Tag: tools

If you don’t find ways to optimize your workflow, your web development projects could suffer. You may end up facing unexpected delays or poor results. Essentially, without the right project management software, you’ll likely struggle to effectively schedule tasks or communicate with your team.

Fortunately, you can easily find project management tools designed specifically for development. Options like Wrike, Monday.com, and Zoho Projects can help you centralize team-wide communication and streamline your development projects.

In this post, we’ll discuss the benefits of using project management software. Then, we’ll show you three of the best options for developers. Let’s get started!

The Benefits of Using Project Management Software

As a developer, you might rely on your technical skills to succeed in your profession. However, it’s important to stay organized as well. That’s where project management tools come in.

Put simply, project management software helps track, organize, and execute professional work projects. In this type of workspace, teams can collaborate on tasks and execute work more efficiently.

As a result, you can optimize your workflow and complete projects faster (and better). That means you’ll likely be able to increase your client base.

One of the key benefits of using project management software is its communication channels. Instead of relying on multiple third-party tools, your entire team can discuss projects in one place. This can help you clearly establish your project expectations and increase transparency.

Whether you’re a part of a freelance development team or an agency, you can benefit from a project management tool. Here are some features developers should look for:

• Project planning
• Task management
• File sharing
• Invoicing
• Bug and error tracking
• Time tracking
• Analytics

Keep in mind that each developer and team will have a unique set of needs, but these are just the essentials you’ll probably want to look for. Crucially, your project management tool should give you access to organized records of your work. So, when you need to refer to a previous task, you can easily browse through stored information.

3 Best Project Management Tools for Developers

Now that you’re familiar with project management software for developers, let’s discuss some of the best options available. This way, you can make an informed decision, and start optimizing your projects!

1. Wrike

One of the best project management tools for developers is Wrike. It is used by over 20,000 organizations, including Google and Lyft. Wrike’s universal work management process includes everything you need to create and structure development tasks.

What’s more, with Wrike, you can use pre-built templates to instantly add work requests, weekly to-do lists, project risk analyses, and much more. Then, Wrike enables you to structure work with Gantt charts and calendar views.

Furthermore, as you develop your projects, you’ll receive real-time reports that help keep track of your budget, resources, and digital performance. Plus, Wrike will secure your workspace with Single Sign On (SSO) and Two-Factor Authentication (2FA).

Key features:

• Shared team calendars
• Visual workload views
• Instant file access
• Cross-channel insights
• Real-time reports
• Integrates with Bitbucket, MySQL, and other developer tools

Pricing: Wrike has a completely free starter plan that supports task management, custom work views, and email integrations. If you’d like to create unlimited projects with custom workflows, the premium subscriptions start at $9.80 per user every month.

2. Monday.com

Next up on our list is – Monday.com. This is a versatile project management software well-suited for marketing, sales, and development teams. No matter your goals, Monday.com can help you centralize projects all in one place. Using visual boards, views, and dashboards, this software makes it easy to manage and customize your work.

In addition to basic project management, Monday.com has features for developers. For example, it enables you to create a visual timeline for product development projects. Then, you can plan sprints to streamline changes using Monday.com’s scrum framework.

Key features:

• Calendar, timeline, and chart views
• 200+ templates
• Bug tracking
• Backlogs
• Product roadmaps
• Integrates with software development tools like GitHub, Jira, and PagerDuty

Pricing: Like Wrike, you can start using Monday.com for free. However, this plan is best for smaller teams. To access Gantt views, time tracking, and multi-level permissions, each team member’s seat starts at $8 per month.

3. Zoho Projects

Last up on our list is Zoho Projects. If you’re looking for a budget-friendly but feature-packed project management tool, you can’t go wrong with this option. This cloud-based tool is used by Stanford University, Airbus, and other major companies.

With Zoho, you can record new issues and assign them to your team members as you’re working on projects. Additionally, you’ll be able to create dependencies and track your progress with Gantt charts. Plus, Zoho includes user-friendly communication tools to optimize team collaboration.

Even better, using Zoho Projects, you can access the entirety of the Zoho app suite. Along with some third-party integrations, you’ll be able to use Zoho’s software for Customer Relationship Management (CRM), invoicing, analytics, and much more.

