How to use Google Trends for keyword research
Google Trends is my favorite keyword research tool. In my opinion, the best thing about Google Trends is that it is free to use. In this guide, I’m going to show you how to use Google Trends to improve your SEO (search engine optimization).
I use it regularly to find keywords that are trending. The tool helps me create content that is up-to-date and related to what people are searching for.
In my experience, the secret to good keyword research is understanding your customers’ latest needs and wants. The following step by step guide explains how to start using the tool.
Google trends keyword research in 5 steps
- Step 1: Visit https://trends.google.com (no login required)
- Step 2: Choose your location
- Step 3: Enter one or multiple keywords
- Step 4: Scroll down to related queries
- Step 5: Switch between “top” and “rising” to view suggested keywords.
Quick Tip 💡
You can enter up to 5 keywords at the same time and compare their related keywords. This will give you hundreds of keyword ideas.
The related queries section is where you will find keyword suggestions. All the keywords listed here are searched for by people on Google. You can click on any keyword to see its trend graph
I recommend going through each of the top and related keywords. Depending on the popularity of a keyword you can see up to 25 top and related keywords.
Now it’s time to put your detective hat on. Look for common patterns between the keywords. Are there any words or topics that keep appearing? These are usually good themes to focus your content creation on.
What are Top Queries?
These are the most searched for keywords. The number next to each query is an index score. 100 represents the highest in popularity.
What are Rising Queries?
These are keywords which are rising in popularity. The number next to each rising query represents the percentage gain in popularity over the time period you have selected.
I recommend going through each of the top and related keywords. Depending on the popularity of a keyword you can see up to 25 top and related keywords.
Now it’s time to put your detective hat on. Look for common patterns between the keywords. Are there any words or topics that keep appearing? These are usually good themes to focus your content creation on.
|
Why is Google Trends good for SEO?
Google Trends gives you the freshest keyword data. This is great for SEO because it means you get the latest insights into what your users are looking for.
A lot can change in a couple of months, products can go viral and consumer interests can turn on a dime.
Today a user might want to know “how to invest in bitcoin” and tomorrow they might want to know “how to invest in gold”.
It’s important that you are creating content around what people want to know about today rather than last year.
Another reason why it’s good for SEO is that the source is incredibly reliable. Google trends is owned by Google, this means the data is coming directly from the world’s largest search engine.
Does Google Trends show keyword search volume?
Google Trends does not show search volume by default. This is a common question by users who use trends for keyword research. However, it is possible to add search volume to google trends using third party chrome extensions.
These two chrome extensions can be downloaded from the chrome extension library. Once installed they will display keyword search volumes when using Google Trends. Both extensions are free to try.
You can also compare multiple keywords to understand what is more popular. While it doesn’t provide absolute numbers this comparison is a good proxy for understanding what is searched more.
Keyword research alternatives
Most marketers will use a mixture of tools when researching keywords. Google Trends is great to get trending insights but other tools offer extra metrics that will also help you with your research.
I recommend using multiple tools if you are serious about keyword research. The following list of tools are some of my favorites based on my personal experience.
- Ahrefs
- SEMrush
- Answer The Public
- Ubersuggest
These tools give you data that Google Trends does not, such as keyword search volume and keyword competitiveness scores. The benefit of these metrics is that they can help you decide if a keyword is worth creating content around.
It’s one thing to create content based on trending searches but there is little point creating it if you can’t get your content in front of people searching for it.
Finding good keywords takes some time but the research is worth it as it will lead to better content and improved SEO rankings.
Next Steps
In this guide I’ve explained the best way to use google trends for keyword research. But you can also use google trends for market research. If you are creating video content then I also recommend learning how to find the latest youtube trends and keywords with google trends.