users on the search engine over a given period. This tool allows, among other things, to observe the evolution of the number of searches for a keyword over time and suggests associated keywords .

Why is it so important to combine several keywords, and in an association that is as relevant as possible? Because, rather than focusing on a single general and “all-purpose” keyword, which will attract a lot of people but have a very low conversion rate because of its overly general nature, it is more relevant to focus on restrict to long-tail queries , which will generate much less traffic, but highly qualified traffic which will ultimately boost your conversion rate.

Google Trends offers you 4 search filters to refine the results as much as possible:

• Category : there are 25 of them and allow you to obtain more reliable results by selecting thematic categories related to the searched keyword (news, games, health, travel, etc.).
• Geography : It is possible to limit the results to a country or even an administrative region (in France), you can even compare geographical regions. This is a particularly interesting feature in two opposite cases: either you focus on local commerce and want to know the keywords (potentially terms typical of the region) used by your neighbors, or on the contrary you plan to open up to a foreign market and therefore have an interest in knowing the differences in their search habits.
• Seasonality : Select the date or period you want to study. You can of course compare two periods. Indeed, an unsuspected number of Google queries are in fact linked to the seasons and the highlights of the holidays in our calendar ( Christmas , Easter, etc.). This consideration of seasonality is an integral part of your approach to improving the user experience, since you show them that you understand (and even anticipate) their seasonal concerns.
• Google service : Choose the section in which your keyword was typed: news, images, shopping or YouTube.

Here is an example of a search on Google Trends:

We have searched here for the term webmarketing in the commercial and industrial markets category , in Ile-de-France, since 2004 and in web searches.

A lot of information is given to us:

• Evolution of the number of searches over time;
• Associated researches ;
• Research in progress, etc.

This notion of “research in progress” is particularly interesting. Indeed, Google Trends took care to distinguish the “most frequent searches” at the time T and the “progressing queries”, i.e. those which experienced the most marked increase over the selected period. Thus, Google Trends is not only the precise tool to know where you are, but also where you need to go.

An essential tool for your SEO strategy

If you are a webmaster, SEO , editorial manager or web editor , this powerful tool allows you to use useful information for your SEO and for the choice of your online content.

The keyword associations most frequently used by Internet users allow you to optimize your titles and URLs. This is an essential point for two reasons. On the one hand, to propel you to the top of search results and to stay there; on the other hand, to attract the attention of the Internet user from the first second, that is to say at the moment when he glances over the results page. We therefore see how good SEO health and click-through rates are in fact linked.

Furthermore, taking an interest in growing searches allows you to anticipate future trends and reorient your editorial content. Here, it is therefore the heart of your editorial content marketing strategy which is influenced by Google Trends.

In addition, Google Trends will help you work on the semantics of your business. By comparing two seemingly identical keywords, you'll know which one performs better than the other, and you can redirect your campaign based on those results.

So, we could say at first glance that “T-shirt” and “jersey” are strictly identical, and that comparing them closely is a waste of time. This is not the case, quite the contrary: Internet users who spontaneously type “T-shirt” turn out to be statistically younger and more cosmopolitan than those who type “jersey” in the search bar.

Choosing an Anglicism, or conversely claiming its French counterpart, can say a lot about the worldview of your prospects. As such, Google Trends is a powerful tool for analyzing the psychology of your target audience . Along the same lines, you will not choose the same keywords depending on whether you are a neophyte or an expert in the field in which you are looking for information.

More surprising: it can in certain cases prove useful to use a “discreetly” misspelled keyword, if the use of this incorrect spelling is dominant in the queries, even if it is in contradiction with the recommendations of the French Academy.

Another advantage of Google Trends for your business: being able to test and monitor the evolution of your popularity . Indeed, thanks to the “Compare” function, you have the possibility to analyze your reputation on the web compared to that of your competitors (up to 5). This is ideal for being able to objectively position yourself in your sector of activity, and to know which competitor to observe the best practices that work with Internet users.

Please note: This only works if search volumes are high enough to be used.

This will allow you to react more quickly in the event that you notice a drop in trends or rather an improvement in searches. In this case, try to find the event at its origin:

• Transition to television;
• Bad buzz ;
• New communication campaign;
• Low period ( sales , etc.).

Google Trends thus greatly increases your responsiveness and this has become an essential quality for surviving in the jungle of the web today! Indeed, consumer habits have changed and prospects are increasingly systematically consulting customer reviews of your company, but also the nature of the company's responses to negative comments, and even the company's response time! So give prospects what they expect: near-immediacy.

As for down periods, they deserve your full attention, because you could well turn them to your advantage. Indeed, many businesses focus on periods of high sales (first and foremost being Christmas, of course). But this is playing a dangerous game: you risk preparing very uneven profits throughout the year.

Use Google Trends to be inventive and always present in Google queries and in the minds of your prospects during periods of low sales: you will thus build a solid reputation “outside sales”, far from the fierce competition that reigns during periods of strong sales , and it is ultimately to you that your customers will turn all year round. Thanks Google Trends!

Web marketing, e-commerce and optimization of your Adwords campaign

Are you an e-commerce manager, web marketing manager or Adwords campaign manager? Comparative analysis of several keywords can help you.

You can evaluate the expectations of your targets and create an Adwords ad optimized for your prospects and accentuate your communication on popular products or services. This can make it possible to be both more economical and more effective in the oh-so-expensive position of advertising. Google Trends allows you to definitively turn the page on “old-fashioned” advertising, that is to say impersonal, bombarded for everyone in all seasons and throughout the country.

Make way for personalization , which effectively fights against the growing indifference of Internet users “immune” to omnipresent, untimely and poorly targeted advertising. In addition, the interconnection of Google bouquet services (Google Trends, Google ADS , Google Search Console) takes on its full meaning here.

Finally, the analysis of seasonal trends makes it possible to anticipate future requests from Internet and mobile users.

Other uses of Google Trends

The Google Trends tool can also be used to get an accurate picture of your brand's e-reputation and monitor progressing queries. Moreover, we must not forget that with Google's Author Rank, your e-reputation will count more and more for the referencing of your content.

Many e-commerce players use Google Trends to carry out market research by comparing queries made by Internet users in different geographic areas.

Here is a small list of different ways to use Google Trends:

• Find niches;
• Find related product categories if you want to expand;
• Research keywords to improve your SEO;
• Sell ​​according to seasonal trends;
• Adapt your content to current trends;
• Improve your reach on YouTube;
• Find the right time for your Google Shopping ads.

Conclusion

Now that you know the essentials of Google Trends, we invite you to try this particularly effective tool to optimize your SEO, your SEM campaigns, your e-reputation, etc.

In fact, you will soon no longer be able to do without it, as Google Trends can become a sort of “Swiss army knife” for anyone working in SEO. We have seen it: one of its best assets is that it allows you to establish a virtuous circle between content writing, trend research and ongoing SEO work, to boost your positioning in the SERPs one after the other. , your qualified traffic and your conversion rate!