Arm yourself with knowledge of search trends

It's been about a month since I last wrote here. Life has a way of changing direction at any given time. I'm happy to say even if I am not writing - I am doing!

I found some interesting tools to tell you about. I may have touched on them previously but as always on the internet - things just keep getting better!

More reasons to love Google straight from their labs.

• Google Trends : Here you can compare the search "trend" (popularity) of up to 5 terms since 2004! For example - compare what sport is popular with searchers "golf, tennis, hockey, baseball, basketball".

Interesting no? Looks like "Golf" (even though it has about the same news coverage) is the sport of choice for internet searchers. May be a good target field to conduct business with :) As a marketer I am interested in the trend of say - my top 5 keywords.

Google Trends also tells you what country and city has the highest search volumes for EACH of those keywords. WoW! Talk about being able to "target" regionally. (Google AdWords even has a way to target your ads by region). A wise marketer would use this info ;)

• Google Insights for Search: While Google Insights for Search and Google Trends use the same data, Insights for Search is geared towards researchers or advertisers who may find some of its advanced reports more useful.

It's great to know what the present top search terms for golf websites are - but it's even better to know the "Rising Searches". Especially if your site is looking to "Break into" a new search volume before the bids on the keyword term gets too high. Just another tool any wise marketer should use ;)

Make the best of your Google Adwords campaign by arming yourself with knowledge of the search trends for YOUR product.

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I LOVE Google.

Yes - I will admit. I love Google (I feel as if I should stand as I say it "My name is Frances and I am a Google lover").

Sorry Yahoo. I tried to make friendly with you - but I found you to be a bit lacking in personality. You don't seem to "know" even a third of the people Google does - and it's all about relationships. You're not clear when communicating with - and you hardly share anything interesting. You may HAVE interesting things to say but...I never seem to hear about it. I have been listening - asking around - no one says much about Yahoo (Other then it's number 2 and Google themselves wants to be their friend). Yes I do have a Yahoo Account too - in case you're wondering.

:)

How come I'm just learning about google base...

I was reading "tweets" and came across someone mentioning "google base" (yet another google beta). Google Base? Should I use it? What is it?


What is it?

"Google Base is a place where you can easily submit all types of online and offline content, which they'll make searchable on Google (if your content isn't online yet, they'll put it there). Users may find their results for searches on Google Product Search and even Google web search."

• Upload a feed or use it's handy "one item" publisher form.
  
• Add up to 13 images to your item.
  
• The more information you provide, and the more you use attribute details to organize that information, the better your products' chances of being visible when a user is searching for them.

Should I be using it?

Of Course! Why not? It's free and it comes with a reporting and stats page. I added it to my Google account and published and item pronto! It can also be used for sites that are content based. Check it out if your like me and just finding out about it - you may find it useful! GOOGLE BASE BETA

:)

google makes a game out of improving image search

I was looking through my google "webmaster tools" and saw google was looking for help in better indexing their image searches.

The Image Labeler Beta makes a game out of what I'm sure would be a tedious task. Two online "players" are randomly paired and for 2 minutes are shown the same images. The basic idea of the game is to "name the image" the same as your random partner. You earn points - what for? I'm not sure but you earn them! The site lists the top matches of the day as well as the top all time players.

I have noticed that google image search has been sending me traffic lately. You can add google "webmaster tools" to your account (it is free), verify your site and make sure your images are included in the game (and improve your image indexing).

Have you noticed google ppc going down?

I try to stay on top of my Google AdWords campaigns, ClickThroughRate (CTR) of my ad variations and of course the amount I spend on bidding. I'm always surprised by the amount of $ I spend a month - the kind of surprise you feel when dropping over that first hump of a roller coaster.

I went today to check on the results of one of my .20 cent keywords. Usually the CTR on this keyword is a good %. I checked the keyword-analysis tool and saw something that kind of pissed me off - but also made me happy (roller coaster happy).

What made me happy?

1. I saw that the cost to be on the first page of results dropped from .20 to .05
   
2. I could lower my top bid and save some $

What pissed me off?

1. I was being charge on average .13 cpc. hmmmmmm - correct me if I'm wrong but doesn't google say that your "bid" is the MOST you'd pay? So if I was offering .20 but the top bid was .05 I should be charged .06 for the top spot?
2. You have to know where to look to find the bid to be on the first page. Even then you don't see the top bid amount. hmmmmmmmm

This is why I miss "back in the good ol'days" when .01 cent bids were the norm (I've been online too long?), when you could see not only WHAT the top bid was - but also WHO was bidding it. When you could ACTUALLY track your ROI.

Now I'm left wondering if the drop in bids is due to

• todays horrid economy or
• the shift we see to social media as a viable alternative to search engine marketing.

:/

Google Trends still boogles my mind...

I made a fast post a few days back about how "google tends" application was tied to "Are you smarter then a 5th grader". I added the application to my igoogle page so every day I see the top 100 search trends for that day.

I must admit, the top 100 searched terms really made no sense to me. Why in the world would all of a sudden there be a high peak to a certain searched term? Really? All of a sudden a million or so folks ALL think at once "let's find out more about burger king cologne.." ( I SWEAR this was #40 on todays google trends list )

As I was sitting here on my laptop while watching the news (multi-tasker) I started to see a trend myself. What was on news, was on the list! #29 face transplant. One of tonights story on the news...about face transplants.

I'm sure the reason is TV. What is on TV is searched about on the net...and tv was worried the internet was taking over. Actors strike due to worry the internet will ruin their royalties. Really I'm starting to think not! The internet wouldn't be as popular if there wasn't TV telling us what there is to learn more about.

Google trends tied to television~

I found this interesting.

I was watching tv tonight “smarter then a 5th grade” funny show, I watch it from time to time. And one of the questions was asking which word “varoom” or “race car” was considered a palindrome. Interesting enough question. Getting the answer correct depends on if he knows the definition of the word or not.

Not an hour later as I was surfing the net I can across a neat little igoogle gadget. It was google trends. I had added it to my igoogle home page. Guess what the #1 hottest search term was in the last 3 hours!!! Palindrome! In fact 3 of the top 10 searched terms were directly related to “Smarter then a 5th Grader” show tonight.

Hows that for interactive television!

http://www.google.com/trends/hottrends?q=palindrome&date=2008-12-12&sa=X