Just a few weeks into the National Football League season, what words and phrases are curious fans typing into search engines when thinking about the NFL? According to recent internet search statistics, topics such as jerseys, predictions, draft picks, betting, and cheerleaders are all high on eager fans’ minds.

Taking a look at the top 4200 phrases entered into search engines over the past 90 days that include the word “NFL”, recent research by Epiar explored the nature of online search surrounding one of America’s biggest professional sports leagues.

Amazingly, while only tracking search phrases that include the word “NFL” (leaving out countless additional football-related search phrases, such as the names of popular players, teams, stadiums, cheerleaders, former stars, etc.) clear trends in public search became clear:

To view a full report of these internet searches, please download the complete “NFL” search phrases report.

More Information, Please?

Searches for informational resources such as game predictions, NFL history, injuries, schedules, and fantasy football were quite high. Popular examples of common search phrases include:

• “NFL predictions” (searched 218 times per day)
• “Free NFL football schedule” (199)
• “2006 NFL predictions” (150)
• “NFL rules” (78)
• “NFL game picks” (77)
• “Live streaming video NFL” (66)
• “NFL football history” (43)
• “NFL week 1 predictions” (39)
• “Free NFL football odds” (39)
• “NFL trivia” (33)

Do I detect a series of linkbait opportunities or easy topics for adding informational resources to increase traffic to a merchandise site? For a complete listing of NFL information-based search phrases, check out this NFL informational resources report.

The Hand-off from Search Frequency Research to E-commerce:

Searches for NFL merchandise were also high, with fans most frequently searching for “jerseys”, “helmets”, “hats”, and “shirts”. With regard to jerseys, searches for “authentic NFL jerseys” (searched 80 times per day), “NFL throwback jersey” (71), and “youth NFL jerseys” (59) were particularly high.

Curiously, in response to this search demand by interested consumers, a quick scan of the top-ranked PPC sporting-goods stores shows very sparse (if any) placement of these phrases on their landing pages. In fact, several of these sites don’t offer “throwback” jerseys or “authentic” jerseys at all. I guess these web marketing departments have decided to build fancy web sites, pay advertising $’s to get visitors, and then not offer the products that people are asking for? Sounds like a strange way of making money to me! Too bad they didn’t invest in a little market research before figuring out what to sell…

Epiar Inc. is an Edmonton-based internet market research and search engine optimization company. Please contact us for more information or to commission your own research reports.

Much could be said about the bewildering state of affairs in Iraq, but what do search statistics have to contribute to the pundits’ discussion? Which topics and themes do public interests gravitate toward? Which juicy details are people the most curious about when searching for Iraq online? How do these trends reflect upon the state of our society?

Recent research by Epiar Inc. explored the nature of online search surrounding Iraq and its principle cities. Examining the most popular 7800 search queries that include the words “Iraq”, “Iraqi”, “Baghdad”, or 11 other Iraq cities (using information from Wordtracker, taken from internet searches over the past 90 days), the following topics rose to the top of the public’s mind:

Click here for a full version of this Iraq search statistics report.

Without surprise, words such as “war”, “soldiers”, “military”, and “security” appeared prominently within public search, as did searches for information relating to casualties. Numerous searches for news and informational resources also appeared, with heavy demand for “maps”, “videos”, “news”, “pictures”, and “facts”.

Surprising topics were also present within the search query information. Unexpectedly high levels of search centered around the Iraqi Dinar, possibly performed by currency traders hoping to time a profitable investment in the troubled Iraqi currency? Searches for jobs in Iraq were also high, despite the noteworthy security concerns.

Sadly, searches relating to the ugliest portions of warfare also appeared, with thoughts of beheading, rape, torture, and exploitation on the minds of curious searchers.

Ironically, the supposed “search” for the weapons of mass destruction in Iraq also continues. Have the military strategists who concocted this war in the first place now resorted to scouring .html files?

On a lighter note, searches for a local breed of spiders were also high, with an estimated 147,460 annual searches for variations of the phrase “Iraq camel spiders”. I’d much rather look for exotic sand spiders on the internet than in person too!

Epiar Inc. is an Edmonton-based internet market research and search engine optimization company. Please contact us for more information or to commission your own research reports.

