Erin Sagin wrote an article on the WordStream blog about 5 keyword search tools all online marketers should be using. These tools can also be helpful to domain investors for things such as developing long tail domains, setting keywords for parking and to look for similar names to shore up an investment in a certain niche.
Only 4 of the 5 tools can be used for our purposes as one related to the websites owned by advertisers.
From the article:
Google Trends is a marketer’s paradise. Not only do we love using it as a venue for procrastination, masked as “data analysis,” but it also provides valuable insights into seasonal, geographic and search-related trends.
To use Google Trends for keyword research, start by plugging one of your main terms into the search bar. Scroll to the third section of the report, labeled Related Searches. This features a list of the top queries that are closely related to your term, as well as additional searches that are rising in popularity. If the related terms align with your product offerings, add them to your account. If they don’t, it’s critical that you set them as negatives, before they wreak havoc on your performance.
For example, if you’re building a campaign for flat irons, you may wish to add “flat iron hair” and “chi flat iron” to your keyword lists, but “steak” is a pretty obvious (and important) negative keyword candidate. Same goes for “building.”
Using Google Trends to Check for Geographical Keyword Variations
This tool is particularly useful if you’re researching keywords for an account focusing on a geographic market that you’re not familiar with. Let’s say that I not only want to sell flat irons in the United States, but also in Australia. As you can see, interest in the term “flat iron” in Australia is very low.
So, I ran a comparison against the synonym “hair straightener.”
Bingo! Search interest is way higher for that particular term with an Australian audience. Had I not recognized this by using the Google Trends tool, I’d definitely be struggling with my Australian-focused “flat iron” campaigns.
Read the full article on WordStream
