Google is our all-knowing, omnipresent friend. It holds the answers to a multitude of questions like, “where’s the Woolworths nearest to me?” or “what does omnipresent mean?” (Google says it can mean two things – widespread, or present everywhere at the same time). Its wealth of knowledge about anything and everything makes it the first place we turn to when we have questions. In fact, the average person conducts Google searches at least three to four times a day and we do it so much that in our office, ‘Google’ has become a verb.
As the world’s biggest search engine (Google owns over 90% of search engine market share), it has an impressive, or some may say, scary, monopoly over our data – it sees and records everything we’re searching for. What businesses may not know, is that some of that data is available to the public and can be leveraged by those who want to know what their target audience is thinking or interested in. Once you know what people are searching for, you can rank high for those key search terms by incorporating them into your SEO and SEM strategy.
At Balmer Agency, we can help you develop and implement impactful marketing strategies based on Google search data and other insights we’ve gained through comprehensive market research. We help translate the data and execute organic and paid search initiatives, content creation and social media strategies to get you in front of the right audience at the right times.
So, what have people around the world and in Australia been searching for this year? We’ve taken a look at the top search topics and queries over the past 12 months, so you don’t have to.
Worldwide (last 12 months)
Things have been a little different this year, and this is highlighted by the presence of the word ‘coronavirus’ in the top search queries from around the world. ‘Coronavirus’ comes in as the fifth most popular search query, while the top four are ‘Google’, ‘Facebook’, ‘YouTube,’ and the world ‘you’. We’re sure Google would be pleased to know that the most Googled thing is Google itself.
Of the trending topics over the past 12 months, weather, film, translation, video and Facebook (the service) ranked as the top five, while Google, Google search, YouTube, and Facebook (the company) ranked six to nine respectively. Coronavirus just makes the top 10 cut, coming in as the 10th most searched for topic.
In Australia (last 12 months)
In Australia, ‘coronavirus’ also comes in at number five in top search queries. The top four are pretty standard (‘weather’, the word ‘you’, news and ‘google’), while ‘bunnings’, ‘kmart’ and ‘coles’ will be thrilled to know that they ranked within the top 10 (eight, nine and ten respectively).
The most Googled topic in Australia is Australia itself, followed by weather and the definitions of words. Melbourne is the most popular city as the fourth most searched for topic (New South Wales and Sydney are ranked eight and 10, while poor Perth is ranked 17th). Predictably, Coronavirus is at the forefront of the nation’s minds, evidenced by its position as the sixth most searched for topic.
Top search queries per state (last 30 days)
We’ve also taken a look at the top search queries for each state over the last 30 days
| RANK | VIC | NSW | ACT | TAS | WA | SA | NT | QLD |
| #1 | weather | weather | canberra | weather | weather | adelaide | news | news |
| #2 | news | news | weather | news | news | weather | alice springs | |
| #3 | news | news | weather | |||||
| #4 | coronavirus | bom | bunnings | |||||
| #5 | bunnings | bunnings | canberra weather | afl | bunnings | adelaide weather | ||
| #6 | afl | youtube | abc | bunnings | youtube | afl | weather | youtube |
| #7 | nrl | youtube | weather perth | youtube | kmart | |||
| #8 | youtube | kmart | abc news | kmart | afl | bunnings | darwin bom | woolworths |
| #9 | kmart | woolworths | youtube | abc | kmart | youtube | westpac | nrl |
| #10 | covid victoria | coles | bom | gumtree | asx | bom | abc | coles |
Asides from the usual ‘weather’, ‘news’, ‘google’ and ‘social media platforms’ ranking in the Top 10, brands terms like ‘kmart’, ‘bunnings’, ‘coles’ and ‘woolworths’ also had a strong showing across all states except the Australian Capital Territory (ACT) and the Northern Territory (NT).
The AFL and NRL appeared in the top 10 for all states except the ACT and NT. AFL proved to be more popular in VIC, TAS, WA and SA, while NRL was more popular in NSW and QLD.
The top search queries for the ACT and NT were significantly different from other states. In the ACT, top search queries revolved around news and current affairs, while the NT had more weather-related queries (‘bom’ and ‘darwin bom’) and town/city related queries (‘alice springs’) ranked highly.
‘Coronavirus’ only appeared in the Top 10 in Victoria which has been the last of the states to ease COVID-19 imposed restrictions.
Tracking keywords
Another way that businesses can leverage Google search insights, is by monitoring the popularity of relevant keywords to gauge public sentiment. This is especially relevant here and now, when many industries are wondering when life will return to normal.
For example, businesses in the tourism sector might want to monitor the keyword ‘holiday’ to determine the public’s interest in travel post-COVID. Google’s data tells us that the term is nowhere near as searched for now compared to this time last year. In early November it had a search popularity value of 68, whereas now in late October it sits at 44.
Travel-related businesses can use Google data to monitor increases or decreases in keyword popularity leading up to the months of December and January where travel related keywords spiked to reach search popularity values of 99-100 around Christmas and New Year’s (highest value is 100).
Businesses can also use Google data to locate their audience. Travel-related businesses will find their most engaged audience in NSW and QLD where ‘holiday’ has a search popularity value of 100 and 88 respectively, and are less likely to find an audience in WA, NT and VIC where the term ‘holiday’ is half as popular with a search popularity values of 66, 62 and 55.
Monitoring relevant search queries can also tell you the products and services people are looking for, for example, ‘holiday packages’, ‘holiday park’, ‘holiday accommodation’, and ‘beach holiday’ are all terms with high search values.
If you want to learn more about the way Google search insights can inform your marketing strategy, get in touch with us. Balmer Agency can offer you a free SEO audit. From there, we will help translate your data, execute your organic and paid search initiatives, content creation and social media strategies. Let us steer your business in the right direction in 2021.
