The Santa Barbara Web Design and Marketing Blog

In the fast-evolving world of online business and marketing, one of the biggest challenges entrepreneurs and business owners face is answering the perennial question: "What Next?" It’s a simple question with weighty implications. Whether you’re riding the wave of recent success, feeling stuck in a creative rut, or trying to keep pace with what’s trending in your industry, finding the next actionable step can be both daunting and critical for ongoing growth.

As your trusted Santa Barbara web guide and a seasoned web consultant with decades of experience supporting both PC and Mac users, I know firsthand how overwhelming it can be to determine your next move—especially when the digital landscape shifts as rapidly as it does today. Fortunately, there’s a powerful and free tool available to anyone looking for direction: Google Trends.

In this in-depth post, we’ll cover everything you need to know about using Google Trends to find inspiration, validate ideas, and ensure your next effort is informed by real-world user demand. By the end of this article, you’ll have the toolkit necessary to confidently decide—based on data—what your business or project should focus on next.

Why “What Next?” Is the Hardest Part of Business Growth

Before we dive into the tool itself, it’s important to address why the question of “what next” can be so paralyzing:

- Fear of Wasting Resources: Once you’ve invested time and money into a successful campaign, product, or service, you don’t want your next step to fall flat. The cost of a wrong move isn’t just monetary; it’s also an opportunity cost.

- Idea Fatigue: Creativity isn’t a bottomless well. After executing on your best ideas, it’s common to hit a wall and wonder what the next innovative concept should be.

- Market Volatility: Trends flare up and burn out faster than ever. What’s hot today may be old news tomorrow, and it’s tough to know where to invest for long-term, sustainable growth.

- Information Overload: Data, ideas, suggestions, and advice come from every direction, but rarely do you know which path will actually pay off.

The solution lies in leveraging actionable data to inform your next move, rather than guessing or relying solely on instinct.

Introducing Google Trends: Your Window Into Real Search Demand

Google Trends is a powerful, free tool from Google that displays how often specific search terms are entered relative to the total search volume across various regions and languages. What makes Google Trends so valuable for business owners and marketers is its ability to provide real-time (or close to it) insight into what people are actually searching for right now.

Let’s break down the features and functions that make Google Trends a must-use resource when you’re figuring out your next step:

1. Discover What's Trending Right Now

At its core, Google Trends surfaces the hottest topics, keywords, and search queries globally and locally in real-time. By simply visiting the [Google Trends homepage](https://trends.google.com), you’ll see the top trending stories and search interests at that exact moment. This is invaluable for anyone looking to:

- Spot viral opportunities: Create content, ads, or offers around trending topics.

- Jump on newly emerging interests: Develop products or solutions for new needs as they arise.

For instance, if there’s a sudden spike in searches related to remote work tools, a software developer or productivity coach could use that intel to create new resources or video tutorials, capturing audience attention while interest is high.

2. Compare Up to Five Topics or Keywords

A particularly powerful feature is the ability to compare up to five different topics, keywords, or queries side by side.

- Test your ideas: Not sure if people want ‘virtual yoga classes’ or ‘home fitness videos’ more? Enter both terms and see which attracts more search interest over a given period.

- Validate before launching: Investing in a new product or marketing campaign? Run the potential topic against your current offering to gauge relative demand.

This side-by-side tool levels the playing field, grounding your decisions in real, user-generated data instead of guesswork.

3. Visualize Interest Over Time

Every search term or topic entered into Google Trends shows a time series graph that reveals how interest has changed over days, months, or years. This matters because:

- Spot sustained versus flash-in-the-pan trends: Just because something is peaking today doesn’t mean it’s a reliable market opportunity tomorrow.

- Plan for longevity: If the data reveals consistent search interest over years, you’re likely looking at a topic with staying power—ideal for content creation, product development, or long-term investment.

- Identify seasonality: Some searches spike only during certain times of the year (think “tax help” in early spring or “holiday recipes” in December). Recognizing these patterns allows you to time your marketing and product launches for maximum impact.

Let’s illustrate why this matters: Imagine you see a sudden, massive spike in searches for "homemade hand sanitizer" in early 2020. Had you used Google Trends, you’d see that this interest surged temporarily and then dropped off—indicating a short-term opportunity rather than a new market to build an entire business around.

4. See Regional Search Patterns

Perhaps the most underutilized feature of Google Trends is its ability to overlay search demand on a map of the United States (or the world). You can zoom in by country, state, or even city, learning where your topic is hottest.

- Pinpoint your audience: Are your key terms most popular in California, Texas, or Florida? Knowing where the demand lies helps you target marketing (both online and local) more effectively.

- Tailor offers and campaigns: If you see an unexpected region showing high demand, consider tailoring a special offer or landing page for that demographic.

- Identify new markets: Regional spikes may indicate emerging markets your competitors haven’t noticed.