Key features:

• Portfolio dashboard

• Custom templates for projects, tasks, and task lists
• Document sharing
• Task timers, timesheets, and invoicing
• Issue reports
• Integrates with GitHub, Bitbucket, Basecamp, and more

Pricing: Zoho Projects is free for up to 3 users. To start building unlimited projects, the premium subscriptions start at $5 per user per month.

Conclusion

Currently, your development team could be wasting time better spent onboarding new clients. Therefore, you may want to consider using project management software to make sure your projects are set up for success. These tools should include features to manage tasks, share files, track errors, and more.

To review, here are some of the best project management tools for developers:

1. Wrike: A popular tool for tracking work requests, budgeting, resources, and team-wide performance.
2. Monday.com: A versatile project management software with custom visual timelines and sprints.
3. Zoho Projects: A budget-friendly and cloud-based tool with a full suite of built-in apps.

Do you have any questions about which project management software you should use? Ask us in the comments section below!

The post 3 Best Project Management Tools for Developers appeared first on Torque.

Since the acquisition and continued dismantling of Twitter by a certain billionaire, an increasing number of people are interested in learning how to use Mastodon, one of Twitter’s more popular competitors.

How popular?

Well, the news recently dropped that Twitter now officially blocks links to Mastodon (and other social platforms) and flags them as malware. So, if Twitter’s new owner takes Mastodon seriously, maybe the rest of us should as well?

All snark aside, after users started quitting Twitter in droves and looking for a new home, Mastodon is one of the biggest winners of this exodus. If, like me, you don’t yet know much about this alternative social network other than its name, this is the right post for you. In this beginner’s guide to Mastodon, we will cover everything you need to know to decide whether it’s worth switching to and how to do it.

What is Mastodon?

So, what is Mastodon? The short answer to that question is that it is an open-source, decentralized microblogging platform that lets its users communicate with each other in a fashion similar to Twitter. Founded in 2016 by Eugen Rochko, the platforms has seen a huge surge in popularity in recent months.

To better understand it, let’s clear up two of the terms above first:

• Open source — If you are working in the WordPress sphere, you should already be familiar with this. It means that Mastodon does not belong to any one company but is produced by volunteers to make it available for free.
• Decentralized — In contrast to most established social networks, Mastodon is not one monolithic provider. Instead, similar to WordPress, the software allows anyone to host their own installation of it. Users can sign up at each node and use the entire network. Therefore, Mastodon is less one cohesive platform as more a collection of servers that all have the ability to talk to each other. This type of decentralization is one of the main ideas behind web3.

What Can You Do With Mastodon?

Mastodon is very similar to other microblogging platforms. In fact, it comes across as a bit of a combination of Twitter and Tumblr.

You can post content and share what others have published (called reblogging or boosting instead of retweeting). There are hashtags and lists, you are able to add GIFs, images, and videos to your posts, and do everything else you have come to expect from social networks.

You can also edit your posts out of the box, something that Twitter users waited a long time for. In addition, verification is easy, you simply need to add a special link to a website that belongs to you (more on that below).

Another way the platform differs from other social networks is in the topic of content moderation. Because Mastodon operates decentralized, it doesn’t have network-wide content rules. Instead, each server has their own policy that is enforced by the users who are running it. They also decide which other servers you can communicate with.

How to Sign Up to Mastodon

Because of how Mastodon works, you can’t just create a username and start publishing, you first need to find a server (called instance in Mastodon parlance) for yourself first. That server will also be part of your username.

However, don’t worry, you are not limiting yourself to your original instance. No matter which you use to sign up to Mastodon, you can always talk to users on other servers as well.

1. Find a Server

Alright, so your first step is to look for a server you want to join. You can find a list of available instances here. The page will also ask you for some initial information (language preference, whether you’d like a big or small instance, moderation rules) in order to give you relevant recommendations.

Pro tip: Use the Advanced mode. It allows you to sort instances by number of users and more.

If you are unsure which one to pick, here are some tips:

• Find your old audience — Use Debirdify to find where members of your existing Twitter audience hang out on Mastodon. That way, you can move to where there are already familiar faces.
• Check the most active instances — This list shows what servers are most active, so you can be sure that there is an actual conversation going on that you want to join.

When picking an instance, it’s important to note that, since the Twitter exodus started, many of the more popular servers have been overrun and are currently not accepting new members. Therefore, it might be better to join a smaller instance for the moment.

As mentioned, that does not limit you to only the members of that server. Also, you can always move to another server if you don’t like the one you joined initially. At the same time, make sure to read the rules of your instance beforehand so you don’t violate them and get banned.

