subject: Keyword Analysis Tool - Using Google Insights For Search [print this page] Google Insights for Search is actually just a sub-element of Google Trends. To access it: enter "Google trends" in your web browser. You will be brought to the Google Trends website. Today, we are interested only on elements in the lower portion of the display. The text that reads, "Explore advanced features with Google Insights for Search." Click on the underlined, blue-colored text "Google Insights for Search."
What it Can Do for You
Because you are in business and also want to keep abreast with the world, this is an excellent resource. Imagine if you can ask someone to tell you what the top money words are in your line of business. Google Insights for Search actually answers this question--which is why it is an outstanding research forum. It is an authoritative archive of the words (keywords) the world has been using in their web searches--all these recent years. Ask yourself the sheer power that this information can mean to your business...
What to Ask - Part 1
The way you interact with this database (ask questions) is through the use of the different settings. You have a wide array of options. Let us start with the simple use of "Filters"--found at the top right of the display. You have a total of four settings: Web Search, Worldwide, 2004-present and something which defaults to "All Categories." Because my desire is simply to get you started with this tool, let us not tamper with the top three Filter settings. Let us just leave them as they stand and only tweak the Categories setting.
Initially let us set the lowest Filter to "Social Networks & Online Communities," then click on "Search" to initiate our first query.Top Searches (first five) include: Facebook, Facebook login, hi5, orkut, chat. Rising Searches (top five) include: Facebook, Facebook login, Hyves, MySpace, nasza klasa. In terms of the relative demand for the top searches--the column on the immediate right of the Top Search items, Facebook currently has a measure of 100, while the next three all have 10. This means that Facebook is currently garnering ten times the search demand being enjoyed by: Facebook login, hi5, and orkut. Beside the rightmost entries, the measure reads as Breakout." Breakout means that the search term has experienced a change in growth greater that 5000%; which can simply be interpreted as--very substantial.Next, let us set the Category Filter to "Internet." After you click "Search," we get our results. Top Searches (first five) include: Yahoo, MSN, MySpace, Gmail, Google. Rising Searches (top five) include: Bebo, MySyspace, tuenti, Mynet, Gmail.What to Ask - Part 2Maintain Category Filter at "Internet." Proceed with using "Search Terms"--found on the top middle of the display. Enter the key phrase "keyword research," then click on "Search." The results show a graph (at the bottom) on Interest over time: Interest Level. On this one, a point of interest will be that our particular term was nil or zero from 2004 until the first quarter of 2008, when it began to enjoy a rating which averaged at around 50. The number rating reflects how many searches have been done for a particular term--relative to the total number of searches done on Google over time. Not to be interpreted as absolute search numbers but instead as values that are taken relative to one another. How searches vary over time.The Value of the InformationOur above experiment should simply be considered as a preliminary trial of Google Insights. In this day and age when information is potential power, you are likely to find a "gold mine" of knowledge from this resource.With each tool comes inherent and potential values. Give Google Insights a chance--explore more of what it can do. Do not under-estimate the value of "gifts" that are given for free. (Thank you, Google!) They are probably the tools which your competitors are using!by: Raffy Chan
