Marketing: Semrush Search Trends for 2026

Understanding and acting on search trends is no longer optional for effective marketing; it’s the bedrock of sustained growth. Ignoring what your audience is actively searching for is like shouting into a hurricane – you might make noise, but no one’s hearing you. Mastering this skill allows you to craft messages that resonate deeply, capture demand, and ultimately, convert. But how do you actually get started with search trends in a meaningful way?

When I first started in digital marketing, I remember feeling completely overwhelmed by the sheer volume of data available. It felt like trying to drink from a firehose. But over the years, I’ve developed a system that cuts through the noise and delivers actionable insights. This isn’t about chasing every fleeting fad; it’s about understanding the underlying currents that shape consumer behavior.

1. Define Your Core Monitoring Scope

Before you even open a tool, you need to know what you’re looking for. This step is about laying the groundwork. What are your primary products or services? What are the overarching themes in your industry? For a client in the home improvement sector, for instance, we’d focus on terms like “smart home devices,” “sustainable building materials,” “DIY renovations,” and specific product categories like “heat pump installation” or “kitchen remodel ideas.”

Start by listing your top 10-20 most important keywords that directly relate to what you offer. Don’t just think about what you call things; consider what your customers search for. If you sell artisan coffee, “coffee beans” is obvious, but also consider “best pour-over coffee,” “cold brew recipes,” or even “ethical coffee sourcing.” These broader, related terms often reveal burgeoning interest.

A common mistake here is being too narrow. You need to cast a slightly wider net to catch adjacent trends. For example, if you sell cybersecurity software, you shouldn’t just track “antivirus software.” You should also monitor “data privacy concerns,” “ransomware attacks,” or “AI security threats.” These are the conversations happening around your core offering, and they signal shifts in customer pain points.

Pro Tip: Don’t forget about your competitors. What are they ranking for? What new products or services are they launching? Monitoring their related search terms can give you a heads-up on emerging market directions. I use tools like Semrush or Ahrefs to perform competitive keyword analysis, specifically looking at their organic keyword performance and paid ad strategies. Exporting their top 100 keywords and then cross-referencing them against your own can be incredibly revealing.

2. Set Up Your Primary Trend Monitoring Tools

Now that you have your core keywords and themes, it’s time to put your tools to work. There are two primary tools I rely on heavily: Google Trends and the trend features within comprehensive SEO platforms.

Using Google Trends

Google Trends is free, powerful, and often overlooked. It shows you the relative search interest for a term over time, geographically, and even suggests related queries.

• Step 2.1: Input your core keywords. Go to Google Trends and type in one of your primary keywords, e.g., “AI marketing tools.”
• Step 2.2: Adjust timeframes and regions. Always start with a broader timeframe, like “Past 5 years,” to understand long-term trajectory. Then, narrow it down to “Past 90 days” or “Past 30 days” for more immediate insights. For regional specificity, if you’re a local business, say, a plumbing service in Atlanta, Georgia, you’d select “United States” and then refine to “Georgia” and potentially even “Atlanta” to see hyper-local interest. This is crucial for local SEO.
• Step 2.3: Analyze “Related Queries” and “Related Topics.” This is where the magic often happens. Google Trends will show you breakout terms or rising queries. Look for terms marked “Breakout” – these are experiencing significant, sudden growth. For “AI marketing tools,” you might see “AI content generation,” “ChatGPT for marketing,” or “AI social media manager” as rising queries. These are your next content topics or product features.
• Step 2.4: Compare multiple terms. Use the “+” icon to add up to five terms and compare their relative popularity. This helps you understand which variations of a keyword are gaining traction. For example, comparing “sustainable fashion” vs. “eco-friendly clothing” can reveal which phrase resonates more with your audience.

Common Mistake: Only looking at absolute search volume. Google Trends shows relative interest. A term with low absolute volume but a “Breakout” trend can be far more valuable than a high-volume, flat trend, because it signals new, unmet demand.

Leveraging Semrush’s Trend Features

While Google Trends is excellent for directional insights, tools like Semrush provide more granular data, including actual estimated search volumes and competitive intelligence.

• Step 2.5: Use the Keyword Overview Tool. In Semrush, navigate to “Keyword Overview.” Enter your keywords. Pay close attention to the “Trend” graph, which shows monthly search volume changes over the past year or more.
• Step 2.6: Explore “Keyword Magic Tool.” This tool is invaluable for uncovering related keywords and understanding search intent. Enter a broad term, then use the filters on the left to narrow down by “Question,” “Broad Match,” “Phrase Match,” or “Related.” Look for keywords with a positive trend indicator.
• Step 2.7: Monitor “Topic Research.” Semrush’s Topic Research tool can help you identify trending subtopics within a broader theme. Enter a topic, and it will generate headline ideas, questions, and related searches, often highlighting areas with high interest and low competition. This is brilliant for content brainstorming.