2. Join Your Chosen Instance

Once you have figured out which instance you would like to become a part of and that it is currently accepting members, it’s time to hit the Create account button.

After a list of your server’s policies, you should eventually land on the sign-up form.

Input the required information. The fields are pretty self-explanatory. For the username, it makes sense to use the same as your other social handles if it is available. Agree to the privacy policy and hit Sign up.

Mastodon will send you a message to verify your email address. Click the verification link and you are done. Congratulations, you have successfully signed up to Mastodon!

As already mentioned, your handle always consists of both your username and server, e.g. @username@mastodon.social. So, be sure to remember which instance you joined. You also need the full name to sign in to Mastodon from another browser or app. It only changes when you move servers.

3. Complete Your Profile

Like other social platforms, Mastodon gives you many different ways to share more information about yourself. You can do so using the Edit profile link in the upper left corner or when viewing your profile while logged in.

You can edit your display name, add a bio, as well as change your header and profile picture (called Avatar here).

You also have the possibility to make selections for your findability and follows, e.g. whether you want to manually approve follow requests, make your account discoverable for others, or hide who you follow or who follows you.

In addition, you can put additional metainformation to your profile using labels and content.

This is perfect for things like adding your website address or other Internet presences you think your visitors and followers should know about. Finally, there is an example link if you want to verify your Mastodon profile through your website.

You might also want to check out the menu item Featured hashtags.

Here, you are able to input some hashtags that you use a lot. They will appear clickable on your profile and show visitors your public posts under that tag.

4. Learn How to Use the Mastodon Interface

Once your account has been established and you are logged in, you land on the main Mastodon interface.

It should look somewhat familiar and a lot of it is self-explanatory but let’s still go over it step by step.

Search Field, Profile, and Post Field

In the top-left corner you find the aforementioned search field. Here, you can enter hashtags, usernames (including the instance name!) and look for users or posts by URL. Below that, there is a link to your profile and one to edit it.

More importantly, you find the input field to create your posts. Simply start typing. There is a character counter (the number of available characters depends on your instance) and icon to add emojis in the upper right corner. In the bottom bar, you find options to add an image, change your privacy settings, add a content warning, or change the language. You can also mark media as sensitive and add an ALT description for visually impaired users.

Mastodon can even detect text from an image and automatically add it as a description (up to 1500 characters). The big Publish! button sends your message out to the world.

Main Feed

In the middle of the screen on your homepage you, of course, find the main feed. Here, you see posts from people you follow with the option to reply to, boost, favorite, or bookmark them at the bottom. You can also click the three-dot icon for more options.

At top of the feed there is a loudspeaker icon for announcements from your server and some filter options to enable or disable boosts and replies to appear in your feed.

Mastodon’s Main Menu

On the right, you have the main menu. This, too, should look relatively familiar. Here is what you find unter the different menu items:

• Home — The link to your Mastodon homepage.
• Notifications — Here, you learn about new follows, mentions, and other things happening with your profile.
• Explore — Posts, hashtags, and news that are trending across the Mastodon universe as well as recommended profiles for you. Note that you can also find trending hashtags at the bottom right of the screen.
• Local — The most recent posts of the instance you are on.
• Federated — A live feed of posts being published in the Mastodon network.
• Direct messages — Here, you take care of your direct messages. Side note: It’s easy to mistake private and public messages when composing, so be mindful about that. PMs are also not encrypted and visible to server admins, therefore, they are not suitable for sensitive information or business dealings.
• Favourites — A list of posts you have favorited.
• Bookmarks — Posts that you have bookmarked.
• Lists — Gives you the ability to set up lists and add accounts to them to create custom feeds.

Pro tip: For even more options, go to the Preferences menu and tick the box where it says Enable advanced web interface.

This changes the interface to something very reminiscent of Tweetdeck, which I am quite partial to.

5. Find Your Friends and People to Follow

Of course, what makes social networks most exciting and useful are the people you are connected to. So, if you miss all the friends you made along the way on Twitter, you probably want to see if you can reconnect to them on Mastodon. You have several options for that:

• Manually — If you know the handles of people that you are interested in, you can simply use the Mastodon search function. Type in their name or username and follow them from the results list.
• Using tools — Use the aforementioned Debirdify or Fedifinder to find people you follow on Twitter or that you have added to a list, then connect with them all at once. In addition, check the hashtag #TwitterMigration and filter it using “People you Follow”.

