Google Insights for Search 101

One of our driving philosophies here at the Tippingpoint Labs is that, for brands, your website is not the center of your web universe anymore.

Conventional (read: outdated) thinking holds that your homepage should be the starting and ending point for all things you.

With the rise of user-generated content, social networking, and social media, the masses now have a place to find what is perceived as unbiased, objective, informative, valuable content about your products and services.

What used to be measurable within your own domain has now become scattered across a web universe seemingly as vast as our own physical one. We’ve written about this before, but the most important point in the web universe is that which is still at the center: Search.

Traffic goals suck

While this doesn’t necessarily render your website’s traffic and analytic data useless, it does mean that those data offer a much smaller picture of your digital footprint than ever before.

People are interacting with — or without — your brand online, so how do you get a comprehensive picture of your digital reputation?

You could pay for any number of commercially available listening services that can offer a lot of suggestions and high-priced reports. Or you can use Google Insights for Search, the free Google search engine research tool. It’s similar to Google Trends but much more powerful. Here’s how Google describes it: “With Google Insights for Search you can compare search volume patterns across specific regions, categories, time frames, and properties.”

Due to the volume of data Google indexes and the number of people who use it, we’ve found this data to be the best indicator of brand and product strength and reputation online.

How do I use it?

Start at the most basic level: do a search for your brand name. This provides a good baseline for the volume of discussion about you across the web. One of the best parts about Google Insights is the availability of tools to drill down and get more granular about the data.

To the right of the search string fields are several filters. You can filter search data within a country and subregions, date ranges, and even within specific categories.

This refinement is exceptionally valuable as it filters out a lot of the noise and unrelated data.

What then?

Add more search strings. If you’re a restaurant chain and you’ve just launched a new hamburger, search for the product name and your brand name. If there’s a parallel spike, you know that the new product had an effect on discussion.

Now go a higher level; search for the generic term hamburger. Parallel spike? That’s a real indicator of impact. The product was so popular that it drove interest in the category beyond just the brand level — and that’s the biggest metric for success.

Tool for measurement and planning

Not only is it a good tool for measuring success, Google Insights can indicate patterns of discussion that you can then use to generate content more strategically.

In this example, the term “upset stomach” demonstrates a very predictable seasonal search pattern with a noticeable rise in discussion at the beginning of every year. Shown here in the blue line, I’ve looked for upset stomach only in the US and within the category “Health” in hope of eliminating some irrelevant data.

The red line shows web search for the over-the-counter upset-stomach drug Pepto Bismol. In the past few years, it looks like Pepto hasn’t significantly benefited from this seasonal rise in discussion. Note that at the beginning of each year, there really isn’t much of a parallel spike.

How does this help shape strategy?

Because the annual pattern is so predictable, Pepto should be heavily seeding and building discussion with valuable content in the period leading up to the post-holiday spike. Strategic content and timing would position them to benefit from the inevitable boom in search queries.

Takeaway

Google Insights for Search is a powerful tool for online strategy measurement. As Google continues to integrate more social channels into their search results, it will only become more potent. Make it a part of your analytics and reporting.

Are you using Google Insights already? What value are you finding from it? Please share with the class.

About the author

Brad Schwarzenbach -

As an analyst on the Tippingpoint Strategy team, Brad explores new opportunities for clients to build relationships with their customers. He’s always testing new social media channels, poring over analytic data, and identifying emerging trends. He also speaks at conferences & events about uncovering powerful messages hidden within brands' unique values.

Brad’s research has contributed to the development of content & contributor strategies for such clients as Breville, Rodale, Long’s Jewelers, and Fusionapps, as well as being a frequent contributor to the Tippingpoint blog. He’s been “listening” to the way we communicate online since the old AOL People Connection days and watched the way that digital communication has evolved.

An English and Creative Writing major at the University of Connecticut, Brad’s spent most of his career creating web content and becoming intimately familiar with web theory for Bayard, Inc. and TomTom Inc., giving Brad keen ears and eyes to what, exactly, makes web content valuable.

Outside the office, Brad feels most at home with his beautiful wife-to-be Kristina, or on the golf course. “There’s a distinct pace and rhythm to the way people communicate online.  Understanding and taking part in them yields amazing opportunities for my clients to not only grow but to improve their business. I’m constantly looking for those opportunities.”