Using Search Tools for SEO - SEO When Timing is the Key
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Since we’re already on the subject of the holidays, let me address this next section to those of you who are selling goods and/or services that are affected by holiday trends. I’m talking to sellers of Halloween costumes, Thanksgiving turkeys, Christmas hams, gifts and holiday decorations of all sorts – you know who you are. I’m also talking to those who sell goods and/or services that are affected by the seasons: landscapers, construction companies, wedding consultants, and more.
If you’re a brick-and-mortar merchant, chances are you know when to set out all the seasonal goodies. But SEO is an entirely different ballgame. When do web surfers start thinking about Halloween costumes? Decorating for December holidays? Getting something for their sweetheart on Valentine’s Day? And how do you find out?
In this case it’s Google Trends to the rescue. Yes, you can compare two or more terms to see which ones are most popular where. But you can also use it to trace the popularity of a particular term over time. You want data for at least the last 12 months, and if your business is local you want to specify your particular region of the world. Let’s try a search for Christmas trees, for the last 12 months, in all regions of the world. Check out the screen shot below:
As you can see, web surfers started thinking about Christmas trees in September this year. If you didn’t start your SEO for this phrase some time in August, you were late off the bat.
But what if you’re trying to optimize for Valentine’s Day? The news is quite a bit better:
It looks like Valentine’s Day hits the radar of most searchers by the middle of December. That means you just might have enough time to optimize your web site for the holiday, but you’d better hurry. Remember, you want to start optimizing your site some time before searchers start getting serious, so your campaign will have picked up a little steam and be registering in the search engines right around the time searchers are ready to think about what you have to offer them.
Choosing Keywords 