6. Start Posting

Now that you’ve got your bearings, you can properly start posting on Mastodon. Your first post can be a bit of background information on you, your interests, business or what else makes you tick. Post it, then pin it to the top of your feed. That way, visitors can get a good introduction to you and what to expect if they want to follow you.

Aside from that, do the same stuff that you do on Twitter. Share your thoughts and links, add hashtags and images, and engage with others.

Side note: Since Mastodon has seen growth only recently, it is not part of any of the social media scheduling tools yet. However, the program has a native scheduler that you can use to create posts in advance and have them go out at a later time.

7. Check Your Preferences

You find the preferences under a menu item of the same name.

It’s generally a good idea to go through them as there is a lot to discover, such as:

• Accessibility settings, such as slowing down animations
• What events you get e-mail notifications for
• Filter which languages you want to see content in
• Move your account to another server
• Filter and manage your followers and people you follow
• Settings to hide certain content
• Enable automatic post deletion
• Set up two-factor authentication

Again, have a look for yourself, there is more to discover.

Are You Planning to Move to Mastodon?

Twitter alternatives are clearly having a moment. The mismanagement over at the original platform leads to lots of users looking for a new home and Mastodon is one that can quickly feel familiar. It’s free, open source, and quite easy to use. While some things, like its decenetralized nature, take some getting used to, the overall functionality is very similar to what you are used to from Twitter.

So, should you make the complete jump over to Mastodon?

That’s a bit up to you. Twitter is not going anywhere for the foreseeable future. It’s up to you if you want to use Mastodon as a replacement or addendum to your existing presence. Whatever you decide, be sure to look me up! I’d love to connect.

Did you sign up to Mastodon and would like to share your experience and tips? Please do so in the comments below!

The post How to Use Mastodon: A Step-by-Step Beginner’s Guide (2023) appeared first on Torque.

With over 905 billion in online sales in 2022, it’s clear that eCommerce is the new norm. If you’ve launched a website for your store, you’re already on the right track. However, finding the right eCommerce strategies for your business can be tricky, and it can be challenging to secure a steady flow of customers.

Fortunately, when you leverage information gained from eCommerce analytics, you can refine your strategy to maximize your profits. You can learn a lot from just a few simple data points, from tracking cart abandonment to successful conversions.

In this guide, we’ll introduce you to the basics of eCommerce analytics. Then, we’ll share eight key metrics to track and show you a few of the best tools for the job. Let’s dive right in!

An Introduction to eCommerce Analytics (And The Benefits of Tracking Them)

In a nutshell, ‘analytics’ involves collecting and then assessing data for a specific purpose. Typically, this is done using advanced online software. However, some metrics can be determined by completing simple calculations.

When it comes to eCommerce, the goal is to use insights gained from this data to continuously improve your marketing and sales strategies. Here are a few potential benefits you can gain when tracking eCommerce analytics:

• Better understand your audience
• Improve the User Experience (UX)
• Increase customer loyalty
• Refine marketing tactics
• Boost conversions and sales

In order to meet certain goals, online companies usually decide on a specific set of metrics to track. Each one can illuminate something different about customer behavior, web page performance, sales, and more.

8 Key eCommerce Analytics Metrics to Follow

Now that you know a bit about the benefits of tracking eCommerce analytics, we’re going to introduce you to eight key metrics you can follow!

1. Customer Acquisition Cost (CAC)

Customer Acquisition Cost (CAC) is one of the simplest metrics you can track. Yet it’s highly useful.

As the name suggests, CAC tells you how much it costs to land a new customer. It’s fairly simple to calculate this metric, as long as you know how much you’re spending on marketing and how many new customers you earn.

For example, you can start with your monthly marketing budget and divide that number by how many new customers you attract each month. This will give you your CAC.

You’ll want to keep your customer acquisition cost as low as possible, in order to optimize your business model. It’s a good idea to check this metric periodically to ensure that it’s staying at a sustainable rate.

2. Sales Conversion Rates

One of the most important eCommerce metrics you can track is your sales conversion rates. You can calculate this by taking your total number of sales conversions, and dividing it by the amount of visitors who had the opportunity to complete that conversion.

Here’s an example. Let’s say you’re tracking the sales of a new product. Within the first month, you find that 100 people viewed the product page. There were also 30 sales for that specific item. This would make your sales conversion rate 30 percent.

