Finding local trends/traffic/search patterns

[bb_wolfe]

I'm a total noob when it comes to researching local niches (like local auto dealership, local newspaper, local whatever) and goog trends doesn't really show me any useful data for the sites in this area, even the site trends tool doesn't show anything useful.

Any ideas on how I could get a good idea of trends/searches/any data for a local area/region/site? The goal is to be able to find data about what people in that area are searching for.

 

[pocketrockets]

-Use the Google Keyword Tool
-enter whatever city you are seeking information for
-ex, enter Seattle
-view related terms (seattle hotels, seattle condos, seattle apartments, etc)
-view "search volume trends" column

 

[cdc]

Also, Google Insights allows you to drill down to a particular state or local area to see what types of keywords people use there. You have to start off with a keyword, but it should tell you what people in the area are using with that keyword.

 

[vinny lingo]

Google Insights for Search

I haven't messed around with this tool very much, but it looks pretty interesting. The problem I've run into when researching local terms is that the traffic is pretty low unless I'm looking at a larger city. For the towns I've been working with the only terms with traffic levels high enough to register on stuff like Google's Adwords tool are real estate related terms.

So I just figure the best way to see which terms get traffic is to rank for them. Thankfully, doing that isn't really difficult.