Using Google Zeitgeist To Create Content That Will Rank Better

Darnell Jackson 3100 Views, , ,
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To be technical I guess I should have used the word “organically” in the title but someone once told me to say what I mean so there you have it. There are 4 types of traffic that Your Online Business needs to survive and then thrive.

They are:

Referral

Direct

Search

Email

Content marketers or “Bloggers” are lazy so they love to get fresh traffic without having to DO anything. They want to set success on “autopilot” as much as possible. At least until more hours are added to the day, lol.   In reality the only option to grow your blog’s traffic organically is through search engines. The other three options require more work to be done somewhere else before you’ll get any new visitors.   However, the best answer also presents the worst question for an online entrepreneur:

How can you beat stiff competition in a saturated market?

The truth is everybody wants “easy” search engine traffic. The competition online seems infinite, with millions of websites in the results for almost anything you search for. How can you beat EVERYBODY?

By Knowing What People Will Search For In Advance

No, you don’t have be a clairvoyant mind reader to know what people will search for in Google or Yahoo before they do. All you have to do is study Google Zeitgeist.

WTF is a Zeitgeist?

Darnell JacksonI know how you feel, I had the same reaction when I first heard about this. You can search the word on Wikipedia but basically zeitgeist means what’s on everyone’s mind. Google has taken this idea to the next level with their annual report on search trends, they call it “Google Zeitgeist“. In this extremely valuable report important questions are answered before you can even ask like:

  • Who was the most talked about celebrity of the year?
  • What was the hottest consumer electronic device?
  • What was the most popular airline for travelers?

With this information as a blogger you now have devastatingly powerful ammunition to blow away your competition.

Here’s a quick presentation of Google Zeitgeist…

Yeah, But How Do You Do It?

I knew you would ask.   Let’s say for example you have a blog that thankfully isn’t another blog about blogging, its about electronic gadgets.

Not like there’s a shortage of gadget sites. 🙂

  • You recently monetized your blog so now you’re making some money.
  • You’ve realized it’s just a numbers game, the more targeted visitors you get the more money you make.

However, you want more. You want your traffic to double and triple and even quadruple because of what this will do for your bottom line.

So, you create a plan to get more traffic from search engines:

  1. Write a series of blog posts on a popular product that you know everyone is searching for.
  2. Optimize the posts with SEO plugins.
  3. Focus the content on the key points missing from the discussion.
You feel like you’re doing everything exactly as the experts and “gurus” recommend but still it seems much harder than it should be.

How to use Google Zeitgeist to automatically rank #1 online:

Since your niche site is about consumer electronics you read Google Zeitgeist and you notice the top trending topics for the year are:

  1. iPad 3
  2. Samsung Galaxy S3
  3. iPad Mini

You decide to write a series of search engine optimized articles that “forecast” or “front run” a keyword. That is they will be published in advance of a known coming event or trending topic. The goal is to “pre fill” the search engine with relevant high quality results that it will “find” later.

Here are some example titles that you write:

  • Is an iPad 4 Cyber Monday launch being planned for 2013?
  • 3 reasons why Apple should offer a trade in program for iPad 4 buyers.
  • How the iPad 4 creates major opportunities and problems for accessory makers.
  • Who makes it back to Black Friday 2013 – Best Buy, the iPad 4, or neither?
  • etc.

The objective is to fill in the interesting and relevant points of view that you notice are missing from the first page of Google.

THIS IS THE KEY.

While other posts discuss boring product specs, features, and benefits you make eyebrow raising comparisons using Google Zeitgeist and inject emotion that instigates interactivity. When you realize WHERE and WHAT has been covered you write about HOW and WHY. You write posts that people will share and actually want to read.

Blogging pros have been writing for years about how long tail keywords are much easier to rank for than shorter keyword phrases. Ranking #1 on Google for “iPad 3” would cost millions of dollars but you could rank #1 for “iPad 3 productivity hacks for entrepreneurs” without spending a dime.

The moral of the story.

Google Zeitgeist could be your secret weapon if you use it right. Now it’s time to conduct some tests of your own so you can prove my theory. Remember, work WITH the search engines not FOR or AGAINST them. Understand Google’s core objective which is to simply display the most relevant content for whatever their users search. Google knows if they display low quality content and people don’t find what they need they’ll just switch to Yahoo or nah, nobody uses BING, but you get my point, they’ll find somewhere else to search the web maybe StartPage or DuckDuckGo? 🙂

They key is to create content that you know search engines will be looking for using reports like Google Zeitgeist and techniques like forecasting and front running. For best results add common sense to fill in the blanks on the hottest keywords and before you know it you’ll be sitting on top ranked #1.

Now it’s over to you. Have you ever heard of Google Zeitgeist? Have you ever used it to promote Your Online Business?

