Not too long ago, as a part of its Trends services, Google offered a new tool for those involved in the business of Internet marketing called Google Trends for Web sites. That’s quite a mouthful. If the service is successful, look for Google to change the name to something a bit shorter and catchier.
Those involved in the business of Internet marketing should have no problem getting used to Google Trends for Web sites. It simply ranks Web site popularity much like Alexa and Hitwise do. You can see graphs of how many visitors a Web site gets over a period of time and you can see how two or more sites compare. As of now, Google Trends for Web sites only ranks the top-tiered sites on the Web. So if you find your business or personal site currently ranked, congratulations, you’re pretty popular. If you’re not ranked, don’t worry, you’ll probably appear on the site as soon as Google expands the service.
So what makes Google Trends for Web sites different from other Web traffic monitors like Alexa and Hitwise? A couple of added features makes Google’s new product attractive to people in the business of Internet marketing and those already using the other ranking sites. Alexa already lets you see the geographical regions that visitors are from, but Google makes viewing that for your Web site, or any Web site, much easier to do. More importantly, Google Trends for Web sites lets you see other Web sites most users of a Web site visit. This could be a key tool for online business and internet marketing professionals. They’ll be able to define their target audience more clearly. And online business and Internet marketing specialists can see who their main competitors are. Also helpful for people in business and Internet marketing to the chance better know their audience with the “also searched for” feature. This will certainly be a useful tool for determining keywords for search optimization. Not only will anyone concerned with business and Internet marketing be able to see what the customers are typing to find a site, but it’s also possible to see what customers aren’t using. At the very least those in business and Internet marketing can more easily find out what additional keywords are needed.
And the last but most important difference for business and Internet marketing professionals, this isn’t just another wide-eyed startup offering a new tool: this is Google we’re talking about. And while Google hasn’t always snagged the top spot with their products (see Froogle, Google’s shopping service and Picasa, their photo service), they’ve still got a pretty good track record getting people to use any new service they roll out. So even if Google doesn’t manage to top Alexa in the Web site-ranking battle, look for Google Trends for Web sites to be very influential
