We know branded terms like “Gmail” and “Craigslist” are frequently searched, and are a common point of reference for users. But what about non-brands? What about true keywords that, undoubtedly, are the aim of many traffic-thirsty SEOs across the world?
This was the question we wondered earlier this month. With help from the team at the great keyword research tool SEMRush, we were able to get it answered.
The below visualization is a list of the 100 most searched for non-branded keywords on Google, in the United States region.
The list was determined by manually sifting through the most popular search terms overall to find keywords that were not associated with a brand. In addition, we also removed porn-related keywords.
For clarity, the top five most searched overall are “Gmail”, “Craigslist”, “Amazon”, “Yahoo”, and.. “Porn”. None of those are included on this list – because a giant list of navigational brand searches and porn isn’t interesting.
The list has several interesting insights that I did not see coming
before receiving the data. First, it’s interesting to see Google Instant
going to work – and accurately, with many searches of single-letter
terms. Who knew “G” would be the most popular?In addition, there were also some sad takeaways from the list. The most common reoccurrence throughout the group is several uses of “LOCATION lottery”, which means some of the highest demand searches are with search terms where Americans will pointlessly waste their money hoping to get rich.
Apparently Google’s easter eggs are also in high demand, as [do a barrel roll] manages to pull large volume. Thousands of kids desperately hope their school is closed, and search for the answer through [school closings]. Our internet is bad, and we verify it through an [internet speed test]. Most perplexing of all, many people wonder [what time is it].
How Will These Terms Change?
It’s interesting to think about how these search numbers may change over time. People will always wonder the weather, but as Google Fiber hits more cities, will internet speed tests eventually have less demand?Will terms like [videos] eventually dissipate in place of synonyms like YouTube, if they aren’t already? Oh, and how in the world does YouTube not rank for that keyword?
The landscape may change, but it’s a strong certainty these numbers will only continue to climb. With that, strong SEO will continue be of high importance.
What keywords on the list stood out as particularly interesting to you? Let us know in the comments.
