by Kevin Bradley

Created on: July 05, 2010

Google Trends is a free tool which anyone can use to find out current or historical trends about their favorite things. It provides a simple interface which shows the latest hot topics and hot searches happening on the internet. It uses a segment of search data to analyze how many searches are performed for that query compared to the total queries performed over time. This information makes it a great source for business owners and marketers to gain valuable insight into how their target demographic uses online search.

As Google are the dominant force in the search engine industry, they are able to extract data from a much larger volume of search queries than their competitors. They use a segment of this data to produce search volume charts on Google Trends which show what people are actually searching for right now. This is helpful to marketers as they can monitor and research queries relevant to their products. The tool can help narrow down these queries by location and help website owners understand their potential customers better. However, there is a right way and a wrong way to use Google Trends.

The wrong way to use it is to simply search for one main keyword. This can provide some insight, but is limited as it is rare people will only use one variation of a search query to find information on a topic.

The right way to use Google Trends is to make use of its features and compare multiple keywords or keyword phrases. You are able to compare up to 5 different phrases at a time through separating each word with a comma. For example, if you compared apples and oranges, you would enter apples, oranges into the query box and press the search trends button.

You can also check the number of queries performed which contained either keyword through separating the words with a vertical bar (|). For example, if comparing apples and oranges you would enter apple | oranges and then hitting the search trends button. If your term includes multiple words, simply enclose the multiple word term in parenthesis i.e. (apple sauce) | oranges.

If you wanted to exclude specific terms you can use the minus sign. For example, if searching for apple but wanting to exclude results containing sauce simply enter apple -sauce into the query box and hit the search trends button.

You can also limit results to searches which contain your phrases in the same order you entered them by enclosing the phrase in quotation marks. For example, if your phrase is dog grooming simply enter "dog grooming" and hit the search trends button. This prevents the results containing queries where the person searched for grooming dog.

Bear in mind, if you perform queries while using advanced features such as the vertical bar or minus sign, then no news articles will display alongside the results. However, you can overcome this minor drawback by performing a basic query without using any advanced feature. This ensures you don't miss out on any important related news or announcements for your terms.

Learn more about this author, Kevin Bradley.
Click here to send this author comments or questions.