by Elizabeth M Young

Created on: December 04, 2009

Some writers need updated and topical material for daily blogs or like to find scoops on the latest breaking news that will keep their audiences interested in visiting their sites. These are generally articles that simply announce the breaking news and which summarize the basics at the time. Other writers are at a loss for coming up with topics that will draw viewers, but which need time for the information base, wholeness of information, and accuracy to develop. Some writers want to know if their article keywords are good or bad.

There are free of charge search engine analyzers that will provide rich detail about what is happening in the on line search world. The two icons of free search engine trend analysis and reporting are The Yahoo Buzz Index and Google search trends.

While Yahoo's Buzz Index information seems to be a little balky and seems to be outdated compared to Google's, it is better for determining whether topics re the hottest, are about to be the hottest, or are on the wane in popularity. The first page is a list of the top searches for the past day, complete with scoring and move data. The score data gives information about the volume of interest. The move data will tell if the item is increasing or decreasing in popularity.

Google Search Trends will report, at any time of day or night, the most active search trends. This is a volatile search engine, where the top searches can change very rapidly. Whenever a writer wants to get a major scoop on whatever might be a breaking story, Google trends will be there with links to the latest news stories. The classification system is good for determining the importance or popularity of a story, as the terms "volcanic", "on fire", "spicy" and "mild" are used. Google Search Trends database can be searched, so if your favorite topic or individual is not currently in the news, a six year chart of search activity and the last six top news items about the individual will come up. Worldwide information, articles and web content by time frame, and other goodies are available if you register and sign in.

Google Rankings will provide more search engine optimization and analytical tools. There is a tool for determining the best keywords, website tracking and other website diagnostics.

Google Analytics has other, more advanced and customizable search engine and keyword analysis tools, so the whole range of any of the free options are worth exploring and getting to know.

Twitter has developed a page that has the top twitter topics trends and a search window for finding specific Twitter activity or individuals. Clicking on one of the top trend items will bring up a full page of the latest tweets about the topic, a list of the top tween items, and a list of "nifty queries" to help explore the more popular goings on at Twitter. This feature, along with the search engine, is in development at Twitter, with the promise of more help to come.

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