Google Trends: Your Article Idea Generator

No matter whether you are a new blogger or one who is firmly established in the blogosphere, there are times you may find yourself at a loss for writing ideas. That happens to me, especially if I find myself going back to a familiar topic — yes, one more regurgitated SEO article that has little appeal beyond the usual handful of SEO pros or wannabees. Boring! If you are looking for something different to write about, perhaps something edgy, then you may want to keep your eyes on the Google Trends site to find out what topics are hot. By regularly perusing this frequently updated list and writing an article about a topic that is already receiving a lot of buzz, you can come up with an article idea in no time. Let’s take a look at Google’s article idea generator and how you can use this tool to reinvigorate your blog.

What Is Google Trends?

Google Trends is a tool that takes a daily look at a portion of Google web searches to calculate the number of searches completed term entered, compared to the total number of searches done on Google over time. Google Trends then develops a search-volume graph with the search results that plots that particular trend. For instance, one of the terms entered a lot recently was for “Boeing 787″ and for good reason — the airline manufacturer introduced this long-awaited airline to the world on July 8, 2007 (or, 7-8-07 — get it?) The buzz surrounding the aircraft’s introduction has been intense as the 787 promises to be 20% more fuel efficient than previous models.

Choosing A Topic

Of course, not everyone will want to blog about the Boeing 787, especially if your blog’s topic has nothing to do with air transportation. With Google Trends, you can expand the Top 20 list to feature the Top 100 results for that day or you can go back in their archives and find out what else was recently hot. Keep in mind that if you want to piggyback on the latest hot term(s), then your topic should be about something that is hot right now.

What To Write

Writing on a hot topic does not guarantee that a flood of visitors will stop by your blog. Yes, even a poorly written blog can bring in an initial burst of traffic, but your readership will be fleeting especially if what you write is spammy or little effort has been put into your work. You will want to spend some quality time on your article in order to have a reputation as being someone who provides good information to your readers.

Even if you aren’t the best writer, your writing will improve with practice. The following components should go into any article you write:

–A topic sentence. What is the point of your article? Whatever it is, it should be mentioned in your introductory paragraph. Don’t stray from the topic, otherwise you’ll be rambling and will quickly lose your readers. If you were to write about the Boeing 787, you could mention that the long-awaited aircraft promises to revolutionize air travel. You will elaborate on that point in the body of your article.

–Three main points. Come up with three closely related thoughts about your topic as these points will comprise the body of your article. Going back to the Boeing 787 topic, you could discuss how the aircraft is 20% more fuel efficient than a previous model, mention how the 787 stacks up to its Airbus competitor, and you could make note of the number of aircraft orders Boeing has already has for the jet. Link to sources backing up your point particularly internet articles and information on Boeing’s website.

–Wrap it up with a strong conclusion. Once you have the introduction and body of your article in place, you will need to work on a strong final point. If you are selling something, than a call to action is necessary. If you are just wanting to inform your readership, then something that catches their attention is useful. For example, you may want to mention that the Boeing 787 will be the jet that brings new life to the airlines. Be bold, be edgy, be opinionated, but be prepared to stand by your conclusion — you want people to respond with their thoughtful comments even if they disagree with your conclusion. Who knows, but you could end up generating a conversation that exceeds the length of your original article, a feat that can help your article get noticed and achieve PageRank.

Stumble, Digg, Reddit, And More

Once you are completely satisfied with your article and are ready to post it to your blog (include a related photograph, if possible) then you should make certain that it gets the attention needed to bring in the traffic — StumbleUpon, Digg, and Reddit are just three of the methods you can use to build personal buzz. Use your network of social communities to help you out too by asking members to read your article, leave comments, and do what they can to promote your work.

If your article is well written and not the typical “Paris Hilton went to jail” topic, then you should be able to stand out in a sea of similar articles. People will link to you, mention your article, and Google may just give you a page one SERPs listing for key terms such as “Boeing 787″ or “787 roll out.”

By utilizing Google Trends as your personal article idea generator, you can bring new life to your blog, yielding the higher readership numbers which most bloggers desire.