Google Trends: How to Apply Search Data to Boost Your Business
Understanding what your customers are searching for, how your brand compares to competitors, and which keywords can boost your ad campaigns is essential for success.
To help businesses utilize the power of search data, Daniel Weisberg, Search Advocate at Google, and Omri Weisman, Google Trends Engineering Manager, teamed up to explain practical ways that businesses—whether online or offline—can apply Google Trends to drive growth.
Key Techniques for Business Growth with Google Trends
Weisberg and Weisman provide four actionable strategies for using Google Trends to improve your marketing and sales approach. These include:
- Understanding overall vertical trends
- Benchmarking against competitors
- Analyzing brand awareness and sentiment
- Researching keywords for ad campaigns
A Detailed Breakdown of Each Strategy
1. Understanding Overall Vertical Trends
One of the first and most important steps for any business is understanding which products or services are currently in demand. Google Trends allows you to monitor search behavior across various topics.
"You can do this by visiting trends.google.com and trying a few product types. Notice how I selected the topics, not just the search terms, as topics aggregate across languages and include misspellings, variations, and acronyms." – Omri Weisman
For example, imagine a chocolate shop named "Chocolate Nuts" as a case study. To understand which types of chocolate are in demand, the shop owner could compare the search trends of white, dark, and milk chocolate. By analyzing the trends for these three, businesses can decide which products to stock and how to adjust their marketing efforts according to seasonality.
In the graph, all three types of chocolate show a significant spike in search interest around mid-December, likely due to the holiday season. White chocolate reaches the highest peak, indicating a particularly high search interest during that period. Throughout the timeline, white chocolate generally maintains higher search interest compared to dark and milk chocolate.
2. Benchmarking Against Competitors
Competition is inevitable in any market, but Google Trends gives businesses the tools to benchmark their performance against competitors, offering valuable insights into where improvements can be made.
"With Google Trends, you can start benchmarking against your competitors from the very beginning of your journey." – Daniel Weisberg
By comparing search interest for your business and that of a competitor (e.g., "Chocolate King"), you can analyze which regions or product categories your competitor dominates and find opportunities where your business can improve or expand.
Example:
In the fictitious store scenario, "Chocolate Nuts" competes with a rival store, "Chocolate King." When both terms are added to Google Trends for comparison, the results reveal how each store performs across different regions and over time.
In the map comparison, regions highlighted in red show greater search interest for "Chocolate King," while areas in blue indicate stronger performance for "Chocolate Nuts." This geographical data is invaluable for understanding where each brand dominates, which can help when deciding where to focus marketing efforts or open new stores.
Analyzing search interest over time also provides useful insights. As shown in the graph, both brands maintain relatively steady interest with occasional spikes. For example, "Chocolate King" experiences a significant peak in early August, indicating a period of heightened demand. By tracking such trends, "Chocolate Nuts" can identify seasonal or campaign-related shifts in consumer interest and adjust its marketing strategy accordingly.
3. Analyzing Brand Awareness and Sentiment
As your brand grows, monitoring what people are saying about you online becomes crucial. Google Trends can help track brand awareness and sentiment by analyzing search terms associated with your business.
"Enter your business name on Google Trends and change the time range to the past 30 or 90 days. Then scroll down the page to see the related search terms card. This will give you a good idea of the terms people are using in connection with your brand." – Omri Weisman
This technique provides a pulse on how the public perceives your brand. If negative sentiment appears, you can quickly respond to address customer concerns or issues. Positive mentions can also highlight areas where your business is excelling.
4. Researching Keywords for Ad Campaigns
Keyword research is fundamental for both SEO and paid advertising. Google Trends helps businesses discover which keywords are trending and which ones are likely to drive the most traffic.
"Following your analysis, choose the keywords with the highest return on investment, the famous ROI, and check them on Google Trends." – Daniel Weisberg
For example, businesses focusing on "chocolate truffles" might discover that "white chocolate" is a related term experiencing a surge in popularity. By incorporating these rising keywords into ad campaigns, businesses can tap into emerging consumer interests and maximize their return on investment.
Implications and Benefits of Using Google Trends
The strategies outlined in the video have far-reaching implications for businesses. By understanding what consumers are searching for, companies can tailor their offerings to meet demand, ensuring that their products are relevant and in stock at the right times. Moreover, benchmarking against competitors offers insights into untapped markets and opportunities for growth.
Monitoring brand sentiment allows businesses to manage their reputations more effectively. Whether addressing negative feedback or celebrating positive recognition, staying in tune with how customers perceive your brand is essential for long-term success.
Finally, leveraging keyword research through Google Trends can dramatically improve both organic and paid search performance. Identifying high-return keywords helps businesses allocate their marketing budgets more efficiently, driving better results with less effort.
Conclusion
Using data to drive business decisions is no longer optional—it's essential in today’s competitive marketplace. Google Trends offers a powerful, free toolset to help you understand your market, outsmart competitors, and improve your advertising efforts.
To recap, by using Google Trends you can:
- Identify key search trends to align your product offerings with consumer demand.
- Benchmark your business against competitors to find growth opportunities.
- Monitor brand sentiment to manage your reputation effectively.
- Research trending keywords to enhance your ad campaigns.
To learn more about how Google Trends can support your business, check out the full video on Google Search Central YouTube channel.
Related Articles
Boost Your SEO with Google Trends: Actionable Insights for Content Creation.
Keeping Up with Trends: How Google Trends Puts the Power of Search in Your Hands.
Google Trends: Advanced Search and Comparison Features.