We know that bloggers love them, that readers skim them, and that social tagging sites promote them, but which “Top 10″ lists does the public really want to see? Which “Top 10’s” are people looking for the most when using search engines?

Just for fun, recent research by Epiar looked into these questions, hoping to settle the matter once and for all (and to provide blog-post ideas for creatively-challenged writers!)

The Web’s Top Ten Top 10’s: (try saying that 10 times quickly…)

1. Top ten baby names
2. Top ten girls names
3. Top 10
4. Top ten
5. Top 10 songs
6. Top ten search engines
7. Top 10 celebrity websites
8. Top ten songs
9. Top ten wedding songs
10. Top 10 pop songs

…and following close behind:

11. Top 10 baby names
12. Top 10 travel destinations
13. Top ten lists
14. Top 10 cult movies
15. Top 10 movies
16. Top 10 home based business
17. Top 10 rap songs
18. Top 10 franchises
19. Top 10 home based businesses
20. Top 10 antivirus software products
21. Top ten movies
22. Top 10 digital cameras
23. Top ten baby names uk
24. Top 10 xbox games
25. Top ten travel destinations
26. Top 10 horror movies
27. Top 10 lists
28. Top 10 search engines
29. Top ten boys names
30. Top 10 best used cars

Numbers 3 and 4 raise an interesting question: Top Ten/10 what?

If I was in the travel business, guess what new weekly feature I’d include on my home page? (# 12 or 25)

Composition of the “Top 10″ Long Tail

Taking a closer look at over 6000 phrases included in this study, certain words and themes appeared quite prominently in the long tail of public search demand. Although I was surprised to find the dominance of searches for baby girl and boy names, more predictable pop-culture topics also figured heavily in “Top 10″ searches:

For a full list of the searches included in this study, check out the complete Top 6000 “Top 10″ Lists.

While research like this may be more entertaining than practical (unless anyone feels like writing 6000 new blog posts?), it sure is fun to see what people are looking for!

Epiar Inc. is an Edmonton-based internet market research and search engine optimization company. Please contact us for more information or to commission your own research reports.

With several recent victories on the PGA tour, Tiger Woods is unquestionably at the top his game. Reflecting this on-course excellence, how do internet searches for Woods reflect his lofty accomplishments and popular persona? Which topics rise to the top of the public’s mind when searching for Woods online?

Seeking to answer these questions, a recent study by Epiar Inc. set out to explore and analyze the online search activity surrounding the world’s #1 ranked golfer. Are people looking for pictures, galleries, or movies? How about caps, t-shirts, or golf clubs? Or perhaps details pertaining to his personal life, history, or golfing statistics?

Analyzing the top 1000 phrases relating to Tiger Woods in online search, the following concepts came to the top of the list:

Click here for a full report of Tiger Woods related searches.

Perhaps not surprisingly, searches relating to specific golf events and terms appeared within the top searches. However, the dominance of the Tiger Woods Golf Video Game over Tiger’s real life golf activities (an estimated 277,000 annual searches for the video game vs. 166,000 for “real” golf terms) was surprising. Well done, EA Sports!

Searches surrounding Tiger’s personal life, particularly relating to his wife and late father, were also surprising. With an estimated 464,000 annual searches relating to Tiger’s family and biography, the public’s thirst for personal information overshadows even the number of public searches (76,000) for Tiger-related merchandise.

Searches for online resources such as pictures, biographies, and wallpaper were also strong. Are Nike and Woods’ management team capitalizing on all of these searcher-initiated business opportunities?

One noteworthy feature of the searches featured in this study was the overwhelmingly positive tone of the public. Having stayed clear of personal controversy and having maintained a good relationship with golf fans, searches for negative rumours, smut, or malice were noticeably absent from this record of popular consciousness. Tiger’s personal brand could hardly be cleaner.

As one of the most dominant and likable golfers to hit the tour in decades, healthy levels of online public interest (a new phenomenon in the history of professional sports and personal marketing) are hardly surprising. Still, quite the online fever surrounding a guy who plays golf for a living!

Epiar Inc. is an Edmonton-based internet market research and search engine optimization company. Please contact us for more information or to commission your own research reports.