One common way eCommerce software keeps tabs on sales is by automatically inserting tracking code in confirmation or thank you pages:

While sales are perhaps the most significant conversion metric to follow, there are certainly others. For instance, you can track how many people are signing up for your newsletter, downloading a free digital product, or even joining your loyalty program.

3. Cart Abandonment

Cart abandonment is one of the biggest issues in nearly every online industry. From fashion to car rentals, shoppers often leave items in their carts repurchased.

There are many reasons for cart abandonment, but high shipping costs and a lengthy checkout process are at the top of the list. Furthermore, cart abandonment is especially common among mobile users.

If you track this metric and discover it’s an issue in your online store, you can make an effort to reduce cart abandoment. You might try some of the following tactics:

• Offer free shipping
• Redesign your checkout page
• Implement one-click checkout

If you can optimize the checkout process so it has a straightforward design and minimal requirements, you’re likely to land more sales.

4. Average Order Value (AOV)

Average order vale (AOV) illustrates the average dollar amount that users are spending on each order. Again, you can calculate this using simple division. You’ll need to know your total profit and your total number of orders.

Ideally, you’ll want your AOV to be as high as possible. However, it’s not uncommon for users to buy just a few products, especially if they are new to your store.

If your shop has a low AOV, here are some strategies you can use to encourage larger orders:

• Implement upselling/cross-selling
• Offer free shipping on large orders
• Provide discounts

Upselling and cross-selling can be particularly effective ways to increase your AOV. You can do this by advertising similar, complementary, or superior items on your product pages:

These are typically displayed in sidebars or at the bottom of the page, under a heading like “Complete the Look” or “Frequently Bought Together.” If you’d like to try out this tactic in your WordPress store, you can use a plugin like WPC Frequently Bought Together for WooCommerce.

5. Repeat Customers

Repeat customers are shoppers who return to your store for additional purchases. This is another key metric to follow.

You’ll want to encourage repeat buyers as much as possible. However, with so much competition, it can be difficult to retain eCommerce customers.

One great way to gain repeat purchases is with a loyalty program:

You’ll want to provide users with significant rewards. This way, they are incentivized to come back time and time again.

6. Bounce Rate and Time On Page

It’s crucial to know how users are interacting with your website and its individual pages. Therefore, two of the most useful metrics you can track are bounce rate and time on page. ‘Bounce rate’ is the number of users who land on your website and leave without clicking through to another page on your site.

Meanwhile, ‘time on page’ refers to how long users are spending on your web pages. When you first launch an eCommerce site, it’s not uncommon to have a high bounce rate and low time on page, but you’ll want to make every effort to combat this.

Improving page loading times and overall site performance is key when it comes to reducing your bounce rate. Additionally, prioritizing the user experience is vital to increase time on page.

Here are some other tactics you can try to improve both of these metrics:

• Improve your internal linking
• Install a plugin that targets website performance
• Enhance your navigation menus
• Add a search bar on every page

Each of these strategies will make it easier for users to navigate around your site seamlessly.

7. Click-Through Rate (CTR)

In Pay Per Click (PPC) marketing, you can pay to have your advertisements featured on certain pages. With Search Engine Marketing (SEM), you can pay or ‘bid’ on certain search terms. Depending on your bid, the relevancy of your content, and your page’s overall quality, your content can get boosted to the top of relevant search results.

Meanwhile, organic search results display web pages based on algorithms designed to provide users with the most relevant content – no payment required:

In all of these scenarios, Click-Through Rate (CTR) refers to the percentage of ‘impressions’ (or views) that result in a click. Therefore, you’ll want your CTR to be as high as possible.

With both classic PPC advertising and organic marketing, you can improve your CTRs by creating concise headlines and useful meta descriptions. It’s also smart to do some keyword research so you can target terms your audience is already looking for.

8. Audience Demographics

Last but not least, audience demographics can be extremely helpful when it comes to eCommerce analytics. Here are some data points you may want to track:

• Type of device
• Location
• Age
• Income level

You can use sign-up forms to collect some of this information from new users. Alternatively, you can create a survey to learn more about pre-existing customers.

This data can help you better understand your target audience. This way, you can shape your content marketing strategies, prices, and page designs around their specific needs.

How to Track eCommerce Analytics

Now that you’re familiar with some of the most important eCommerce metrics, you’ll need to know how to track them. As we mentioned earlier, you can calculate some eCommerce analytics metrics manually. However, this can be tedious and time-consuming.

