Real Time Search (RTS) like Google Suggest can be loads of fun, but it’s main purpose is fourfold:
- Quicker searching
- Catch a mistakes in spelling by providing common spellings
- Provide relevant pages quickly and
- Repeat your previous favorite searches
A fifth one would be to provide entertainment, but it’s all about making search faster. When you start typing common searched terms start popping up. Bing and Yahoo also join in by providing their own RTS ideas. All three use their own algorithm to provide suggestions, but one thing they all pay attention to is what people are searching for.
Real Time Search for Popular Keywords
Real Time Search can also be a resource for popular terms to optimize for in your city. What are people looking for? Houses? computers? Puppies? Burritos? Add your city to generic terms that your business would be associated with and see if it pops up as a phrase in the suggested search terms.
If it does, it means people are looking for it. If people are looking for it, it’s time to consider how you can harness that for your SEO strategy. If it doesn’t, don’t worry, you have discovered a niche to call your own.
Real Time Search to Measure Branding
I had the opportunity to be on the ground floor of a marketing campaign for a local plumbing company. The initial SEO brought the website to page 5 and they opted to put money into radio and print. At this time, the company name did not come up in Real Time Searches at all. That was understandable. No one knew the company existed. After a week of radio and print advertising, the real time search result of its name appeared. People were searching for it, the analytics proved it as well. Put your own business name and see if people are searching for you or if they are talking about you.
The SEO possibility
Real Time Search can help you spot what people are looking for. Play around with your keywords in Google Suggest and see what pops up. You might spot some missing opportunities that an adjustment to your website can benefit from.
Check out The Adventures of SEO Boy: Heroic Feats of Search Engine Optimization at http://www.seoboy.com/. Copyright © 2008-2009 Hanapin Marketing, LLC.
