Google Trends: What it is and how to use it

To create a successful business strategy, you need to keep your finger on the pulse, which means monitoring and understanding the market situation. This includes forecasting trend seasonality and demand for specific products. A business owner should also understand the geography of interest to shape the right advertising strategy. This is just a small part of what Google Trends is capable of. The service is essential for anyone involved in online business promotion.

What is Google Trends

Google Trends is an online platform that allows you to find out about the popularity of any query or event in a specific territory. The service shows what is most frequently searched for on Google. It is a tool that allows you to freely analyze the presence of market trends and track popular product categories. Data is collected worldwide and automatically updated regularly.

Google statistics are best suited for keyword analysis. The service helps effectively promote a website and increase conversion. It is used to examine phrases according to additional criteria such as seasonality, dynamics, search groups, and many others. Statistics are provided in relative values.

Google Trends provides business owners with the necessary information about what visitors are most frequently searching for. This allows the business to scale correctly, fostering an understanding of user needs. And this, in turn, provides the ability to calculate sales profitability.

Google Trends will be useful for the following groups:

• Marketers. By using trending Google queries, you can identify market needs to promote essential goods at the right time. The platform allows you to analyze user behavior in the context of specific products and regions.
• SEO specialists. To create a semantic core, you need to know the most relevant keywords.
• Copywriters. The platform is used to select current article topics.
• Contextual advertising specialists. To determine the best time to launch an advertising campaign and create a list of offers.
• Company managers. They conduct an analysis of the target audience’s needs and make decisions regarding the introduction of new goods or services to the market.

Google Trends is a powerful service for your business that will help you immediately learn about trends and changes occurring in the market depending on various factors.

For example, imagine your company sells electric scooters. This product can certainly be called seasonal. With Google Trends, you’ll find out when it’s at its peak demand and when it starts to decline. Such information will be useful for regulating warehouse stock. So, we go to Google Trends and type “buy electric scooter”. We select the region (Poland) and the period (12 months). We analyze Google’s dynamics – we see that demand starts in March and significantly increases in summer. We shape our business strategy accordingly.

How to use Google Trends: a beginner’s guide

First and foremost, ensure the accuracy of your search results. To do this, follow the recommendations below:

• Use quotation marks (“”). The platform returns fewer results because it eliminates spelling errors, which reduces variance.
• To display results where a visitor enters several words, use “+”. This can be a search phrase, and after the plus sign, insert a brand name.
• To remove unnecessary words, use “-“. Words indicated after the minus sign will not appear in the search results.

To get more diverse results, separate “Topic” and “Search query”. The “Topic” section provides significantly more details for broad indicators.

Google Statistics and their Analysis

The platform allows you to compare statistics for several queries. For example, to analyze interest in phones, TVs, laptops, etc. The comparison table shows the most frequently searched queries on Google. This helps assess the level of competition and dynamics.

Keyword analysis can also be performed without comparing with other products. The “Queries by territorial units” tab provides information about geography. To learn more, set the time period in the general settings. Filter by subregions or by selecting the appropriate city. This way, you will get accurate, narrowly targeted data.

Related Queries

Use the “Related topics” tab to assess demand for similar offers and the level of competition. The “Related queries” tab is located below and provides information about related topics or the same product but with different spelling. Here are also filters:

1. Rising popularity.
2. Most popular queries on Google.

Statistics allow you to assess user behavior and detect related interests. They also indicate the popularity level of specific products in percentages. This helps understand the market situation. For example, you will learn that in Poland, a particular smartphone brand has special demand with the release of a new version.

YouTube Popularity Analysis

Many people search for information in video format rather than text. Therefore, YouTube has become an important source, especially for commercial offers. Here you can find reviews of various services, mobile devices, home appliances, TVs, etc.

By selecting the “YouTube” filter, you will get Google queries specifically on this platform. This option will be useful for those planning to promote their own channel. Thanks to statistics, you can track visitor activity and look for interesting content.

The difference in dynamics is quite significant compared to the “Web Search” filter. On YouTube, it is usually much higher. By correctly choosing topics, you will not only promote your channel but also gain organic traffic from Google. Video content is often displayed as a special snippet.

Where does Google Trends get its information?

