Google Suggest (beta)

The new Google Suggest is a really cool application. As you begin to type your entry into the Google search box, the program logic brings up a box of related search terms. But wait ... there's more!

Google Suggest also tells you how many Web sites exist that pertain to the search term or its related derivatives.

Example: As soon as I type the word "Marketing" into the Google Suggest search box, it shows me the following information:

Marketing - 170,000,000 results
Marketing plan - 20,800,000 results
Marketing mix - 8,300,000 results
Marketing jobs - 20,200,000 results
Marketing research - 18,400,000 results
Marketing strategy - 15,800,000 results
Marketing magazine - 13,100,000 results

How might we use such information? I can think of two ways.

First, if we were designing a Web site, we could use Google Suggest to determine the most popular related search terms. Then, we could build the best set of words and phrases into our keywords for the Web site code.

So, in our case, for "marketing" we would want to add "marketing plan" and "marketing research" and perhaps a few other related terms. Note: I am not suggesting that you add unrelated terms, just because they are popular. In fact, doing such could get you "blacklisted" by the search entities on the Web.

Conversely, if we were trying to create, invent or name something, and we wanted it to be unique and differentiated, we could use Google Suggest in reverse. We would look for those words and phrases with the fewest results.

Isn't this cool! How could you use Google Suggest to help refine your business and especially its Web presence?

Kudos to the marketing geniuses at Google for this useful new technology.