Fortunately, there are plenty of analytical and marketing tools that can automatically track and calculate many eCommerce metrics for you. You’ll want to thoroughly research them to determine which is best for your business.

If you’re not sure where to start, Semrush and Google Analytics are two of the most popular and reliable tools you can use:

Both are user-friendly and straightforward. Plus, they both integrate seamlessly with WordPress.

Conclusion

As eCommerce becomes increasingly popular, it may be difficult for your online store to stand out in the crowd. By leveraging eCommerce analytics, you’ll be better prepared to serve your customers and increase sales.

You can get started by tracking simple eCommerce metrics like your customer acquisition costs, sales conversion rates, and average order values. Then, you can use a tool such as Google Analytics or Semrush to assess website and ad performance metrics like bounce rates and click-through rates.

Do you have any questions about getting started with an eCommerce analytics strategy? Let us know in the comments section below!

The post A Complete Guide to eCommerce Analytics appeared first on Torque.

If you have a website or work in the content space, chances are, you’ve used Google Trends at least once to see what’s popular on the Internet. But did you know that you can also use Google Trends for SEO?

It’s true. Google Trends can help you understand what people are searching for, and how that changes over time. This information can be incredibly valuable when it comes to creating content people actually want to read.

So if you’re looking for a way to boost your web traffic, or simply want to ensure that your content is relevant and searchable, then keep reading. We’ll show you how to use Google Trends to your advantage.

But first, a definition.

What is Google Trends?

Google Trends is a tool that allows users to see how often people search for particular terms on the internet. It also shows how these searches have changed over time.

You can use this for both personal and commercial purposes. For example, you might use Google Trends to track the popularity of a new product. Or, you could use it to see how interest in a certain topic develops over time.

You can also use Google Trends to compare the popularity of two or more terms. This can be useful for understanding how the public receives different products or topics.

All of this information is useful when trying to understand what people are interested in. Knowing that helps to create content that they are more likely to read and share.

Now let’s explore how you can use Google Trends for SEO and improving your web content.

1. Use Keyword Data to Create Relevant Content

One of the most valuable things that you can get from Google Trends is keyword data. This information helps ensure that your content contains the words and phrases that people are actually searching for.

To start, simply enter a keyword or phrase into the Google Trends search bar. You’ll then be presented with a graph that shows the interest in this keyword over time, its popularity in various subregions, as well as a list of related terms and how popular they are.

This data is a great indicator to determine which keywords and phrases you should be using in your content. For example, if you see that a particular keyword is becoming increasingly popular, you may want to consider including it more often in your articles. On the contrary, if you see that a certain phrase is losing popularity, you may want to avoid it altogether. Likewise, your searched keyword can spawn numerous related keywords you may wish to optimize for.

2. Follow How Search Trends Change Over Time

In addition to showing you how popular a particular keyword or phrase is, Google Trends can also let you know how search demand fluctuates over time. This information is valuable when you’re trying to understand why certain topics are becoming more or less popular.

To view this data, simply search for a keyword or phrase then view the Interest Over Time graph. It will also tell you which countries are searching for these terms the most.

For instance, when searching for “pencils,” interest increases around the back-to-school shopping season from July – September then tapers off for the rest of the year in the United States.

At the same time, it is relatively flat year-round when opened up to a worldwide search.

3. Monitor Your Competitors

In addition to understanding people’s interests, you can also use Google Trends to keep tabs on your competition. Monitoring competitors is essential for any business, and Google Trends can give you unique insights into what they’re up to.

To do so, simply enter the name of your competitor into the Google Trends search bar. You’ll then be able to see how popular their brand is, as well as the historical trend.

Use this data to understand whether or not your competitor is gaining or losing popularity. Or, use it to see if there are any sudden spikes in interest, which could indicate that they’re running a new marketing campaign.

A good example of putting this into practice would be if you saw that a competitor’s brand was suddenly trending for a specific keyword set. You could then look at that keyword set and see if there were any opportunities for you to create content around those same keywords.

4. Stay Up-to-Date on Current Trends

Another great way to use Google Trends for SEO is to stay up-to-date on what’s popular. This can be useful for a variety of different purposes, such as understanding what people are talking about on social media, or keeping tabs on the latest newsworthy events.

First, simply enter the name of a current trend into the Google Trends search bar. You’ll then be able to see how popular that trend is, as well as where it creates the most buzz.

