I talked previously about analyzing trends with Google Trends. Now there is a new kid on the block and it is called Google Insights for Search. With Google Insights for Search, you can compare search volume patterns across specific regions, categories, and time frames.
Here is what it looks like. As shown by the left arrow, you can change the types of comparisons you want to make. You can add multiple terms using the “add search term” (middle arrow) and you can filter your results (right arrow).
Expanded analysis tools
Compare terms
With this tool, you can pick categories to search and to see how your search term performs against its category. Here I compared Greenhouse, Hothouse, Glasshouse and Planthouse and you can see that Greenhouse is the clear winner. If these were the options for a new domain name, which would you choose?
Look for trends
As with Google Trends, you can look for periodicity. Here I searched for the term “costume” and you can see a peak occurs in October each year just before Halloween. This is very useful information to help you maintain appropriate stock levels if you are selling products but it can also help a domainer understand the traffic patterns on his domains.
Actually the previous Greenhouse example also shows periodicity. The larger peak occurs around May each year and the smaller peak around October/November each year. Seasonal patterns for greenhouses.
Compare searches in different countries
Here I searched for “Thanksgiving” which is clearly an American holiday. Of course it also shows periodicity but whats interesting is that there are small peaks in both the UK and Australia. This is probably due to US ex-pats looking for a taste of home.
As you can see, you can do some nice market research including targeting to particular markets.
I will talk next time about how Google has used this to create an alert system for the public.
