My Google insider told me that 15% of searches each month are new search terms they have never seen before.

15%? Sounds ridiculously high, right.

But a quick look at the top searches for January 2011 shows where these new search terms have come from – and why.

You’d expect the top searches in an Australian summer would be sport, sport and more sport, but the crazy weather or major cultural events also rated highly.

Here are the top 5 hot searches for January 2011 using data from Google Insights and Yahoo! Buzz.

Although the floods started in December, once Brisbane started flooding Jan 11, it became the most searched theme for the month. As a once in 100 year event there were numerous new searches conducted, many location based.

Huge interest in the build up to the public holiday meant many web users were planning and researching their events for the day online.

With this event occurring in the 2nd half of the month, these was lots of interest in the lead up to the tournament as well the players involved online. New searches included dates, actual match searches and results based queries.

An important month for the national broadcaster with its popular annual Hottest 100 countdown as well as its coverage of Big Day Out and other music festivals. New searches included dates and song titles.

Although the Test series was retained by England in December, there was still interest online due to 5th test match as well as ODI and 20/20 matches throughout January. Much like the tennis, new searches included dates, actual match searches and results based queries.

These results speak volumes about how seasonality or new events can affect searches, creating new search queries.

TOP TIP: If you’re using Google AdWords, make sure you keep it relevant with revised keyword research and keyword expansion.

Get in touch to see how Sodafizz can help you with your Search Marketing campaigns.