Content creators and marketers alike can make use of this information. If you notice that a certain type of content tends to perform better in one region than another, you can localize your content strategy to focus on producing more pieces like it for the former region.

Or, if you see that a trend is losing popularity, you may want to avoid creating content around that topic.

Basically, using this tool can give you insights into what’s hot at the moment, even if you don’t regularly follow the news or top hashtags. Going to the daily search trends can be illuminating as well, since you can view what is currently trending and whether or not you may be able to capitalize on that.

5. Make Full Use of Google Correlate 

Google Correlate was a Google Labs tool that has now been discontinued. It worked by uncovering topics people were interested in, and assisting you in deciding what to write about. It also helped with discovering new related topics that were currently trendy. 

Though the official tool is no longer available, its features are a part of Google Trends. Within Trends, you can find relationships between different search trends or any other data point. This is an underutilized aspect because many people are unaware of its existence.

Simply enter a phrase into Google Trends and you’ll see other search terms linked to it. For example, if you type in “backpacks,” you will see results like “cool backpacks for kids” and “carhartt backpack”.

Researching new content topics is essential to maintaining a high-traffic website. These terms can help you identify potential gold mines for topic ideas that are both relevant to your target audience and have a high bar of quality. For example, the suggested keywords make it easy to come up with new content topics. “Cool Backpacks for Kids” is pretty much already a blog post title. For the other keyword you could do something like “Carhartt Backpack Review.”

So you can see how taking this approach can yield extremely helpful results for generating new content ideas as well as exploring the raltions between key terms. 

6. Create a Content Calendar for the Coming Months

Once you’ve used Google Trends to understand what people are interested in and which keywords and phrases they’re using, you can use this information not just for SEO but also to create a content calendar.

This will help you to plan and organize your content and make it more readable and shareable. First, simply enter the keywords and phrases that you want to write about into a spreadsheet.

Then, use the data from Google Trends to determine when these terms are most popular and plan your content accordingly. This will help ensure that your articles come out at the time when their popularity is at its peak. For example, below you can see that interest in “weight loss” peaks both around New Year’s (all those resolutions kicking in) and then again shortly before summer season.

Or, you can use a content planning tool to keep your keyword research, potential titles, and to-be-published data organized and in one place. A few great options that are compatible with WordPress include CoSchedule, Editorial Calendar, and Strive.

Each of these tools will help you to better plan and organize your content. This, in turn, can lead to more traffic and engagement.

7. Create a More Cohesive Brand

Google Trends can help you create a more cohesive brand as well. To do this, simply enter your brand name into the search bar and see what frequently associated terms come up. This data is really helpful in understanding how people perceive your brand. It shows which keywords and phrases you should use in your marketing initiatives.

For example, if you see that a particular keyword often comes up in relation with your brand, you may want to use it in your social media posts or on your website. Doing so could help you to reach a wider audience and attract more attention to your brand.

An even more effective approach is to use local trends to create content that is timely and relevant to those interested in your product or service type. For example, a coffee shop could use local search data to target those who are interested in iced coffee during the summer months.

With a clearer idea of these local search trends, you can build a brand that is more in touch with the needs and wants of your target audience.

Now if your brand doesn’t have a huge reach and doesn’t produce Google Trends results, not to worry. You can still make use of this tool to aid in the task of brand building. You will just need to center your searches on competitor’s brand names or more general, industry-specific keywords.

8. Increase Your Chances of Going Viral

Finally, using Google Trends can increase your chances of going viral. Understanding what people are in interested in and which keywords and phrases they’re using is a great basis for creating popular content. Enhancing that with country or location-specific information to make the content more useful to a niche audience makes it more likely that it will hit a nerve and go viral.

In addition, you can use potential keywords from social media and input them into Google Trends. This can help you unlock content ideas that will go viral both in search and in social.

Conclusion: Use Google Trends for Content Creation and SEO

By now it should be clear: Google Trends is a powerful tool to improve your web content. By understanding trends and popular keywords and phrases, you can more easily give people what they are looking for.

This, in turn, can lead to more traffic and engagement for your website. So, if you’re struggling in these areas, be sure to give Google Trends a try.

Do you have any additional tips for using Google Trends for your SEO and content efforts? Any secret strategies we missed? Share them with us in the comments below.

The post How to Use Google Trends for SEO and Better Web Content appeared first on Torque.