Google’s annual recap of the year’s top trending searches provides content publishers with dozens of ideas for capitalizing on long-tail keyword opportunities.
Every year, data on the top trending searches is published, which is interesting in and of itself, but you may be wondering, “What can I do with this information?”
At first glance, the data doesn’t appear to have much to offer other than satisfying general curiosity about what people search for in Google.
Take, for example, the top ten trending searches in 2021:
- NBA
- DMX
- Gabby Petito
- Kyle Rittenhouse
- Brian Laundrie
- Mega Millions
- AMC Stock
- Stimulus Check
- Georgia Senate Race
- Squid Game
As a search marketer or content publisher, you may not be able to do much with that.
Those are all massive topics, with little chance of ranking for any of them at this point.
However, if you look deeper, you’ll find the long-tail keywords that people searched for the most this year.
You’ll discover the questions people were asking — the things that searchers genuinely needed assistance with — and therein lies the opportunity.
Let’s go over a few of them, and maybe you’ll get some ideas for your next pieces of content.
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It’s worth noting that these are all top “trending” searches, i.e. the keywords with the greatest increase in search volume from 2020 to 2021. These are not necessarily the most popular searches on Google.
Google’s Top Trending Long-Tail Keywords of 2021
Top ‘How To’ Searches of 2021
Answering people’s questions is the foundation of content publishing, so let’s get started with some ideas for your next “how to” articles.
If you can provide the most comprehensive answer to one of these questions, you may see an increase in traffic.
How to help others
- How to help Afghan refugees
- How to help Texas
- How to help India COVID
- How to help toddler with cough
- How to help foster kids
How to be
- How to be eligible for stimulus check
- How to be more attractive
- How to be happy alone
- How to be a baddie
- How to be a good boyfriend
How to style
- How to style straight leg jeans
- How to style a wolf haircut
- How to style a corset
- How to style rings
- How to style a sweater vest
Top 2021 Recipe Searches
Food bloggers looking for unique recipes to write about can find inspiration in the following top searches:
- TikTok pasta
- Bacon jam
- Birria tacos
- Crockpot chicken
- Hamantaschen
- Squid Game cookie
- Baked oats
- Cicada
- Gigi Hadid pasta
- Smashed potatoes
Top 2021 ‘This Or That’ Searches
The ‘this or that’ search is an often-overlooked type of query.
The ‘this or that’ search is a versatile keyword type that offers many opportunities for new content, whether it’s how to use a word correctly or what the difference between two things is.
This year, searchers needed more clarity on the following topics:
- Effect or affect
- Barbie, Bratz or Fairy
- Allergies or COVID
- Bones or no bones
- Bougie or boujee
- Pfizer or Moderna
- Sinus infection or COVID
- Choose Bidoof or Bidoof
- Cold or COVID
- Capitol or capital
More Top 2021 Searches
This is just a selection of the top searches from the year, which I chose because I thought they would be most useful to publishers.
Many more can be found on Google’s Year In Search mini-site.
Google has also created a video recap of the year in search, which can be viewed below:
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