Search statistics are generated based on user queries. Updates occur automatically. The order of data collection and presentation:

• The platform identifies the most current and widespread queries. A report is generated by region and time period.
• A point-based evaluation is conducted, where 100 points represent maximum popularity, and 0 is the lowest rating.

The platform only sends relevant queries to the sample. If people asked about something only sporadically, it will not be shown in the result.

Google Trends for Website Promotion

Website promotion depends on many factors. The platform provides the necessary key tools for this. First and foremost, it’s worth ensuring that the website contains content and products that users need.

Analyze and Collect Statistics

For SEO optimization, regularly conduct keyword analysis and detect trends. Change tactics and find new keywords, as needs change over time. The “Related topics” tab provides significant help in this regard. Data is sorted by two parameters: “most popular” and “rising in popularity”.

In the first case, the ranking is determined on a scale from 100 to 0. The second option refers to topics that have recently gained popularity. The “Breakout” label indicates a significant increase in demand. This allows you to use new popular queries to attract organic traffic.

For content marketing and SMM, generating new ideas is crucial. Create blog posts, articles, and other content that people need.

Provide materials that will not lose relevance over time. To do this, look for topics with a stable level of popularity. Relevant content is essential for achieving stable website traffic.

Market Seasonality

If a product has seasonal demand, be attentive to the rise and fall of its popularity. A business owner must clearly understand when the growth begins, peaks, and declines. The “Interest over time” tab serves this purpose. Data is obtained not only for a specific period but also for a particular region or city.

Sometimes demand is shaped not by seasonality but by the appearance of new models. For example, demand for a specific smartphone brand may fluctuate. Analyze what causes the sales peak in a particular period. It may turn out that it is related to the introduction of a new model, not an increase in user needs. If you do not take these moments into account, the analysis of growth dynamics will be incorrect.

Statistics from Regions

Using the platform, it is convenient to track trends in different regions. To do this, use the “Queries by territorial units” tab. To get indicators, select a period. All values are given in percentages and measured from the total number. Therefore, be guided by the population in a specific region.

For example, a popularity index of 50% in Warsaw and in some small town represents different numbers, as they are derived from the number of queries in those territories. Considering the population, the indicators differ significantly, even though the percentage is the same.

How to use Google Trends for Website Promotion

The available set of Google Trends tools does not guarantee effective business promotion on its own. They require understanding and skillful application. Obtaining analysis and statistics provides important information. However, it is crucial to understand why there is an increase in demand or a decrease in statistical data. The analysis of these factors determines the success of website promotion.

The owner will understand why certain search queries are becoming popular and how to react to the trend. Learn to distinguish whether the dynamics are related to an increase in audience interest or specific brand activity and new product introductions.

Use similar queries for website promotion. This will allow you to gather a set of current keywords, as well as capture business trends that competitors are using. Determine which regions are in greater need of the service or product offered by your website. Set a longer time period. For example, by selecting 5 years, you will get a complete picture.

Analyze what interests the audience on YouTube, especially when you create your own video content and have a channel. Through it, you can gain additional traffic to your website if you post content that interests the audience.

Google Trends is a convenient, functional service, indispensable for SEO experts and SMM specialists, marketers, and managers. By mastering the platform’s tools well, you will significantly increase website conversion and make your project more profitable.

Frequently Asked Questions

Can Google Trends be used to compare the popularity of two or more different terms?

Yes, this is one of the basic and most useful features of Google Trends. You can enter up to five different search terms (keywords, phrases, brand names, etc.) simultaneously and visually compare their relative popularity over time and across different regions. This will help determine what is more relevant to your target audience.

What is the difference between “Search Term” and “Topic” in Google Trends?

A search term is the exact phrase or word you type into the search bar. The results show how often people searched for that specific combination of characters. A topic — is a group of search terms that share the same conceptual meaning. Generally, choosing a “Topic” provides a better understanding of overall interest, while a “Search Term” is useful for analyzing specific keywords.

Does Google Trends show the absolute number of search queries?

No. Instead, it shows normalized data on a scale from 0 to 100. The number 100 represents the peak popularity within the selected time period and region, and 0 means that there was insufficient data for the term. This relative representation allows for comparing trends regardless of the overall traffic volume in different regions or timeframes.