Your Next Viral Article Is a Google Trend Away 📈

Are you finding that first/next viral blog post a little too difficult to come by? Burning through pages of SEO tips faster than the sun through Icarus? We know the feeling.

Before we share some more tips that are hopefully a slow burn this time, let’s get something straight: appeasing our search overloads (Google) is not an exact science but a series of educated guesses built on a foundation of quality content. So, if you’re not interested in doing the work to write articles that offer real value, you can stop here and continue generating a million articles per day with your AI tools. For the rest of you, let’s talk search trends.

Google Trends (trends.google.com) is a free tool that helps you identify what users are actively searching for. It’s like having a direct line to the collective curiosity of the internet with info on topics and search queries that are gaining traction, peaking in popularity, or enjoying a resurgence of interest.

1. Identify Hot Topics: Once you’re in Google Trends, you first want to explore current trending searches with a broad strokes approach. I.e. before focusing on topics that align with your core content strategy, get an idea of where global interest is leaning. And if you’re a little loose with your content direction, you can hop on already-in-demand trends, offer a unique perspective, and reap the benefits.

2. Find an Angle for Your Niche: If you’re working to establish yourself as a thought leader in a specific niche then you can’t just write about anything that’s trending. Let’s say you run an AI blog with a focus on emerging research. As you’d imagine, the term “AI research” trends well. But there’s also a lot of competition for it. You want to find related search trends within this term that target long-tail keywords (less competitive highly specific search terms). You can use the comparison tool in Google Trends to see how related search terms fair side-by-side.

3. Geo-Target Your Content: Trends also allows you to see how interest in a search term varies by region. Let’s say you're a blockchain enthusiast covering the emergence of Tap-to-earn & Tapswap, google trends will give you info on specific regions where your search term trends. Nigeria leads the charge in this case, with Ethiopia as a close second.

With this info, you may consider tailoring your next article to highlight the unique opportunities or challenges in those regions.

4. Use Related Queries: One of the most underrated features of Google Trends is the "related queries" section. This shows you what other terms people are searching for about your chosen topic. You can use this data to create a content cluster—a series of blog posts linked together by a central theme.

5. Capitalize on Seasonal Trends: Certain topics are seasonal, like "best gadgets for Christmas" or "AI trends in 2025." You can anticipate these trends and plan your content calendar accordingly. Google Trends lets you see recurring interest patterns, so if you notice that interest spikes for a particular topic around the same time each year, you can be ready with content just before the demand hits.

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Happy writing!
HackerNoon Team