Google Insights for Search Phrase Geographic Origin and Seasonal Fluctuations in Search Volume

The first step in crafting a web marketing strategy for any product is to perform keyword research to figure out how to target your niche market. This is true whether you are engaged in affiliate marketing, selling physical goods, or promoting CPA (cost-per-action) offers. Many people utilize the Google Adwords keyword tool or a paid tool to find keyword phrases with sufficient search volume. Google Insights can be a valuable complement to any other keyword research tool and it is free to use. Google Insights supplies you with data for the global distribution and seasonal variation in the search volume of a chosen keyword. It displays this information in simple map and chart formats that are easy to understand (no manual required!). Google Insights can also show you search terms related to yours with rising search volume.

Global search distribution. Google Insights gives you a global map of the volume of searches for your keywords. The prevalence of your searches in different regions is important to know if you are marketing physical products like furniture or CPA promotions. It might not be financially feasible to ship physical goods overseas and CPA offers frequently have geographic restrictions, such as "This offer is valid only in the Canada." Some search phrases may be utilized almost exclusively in one region, such as in the US but not Canada or in the United Kingdom but not Ireland.

Seasonal variation of search volume. Google Insights also shows charts for the number of searches as a function of time since the year 2004. This can be very useful since keyword search volumes can have high seasonal variations. The search volume for terms containing the word "toys" can be several times higher in December-Christmas season-than at any other time of the year. These keywords can be fine to use the rest of the year provided that the search volumes are adequate, but you may not want to organize a yearly advertising campaign based on local search data collected in December.

The Google Insights tool can be a great complement to other keyword research tools that has been underutilized for marketing online. One reason may simply be that it isn't as widely known as other tools, although it has been around for some time. Another reason may be that many internet marketers are focused on information products like ebooks that don't have any geographic restrictions or shipping fees. Should you decide to sample Google Insights for yourself, be sure to sign in with your free Google account. This isn't essential, but some information is visible when you are logged in that is not otherwise.