I had a client last year, a boutique fitness studio in Decatur, Georgia, struggling with attracting new members. We used Semrush’s Topic Research to look at “boutique fitness” and found a significant rise in searches for “at-home workout programs for women over 40” and “mindful movement classes.” This wasn’t something they were actively promoting. By pivoting some of their marketing content and offering a new “Mindful Movement” class, they saw a 25% increase in new sign-ups within three months. This demonstrated the power of identifying these specific, niche trends.

3. Establish a Regular Review Cadence

Trend monitoring isn’t a one-and-done task. It’s an ongoing process. I recommend setting aside dedicated time each week or bi-weekly to review your data.

• Step 3.1: Schedule dedicated trend review time. Put it on your calendar. Treat it like a crucial meeting. For my team, it’s every Monday morning for 30 minutes. This consistency helps us catch shifts early.
• Step 3.2: Focus on changes, not just absolutes. Don’t just look at the highest volume terms. Pay close attention to terms that have seen a significant percentage increase in search interest over the last 30-90 days. Most tools allow you to sort by “trend” or “growth.”
• Step 3.3: Document your findings. Keep a simple spreadsheet or use a project management tool like Asana or Trello to log new trends, their potential impact, and associated content/marketing ideas. Include a column for “Trend Source” (e.g., Google Trends, Semrush), “Growth %,” and “Action Items.”

Pro Tip: Create alerts. Many tools, including Google Alerts for mentions and Semrush for keyword position tracking, allow you to set up notifications for specific keywords or topics. This way, you’re not constantly checking; the data comes to you. I have alerts set up for “industry news + [my niche]” and for any sudden drops or spikes in our top 10 keywords.

4. Translate Trends into Actionable Marketing Strategies

This is where the rubber meets the road. Identifying trends is useless if you don’t act on them.

• Step 4.1: Content Creation. Is there a rising search term for “sustainable packaging solutions”? That’s a blog post, an infographic, or even a webinar topic. If you see a surge in “vegan meal prep ideas,” your food blog needs to publish recipes and guides around that immediately. Don’t just write about it; create comprehensive, authoritative content that answers the user’s intent fully. A HubSpot report from 2025 indicated that companies consistently publishing trend-aligned content saw 3.5x more organic traffic than those who didn’t.
• Step 4.2: Product/Service Development. If you notice a consistent upward trend for “AI-powered customer service chatbots,” and you’re a SaaS company, that’s a signal to investigate developing that feature or partnering with a provider. I once worked with a small e-commerce brand that noticed a consistent rise in searches for “personalized pet gifts.” They quickly launched a new line of customizable pet tags and blankets, which became their top-selling category within six months.
• Step 4.3: Advertising Campaigns. Trends can inform your paid search and social media advertising. If “electric vehicle charging stations near me” is spiking, your automotive client selling EVs needs to be running targeted local ads for that term. Adjust your ad copy, landing pages, and audience targeting to align with these emerging interests. This is about meeting demand where it lives.
• Step 4.4: Social Media Engagement. What are people talking about on platforms relevant to your audience? Use trend data to fuel your social media content calendar. If “virtual reality fitness” is trending, share articles, ask questions, or even demo VR fitness apps on your channels.

We ran into this exact issue at my previous firm. A client selling outdoor adventure gear was focused heavily on “hiking boots” and “camping tents.” While those were stable, we identified a massive surge in “van life conversion kits” and “overlanding accessories” through our trend analysis. Their existing product line barely touched on these. We advised them to create new content categories, partner with influencers in the “van life” space, and even source a few new, relevant products. Within a year, this new segment accounted for nearly 30% of their online sales. That’s not just a small win; that’s a business transformation driven by trend insights.

5. Continuously Refine Your Approach and Adapt

The digital landscape is fluid. What’s trending today might be old news tomorrow. You must be agile.

• Step 5.1: Review the effectiveness of your trend-driven initiatives. Did that blog post on “sustainable gardening” actually perform well? Did the new product line based on “eco-friendly home decor” generate sales? Use analytics (Google Analytics 4, your e-commerce platform data) to measure the impact of your actions.
• Step 5.2: Be willing to pivot. If a trend you jumped on doesn’t pan out, don’t double down. Learn from it, adjust your strategy, and move on. Not every trend will be a goldmine, and that’s okay. The key is to fail fast and iterate.
• Step 5.3: Stay informed about broader industry shifts. Read industry publications, attend virtual conferences, and follow thought leaders. Sometimes, the biggest trends aren’t immediately visible in search data but are discussed by experts. For example, the increasing focus on first-party data strategies, as discussed in recent IAB reports, isn’t a search trend in itself, but it profoundly impacts how marketers approach data collection and personalization, which then influences what people search for.

Getting started with search trends isn’t about having a crystal ball; it’s about building a robust system that allows you to consistently identify, analyze, and act upon emerging consumer interests. This proactive approach ensures your marketing efforts are always relevant, resonant, and poised for growth. For more insights on how to leverage tools like Semrush effectively, check out our guide on Semrush mastery to outrank rivals in 2026. Understanding these trends is also critical for seizing keyword intent, not just volume.