Google Trends: what it is and how to use it

Google Trends is a free online tool that allows you to know which are the most frequent searches carried out in Italy and in the world. From the home page it is possible, for example, to go back to the trending searches of the last few hours, or type in a keyword and check the interest in it over time.

Already from here it is easy to understand what the potential of this tool is, also taking into account the fact that it is free. Are you interested in getting to know him better? Perfect: in our guide you will find everything you need to know about what it is, what it is for and how to use Google Trends Italia, with the addition of some practical examples. We will also provide you with a number of alternatives, so you can make a more informed choice.

Below are the topics we will discuss in the article:

What is Google Trends

The definition given in the introduction is perhaps approximate, so let’s try to add some more details. Google Trends is a tool online which collects data on search terms and topics based on searches made by users through Google. On the one hand it is able to offer a general overview of latest trending research, on the other hand, it monitors the relative popularity of a query (keyword).

But that is not all. In fact, it is also a tool that can be useful for both bloggers and SEOs, that is to those who are involved in planning a medium-long term strategy in order to gain visibility in the SERP (search engine results page) with a project online. We talked about it in more depth in the guide on SEO and search engine positioning.

We will clarify this last point in the next paragraph, where we will explain in detail the usefulness of the tool created by the Mountain View giant also for those who work in web marketing.

What is Google Trends for

First and foremost, Google Trends is useful for know what people are looking for. Having access to this data helps, for example, to carry out detailed sociological research or complex market analyzes. Furthermore, it is a tool that can be used effectively during an election campaign in order to gain an advantage over the rival candidate.

It is also true, however, that Google Trends is used above all by those who write online content on behalf of newspapers and / or websites specialized in a given topic. In this case, Google’s free tool comes in handy for find current news, or rather, the latest trending topics, but not only.

As we mentioned before, the Big G tool is an important resource for those who practice SEO (search engine optimization) or, more generally, those who work in online marketing. Speaking of which, here is a short list of benefits that Google Trends offers when employed for keyword research (keyword research):

• understand the search volume of keywords
• identify seasonal trends
• find related keywords to beat the competition
• avoid using keywords with high search volumes but no longer popular
• optimize the Local SEO strategy
• improve your Video SEO strategy

On this topic you may also be interested in our guide on how to be first on Google.

And after this first part dedicated mostly to a general smattering of the subject, let’s finally move on to action. In the next chapter we will explain how to use the online tool featured in our guide, helping you with a couple of concrete examples.

How to use Google Trends

First of all, to use Google Trends Italia, connect to the trends.google.it/trends home page. If you want to know the interest shown by users in a search term or topic in a predefined time frame, type in the keyword in the box located under the heading “Find out what searches are done in the world“, Then click on the magnifying glass. In the new screen a graph appears, showing the interest over time of the search term on a scale of values ​​from 1 to 100. But there is also more.

The central section, entitled “Interest by region“, Shows in which location the selected term has registered the highest number of searches in the indicated time period (set to 12 months by default). Also in this case, the values ​​are measured on a scale ranging from 0 to 100. If you intend to change country, click on the arrow pointing down next to Italy (top left) and in the drop-down menu that opens select the country that interests you most.

If desired, you can also further refine the analysis by setting “City“Instead of”Region“. To do this, go to “Interest by region“, Then click on the down arrow next to Region and select the City option from the drop-down menu that opens.

In the third and last section two boxes appear: Related topics e Query associate. The first shows the topics searched for by the same users who typed the keyword chosen for the analysis into the search engine. The second box – Associated queries – instead shows the keywords searched by the users who typed the query reported on Trends.

Note: if you have any doubts about the terminology used by Google to indicate one or more functions, help yourself by clicking on the question mark (Help) to get an exhaustive explanation immediately.

Other useful options

Compared to those already seen above, Google Trends also offers other options, so as to carry out a more complete analysis. Below is a list of additional functions and a brief description of each:

• Compare– Compare two or more different search terms and measure their values. To add a keyword click on Compare on the top screen and type the keyword in Add a search term. If you want to expand the comparison to three or more terms, click on the item “Add comparison”And repeat the operation.
• Period: interest over time is based by default on “Last 12 months“, But nothing prevents you from setting a different period. Available values ​​are Last hour, Last 4 hours, Last day, Last 7 days, Last 30 days, Last 90 days, Last 5 years, 2004 – Present. To change the default value click on the down arrow next to Last 12 months and, from the drop-down menu that opens, select the option you prefer.
• Categories: Google Trends defaults to “All the categories“. If you want, however, you are free to refine your search by selecting a specific category from those in the list. For example, if you want to search for the term “Bitcoin”As a trend on Google, you could filter the results by setting Finance as a specific category.
• Google products: one of the most interesting filters of Google Trends is the one that allows you to know the popularity of a keyword over time not only based on Google Search data, but also on the other Big G products. to also offer a complete overview of Google Images, Google News, Google Shopping and YouTube Search. By default it is set to data from the search

How to read Google Trends

Before moving on to the conclusions, pointing out the best alternatives to Google’s free SEO tool, we would like to clarify one of the most important points for those who interface with Trends for the first time: reading, or rather, theinterpretation of the graphs.

Let’s take the term bitcoin as an example again (here the complete guide), setting the time period “Last 5 years”And leaving everything else as it is.

The chart above shows two peaks: the first in the week of December 10 to 16, 2017 (when Bitcoin first reached the record price of $ 20,000), the second from February 7 to 13, 2021 (the week of the rally that brought the cryptocurrency on February 16 for the first time above $ 50,000).

This is further confirmation of how Google Trends faithfully reports theinterest of users on a certain search term over time.

How to interpret the descending line? Simply for what it is, namely one decreased popularity of the query compared to other searches. This is a key concept, which makes us understand what the difference is between Trends and a classic keyword research tool.

In this regard, just one last consideration: a decrease in the popularity of a topic it does not mean a decrease in the overall number of searches. So when the graph on the bitcoin query shows a descending line, it doesn’t mean that people have stopped looking for bitcoin, it just isn’t as popular anymore when compared to other searches.

Alternative a Google Trends

To conclude, here are three alternatives to Google Trends that we suggest you consider, including such as complementary tools:

• Ubersuggest: Neil Patel’s keyword research and analysis tool. Offers three free searches per day.
• Exploding Topics: A website that intercepts future search trends based on mentions, conversations and online searches. Valid only for the US market.
• AnswerThePublic: the most complete portal to learn about related keywords and, above all, search forecasts extracted from Google Suggest. The latter is also known as “automatic completion“.

Conclusions

Our guide ends here. How do you feel with Google Trends? Do you know other better tools? For more information, please read the official Google guide, where you can find further details on the matter.