For Santa Barbara-based businesses like mine, this geographic overlay is invaluable. For example, if I’m considering launching a “Santa Barbara web design course,” but Google Trends shows higher related search interest in San Francisco or Los Angeles, I might adapt my SEO, outreach, or even live workshop offerings accordingly.

Why Steady Trends Trump Sudden Spikes

While it’s always tempting to chase what’s hot right now, one of the biggest takeaways from digging into Google Trends data is the value of steady, consistent interest over time. Here’s why:

- Reliability: If you’re investing in content production, marketing, product development, or fulfillment systems, you want to ensure there’ll be a sustained return, not just a one-and-done splash.

- Safer investments: Relying on trends with lasting demand lowers your risk. You can confidently develop a series of blog posts, videos, products, or services knowing there will be a steady stream of interest.

- Foundation for evergreen content: Topics with enduring interest lend themselves to evergreen resources (like training courses or foundational blog posts) that continue to attract traffic for years.

That’s not to say you should ignore breaking trends—sometimes the reward for acting fast can be huge! But before you stake substantial resources on a trend, check Google Trends for longevity. Build your core business around steady trends, and use hot splashes as extra fuel along the way.

How to Use Google Trends: Step-by-Step Guide

If you’re new to Google Trends, here’s how to make the most of it:

Step 1: Go to Google Trends

Head over to [Google Trends](https://trends.google.com).

Step 2: Explore What’s Trending Right Now

From the homepage, you can see real-time trending searches and stories. Click on any topic to explore in detail.

Step 3: Enter Your Own Search Terms

At the top, enter a keyword, phrase, or topic related to your business or idea (e.g., “digital marketing,” “Santa Barbara restaurants,” or “DIY home office hacks”).

Step 4: Adjust Timeframe and Region

- Filter by country/region: Discover if demand is local, national, or global.

- Select timeframe: Analyze today, past 7 days, 30 days, 12 months, or past several years to spot trends and seasonality.

Step 5: Compare Multiple Keywords

Click “+ Compare” to add up to four other terms. The results will overlay, helping you see which has the highest demand.

Step 6: Analyze Subregions and Cities

Scroll down to view which states or cities these searches are most popular in. This can inform local marketing and outreach.

Step 7: See Related Topics and Queries

Google Trends also lists related searches surging in popularity. This is a goldmine for content ideas, additional products, or even crafting social media posts that meet current needs.

Practical Use Cases for Google Trends

Here’s how you can use Google Trends, no matter your business size or industry:

1. Content Creation & Blogging

If you're planning your next batch of blog posts, use Google Trends to identify which topics are rising (or holding steady) in your field. You might find, for example, that “AI productivity tips” is holding steady while “blockchain for business” is falling off.

2. Product Development

Thinking about launching a new app, course, or tool? Compare potential names or topics. Maybe “virtual assistant for solopreneurs” is being outpaced by “automation tools for small business.” Choose the one with greater search interest.

3. Seasonal Marketing

Use historical data to anticipate when to ramp up advertising or content for holidays, tax season, summer travel, or other cyclical events.

4. Regional Expansion

If certain services are surging in specific states or cities, consider targeted ads, pop-up shops, or localized events in those regions.

5. Competitor Research

Compare keyword trends for your brand or core offering versus competitors to see where you're winning or lagging behind in public interest.

Why Google Trends Should Be in Your Toolkit

Google Trends isn’t just a techie’s toy or an SEO pro’s secret weapon—it’s a vital resource for any business or creative looking to answer “what next?” with confidence. Rather than guessing at what your audience wants or where the market is moving, you can leverage real, timely data to inform your every step.

It’s the tool for anyone who:

- Feels stuck after a recent win and wonders what to do next.

- Worries about sinking money into ideas without market demand.

- Wants to catch—not miss—the next big trend.

- Needs reassurance that their idea has enough staying power for a sustained effort.

It just takes a few minutes to practice using Google Trends, but the results can guide your business strategy for weeks, months, or years.

Wrapping Up: Make Data Your Guide

If you’re feeling frozen trying to decide what to do next in your business, don’t wait for inspiration to strike at random. Open up Google Trends instead. With its real-time search volume data, keyword comparisons, interest-over-time graphs, and regional overlays, you’ll empower yourself (and your team) to make informed, data-driven decisions.

Remember: If you’re planning campaigns, allocating resources, or scaling operations, steady and proven interest should be your north star. Let hot trends inform short-term sprints, but build your business foundation on trends with true staying power.

If you have questions about using Google Trends, interpreting data, or how you can leverage digital marketing and web tools to grow your business here in Santa Barbara (or anywhere else), leave your thoughts and questions in the comments below. I’m always happy to help fellow business owners and entrepreneurs plot the best possible course forward.

Until next time, keep innovating, keep learning, and let data—not just instinct—guide your “what next.”