Figuring out what is trending is more than just searching hashtags on Twitter or looking up viral videos. With so many topics getting popular and then dropping off the face of Earth (remember fidget spinners?) on a daily basis, it would be impossible to keep up by using social media alone. That’s where Google Trends comes in. 

Google Trends is a useful search trends feature that shows how frequently a given search term is entered into Google, relative to the total search volume over a given period of time. Because of this, it is an extremely useful tool for comparative keyword research and to discover spikes in keyword search volume.

What Are Google Trends? 

To put it simply, Google Trends are things that Google deems to be trending. They can be fads or timeless trends and are often related to celebrities and pop culture, natural disasters, and politics. It’s no different from trending hashtags, viral videos, or trending dances on TikTok. 

What is different is the information that comes along with the trends. Instead of seeing realtime user reactions, hate comments, or a multitude of people doing the same thing to get popular, you’ll see real data. 

When you enter a search term, you’ll see all of the following: 

• Interest by subregion
• Related topics
• Related queries 
• Interest over time

So, how do you use that information? 

How to Use Google Trends

How does Google Trends work? It’s like a search engine. You simply enter in the keyword you want to target and it pulls up related trending topics. For example, Google Trends recently shared information on trending searches related to Kim Kardashian, such as top relevant search terms across the U.S. and top “Marilyn Monroe” topics. 

You’ll be able to see where the most searches are happening, interest over time, related search queries, and compare search terms with one another.

What Google Trends is Useful For

Google search trends data is very useful for finding relevant data for your marketing campaigns. For example, if you run a clothing store, you’ll want to ramp up your marketing efforts when search terms relevant to your business are trending, such as seasonal clothing or during big fashion events.

Also in the paid search realm, you can use this information to help with cost planning as well as inventory stocking. For example, you know jackets will be in higher demand in winter, and Google Trends will help you figure out which jackets will likely be the most popular. 

In addition, you can use Google Trends to find irrelevant trending terms you need to set as negative keywords, so a trending search doesn’t wildly affect your costs.

For SEO and content marketing, use Google Trends to learn what your audience is searching for and then write about those trending topics to help drive traffic to your site.

Keyword Research

You can conduct keyword research on Google Trends! Google Trends will return a graph of the search term’s popularity over the past year. You can also change the timeframe by expanding the date range to help you distinguish between fads and timeless trends.

Finding Related Keywords

What makes Google Trends unique is its ability to recommend related keywords that are currently growing in popularity. This feature allows you to identify better, more relevant keywords based on your core search term.

It takes the guesswork out of it too! It will show you related keywords in order of popularity, and will even provide you with the search volume increase for each one.

Should You Start Utilizing Google Trends?

Yes! However, use it wisely and don’t build your entire campaigns around it. Remember, trends come and go. While using Google Trends can help you create breakout content and brand awareness, it’s not great at building long-lasting content that remains relevant for months, if not years. 

Think about it this way: you own a clothing store and are following the current drama about Kim Kardashian potentially ruining Marilyn Monroe’s historic dress. You write a blog on it, blast it over social media, make a ton of shareable memes, and get quite a bit of a following from it. What happens after people stop caring about the dress? How do you continue to grow in popularity? You can continue to ride the trends and the hypes, or you can start creating a more sustainable mix of content, which is what we recommend. 

If you need help getting started, check out our blog on getting your SEO right the first time, which means targeting the right keywords and building a great foundation for you to start writing up blogs on trending topics and timeless search queries. Good luck and go follow those trends!