Don’t Wonder – Wonder Wheel

Google has a very innovative tool called the Wonder Wheel that you should take a look at if you haven't already. 

Google Wonder Wheel is basically a simple mindmap that connects one keyword to related keywords that people are searching for. Here's how to find it: 

Step 1. Search for something in Google. Whatever. It doesn't matter. I searched for the word "pony" (just because it's the first word that came into my mind).

Step 2. On the search results page there's a blue line across the page that has the search results on the right hand side ("Results: 1 in 10 of 37,600,000 for pony") and on the left hand side is the word "web" and a plus sign that says "show options" right beside it. (See it? No? Keep looking).

Step 3. Click the plus sign. A right hand side menu will open with all kinds of insanely useful information that I always forget is there – like what the search results might be in the past week or the past year – and about halfway down the page is the word "standard view". See it? Just below that is "Related Searches", "Wonder Wheel", and "Timeline". 

Wonder Wheel is a graphical depiction of related searches. Sort of a mindmap of spokes branching out of the main subject. Clicking on one of those subtopic spokes will create another wheel and spoke branching off of the main one. Try it! I clicked "pony shoes" and it branched out to a series of spokes about related searches of other kinds of shoes. Keep clicking to drill farther and farther into the topic. 

(And in case you're curious, "related searches" is a list of searches that contain the word "pony" – "pony shoes", "my little pony", "Shetland pony", etc; and "timeline" is another great tool, although I thought it would show the date of key searches and instead it showed the date of content: In my pony example, there is a big spike in 1860 for some reason. Perhaps it was an important year for ponies. 

How can you use Wonder Wheel? Why not start by Googling your keywords and seeing what else comes up. You might be surprised what potential related searches are being suggested and it could help you to identify some important markets (or some marketing blindspots) that you need to resolve.

This is an exciting tool with several big benefits and insights.