Darnell Jackson

Darnell Jackson is the founder of Darnell is the creator of the #IBCT International Blogger Championship Tournament which features the top 64 blogs worldwide in a competitive comparative analysis.

24 thoughts on “Using Google Zeitgeist To Create Content That Will Rank Better”

  • Hi Darnell
    The article says it all but we must always keep in mind that we need to keep that user who comes to our website and that will be possible if only we give them what they are looking for. The quality of content is also a part of SEO.
    Thanks for share it.

    • Thanks for reading Mohani,

      You’re 100% correct quality is a non negotiable requirement.

      Mixing quality content with a little strategy using your cheat sheet can go a long way.

  • This is a really good strategy, especially if we already have some success on that specific niche, which will make ranking the post a lot easier. I will research the list, as to find something that fits with my expertise. Thanks for sharing the tip with us.

  • Thanks for reading Julian,

    Like I said it could be your secret tool if you use it right.

    I’m glad it helped you in some way.

  • The article says it all but we must always keep in mind that we need to keep that user who comes to our website and that will be possible if only we give them what they are looking for. The quality of content is also a part of SEO.
    Thanks for share it.

    • Thanks for reading Pooja,

      No doubt about it quality is always #1.

      But not just in content. You need a high quality strategy too.

  • I think this is a great strategy. I believe it will be even more effective if combined with feedback from your current readers. What are they really showing big interest in. If these two can be married then you’ll get the best of both world — Google’s top rankings and stuff your readers truly want to read.

    • Thanks for reading Chimezirim,

      See, that’s how you do it. Take this strategy and incorporate it into your existing plan.

      Creativity is key. You already know your audience with this information you just know that much MORE about them.

  • Wow thats something amazing, But I think it won’t be so easy to predict something, however you can give your best chance to analyze current trends and guess coming trends.

    • Thanks for reading Pankaj,

      With research and understanding of your keyword the sky’s the limit.
      The point is to anticipate what trends will definitely surface based off of your analysis of past topics and predictions.

      There is HUGE opportunity here for competitive keywords.

  • Okay, I have to admit to never having heard of Google “Zeitgeist”. Pretty much ranking trending search terms, which is a useful concept. However, I’m not overly up for the idea of ranking for trending topics- it smacks to me of chasing your own tail. Isn’t there in effect a risk of simply being one step behind all the time. after all, these high ranking keywords will in effect be targeted by everyone.

    That being said, if your blog already covers that specific niche, then why the heck not.

    • Thanks for reading Stuart,

      I can see how you may think this would keep you behind the trends but the opposite is actually true.

      Perfect example.
      People have STOPPED googling MITT ROMNEY in 2013 but if you were like me an predicted that MITT ROMNEY would loose and built a page and content to that fact then you would have ranked #1 for the term during the 2012 campaign like I was able to.

      Plan Plot Strategize
      -Tupac Shakur

  • Good to know About this great Update from Google. But will the prediction will be so easy? BTW great strategy. Thanks for sharing

    • Be careful about “Easy”.

      Remember it’s always more difficult to CLIMB up a hill to the top than it is to walk DOWN to the bottom.

      Easy = Walking down the hill.

  • Darnell, I agree with your way to use Zeitgeist 2012 report. I noticed that some other bloggers are also following this report and start working on 2012 trend. But the just following the report and implementing in correct way will be matter in 2013. Good luck to all.

    • Thanks for reading Alok,

      Don’t forget to let me know how your tests go using this report.

      There’s still plenty of time in JAN to do some full week testing.

  • Hi Darnell
    Thanks for sharing these very insightful tips in this article. However, as Mohani said, we also must always keep in mind that we need to create great content to keep the visitors on the website. The quality of content is also a part of SEO and we must work hard to keep that up.
    Regards,
    Kumar

    • Thanks for reading Kumar,

      I agree with you, there’s no substitute for quality content. This goes without saying.

      The point is to add a quality SEO Strategy to your content.

      It’s not ONLY what you do but HOW and WHEN you do it.

  • Hi I actually did something similar with one of my posts but you have given me a repeatable way of doing it over and over again and achieving success with that.

  • I was not knowing about this,Can’t believe I missed this GEM,but this is not too late,I can create some stuff which will be loved by People and Google both.

    • No doubt. Thanks for reading Mohit,

      Don’t forget to let me know how your tests go with these techniques.

  • I definitely try to put myself in the shoes of my searchers and come up with phrases they might consider. Then I check them with Google. It’s like a magic incantation — get a string of words right and the traffic comes. I wish I could get it right all the time. 🙂

    • magic incantation lol

      Thanks for reading Astro Gremlin.

      I does work almost like magic but it’s really just logic, very straight forward.

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