Free Tools to Help You Understand Your Industry and Market: Google Trends, Keyword Planner, and More

When you start a business, it is important to have a good understanding of the industry and market you are getting into. You can use tools like Google Trends and the Google Keyword Planner to get insights based on what people are asking google every day. These are free tools that can help you get started and give you a good idea of what to expect. In this blog post, we are going to focus on how to use free research tools from Google and also review a few paid tools like Semrush and Sparktoro.

I know you are not likely a data analyst, but I want you to understand that interpreting data can add a lot of value to your business now and in the future. By understanding what people write about online, what they search for, and what they click on, you can anticipate how likely they are to be interested in your product and service so you can forecast what you could potentially sell. This is an important step to take when you start out, so you know exactly what the possibilities are. You should look to data to make important decisions at the beginning of your business and throughout the year as well.

Looking at data and making decisions based on trends will help you understand what sort of demand there is for your product or service, how you would price it, and how you should market it. It should be a part of how you launch your business and how you scale it. So many people who skip this step wind up disappointed because they make decisions based on hopes and dreams rather than facts. Many entrepreneurs decide to launch a business based on something they are good at or a product they think people will like, and they overestimate what is possible or sell with messaging that makes no sense or at prices that are way off.

You should definitely plan to explore research tools beyond the ones in this blog as you grow. When you do so, you should always consider the quality of the data and its source. One of the reasons that I recommend and am featuring Google data in this blog is that I know that Google is a reputable company with sophisticated ways to process data, and it is also the largest search engine in the world. These characteristics make the data they offer more reliable. In fact, generally speaking, data that is based on larger sample sizes will always be more reliable than data that is based on smaller audiences. You know this already because you know that you would trust the results of asking 100 people if they like a product vs asking 10.

Making decisions based on data is great so long as you are interpreting it correctly. It’s important to understand what you are looking for and looking at within each research tool. Each data resource has unique insights to offer, and it’s ok to feel overwhelmed by what’s available and to ask for help from a professional rather than making erroneous assumptions. You can always reach out for a vision casting session with us, where a professional will guide you through pulling, analyzing, and applying insights from research tools to your business.

Google Trends is a great tool to start with because it offers a very simple way to understand what people are searching on google. You can type in any topic, and Google will show you how often that term has been searched over time. For example, if you wanted to know how popular the term “vegan” has been over time, you could type it into google trends and see this:

 

As you can see, the term “vegan” has been increasing in popularity over time, which means there is likely an opportunity here for businesses.

 

You can also use Google trends to compare terms against each other. For example, if we wanted to know how popular the terms “vegan” and “plant-based” were, you can drop them both in the tool and see a side-by-side comparison.

 

You can drill down the trends by month and by geography too!

The Google Keyword Planner is a tool that Google offers to help people with paid advertising on Google (ads that show up when you do a google search). Although this tool was designed for paid advertising, we can still use it to understand what sorts of things people are searching for and how popular those searches are.

 

To use the keyword planner, you need to set up a google ads account but don’t worry; you don’t have to actually create an ad or spend any money. Once you are in the google ads platform, click on “tools” in the top menu and then “keyword planner.”

 

From there, you will want to click on “search for new keywords using a phrase, website, or category.”

 

The tool will give you stats on how many people search for and click on the keywords or phrases related to your business. You can then use this data to forecast what is possible for your business. For example, if you are selling black shoes and want to sell 1000 a month but you see that there are 100 clicks to the phrase black shoes each month, then you can adjust your goal and forecast accordingly.

Semrush is a tool that people use to understand how well their website is doing and what sorts of things they could do to improve it. It’s a paid tool, but they offer a limited free version. With Semrush, you can see what sort of content is popular in your industry to gauge their potential interest in your products and services and get ideas for blog post topics, social media posts, etc. by analyzing your website and websites all over the world.

 

To use Semrush, go to their website and create an account. Once you are logged in, click on “tools” in the top menu and then “content analyzer.” This will show you a list of content from around the internet that is popular in your industry.

 

You can also use Semrush to understand what sort of keywords people are searching for related to your business. To do this, click on “tools” in the top menu and then “keyword magic tool.” This will allow you to enter a keyword or phrase related to your business and see a list of similar keywords that people are searching for. This is helpful because it allows you to make sure you are using the right keywords on your website and in your marketing materials.

Sparktoro is a tool that helps you understand who your target audience is and what sorts of things they are interested in. It’s a paid tool that makes it easy to see how people are behaving on different social platforms. It also tells you what brands they interact with on social and on the web. This information can be helpful in understanding what sorts of marketing messages or strategies might work well with your target audience.

 

To use Sparktoro, go to their website and create an account. Once you are logged in, click on “research” in the top menu and then “audience research.” This will allow you to enter some information about who you think your target audience is and see a list of similar audiences. You can also use this tool to research specific brands or social platforms to understand how people interact with them.

 

There are lots of other free tools out there that can help you understand your industry and market, but these are a few of the most popular and useful ones. So get out there and start researching! Your business will thank you for it.

 

Please feel free to share this blog post with others who might find it helpful! And don’t forget to leave a comment if you have any questions or would like to share some of your own tips on researching your industry and market! What are some other free tools you have used to research your industry and market? Let us know in the comments below!