'Tis the season to focus on search term trends

At this time of year it's perhaps even more important to keep an eye on the changing trends in search terms, particularly as consumers gear up for key shopping days such as the upcoming dates of Black Friday (27 November) and Cyber Monday (30 November).

by Helen Leggatt

Recent research shows that over half of shoppers plan to shop on the day after Thanksgiving - Black Friday - up from 42% last year. The same survey, from Accenture, shows that 67% intend to complete the bulk of their Christmas shopping by 7 December.

Now, new data from Google Insights for Search shows that in just the last week alone Black Friday related search terms have increased and searchers are looking for bargains. Half of the top Black Friday related search terms have included keywords such as ads, deals and sales.

Searching for Black Friday bargains has also begun far earlier this year than last. According to Google, searches began increasing the week of 2 August, 2009 versus mid-September in 2008 and 2007.

Marketers need to keep a close eye on keyword trends and ensure ad campaigns and product pages are optimized accordingly. Stephen DiMarco, vice president and chief marketing officer for Compete, Inc., offers some tips to fine tune your search marketing such as gaining insight into your competitors' search term purchasing activity and identifying "highly engaged" traffic.

"The secret to paid search marketing success is up-to-date visibility into actual searching behavior and bidding strategies," said DiMarco in his article on MediaPost. "By understanding the value of specific search terms, smart marketers can identify opportunities to incorporate keywords that are performing well for competitors and for their industry category."

Tags: e-commerce, keyword trends, online shopping, search engine marketing, search marketing, search terms