February’s already here, so we are well into the new year. Now that all of the data is in for 2012, we thought it would be fun to take a look at what our local city of Pittsburgh was searching for last year. After analyzing data from Google search trends, we noticed a few interesting developments within the local online community.
Rising Keywords in Pittsburgh
Social media is clearly an area of major local interest. “Facebook” made it to the top of the list for most searched keyword in Pittsburgh. “You” and “Youtube” came in second and fourth, respectively. Other platforms saw steep rises in popularity in 2012 over 2011. Instagram, initially released in late 2010, was searched for 1400% more in 2012 than in 2011! While not quite as dramatic, Pinterest was searched 800% more than the year before. Also making it into the top 10 growing keywords, “Reddit” grew by 100% and “LinkedIn” by 50%. Pittsburgh is working hard to take advantage of social media as it develops.
Computer and online gaming grew in popularity, as well. The term “games” ranked among the top search queries in Pittsburgh, and “Happy Wheels” and “Minecraft” both saw significant growth over last year. However, before you start bemoaning the entertainment outlets of the younger generations, “Cool Math,” an educational site that offers free online lessons in pre-algebra, algebra, and pre-calculus, rose by 60%.
Trending in Social Media
Throughout 2012, Tweeters have steadily been showing their Pittsburgh pride through increased use of the Pittsburgh hashtag (#Pittsburgh) in their Tweets. Users also generally have a positive outlook on the city, too. For every negative post about Pittsburgh, there are 29 positive ones.
True to Pittsburgh sports pride, the top influencers across social media are the Pittsburgh Steelers (NFL team), the Pittsburgh Penguins (NHL team), and Troy Polamalu (currently playing strong safety for the Steelers and famous for his long locks). The Steelers and the Pirates (MLB team) are both among the top Pittsburgh-related search terms as well. For more online trends from Pittsburgh, see the full infographic below.
A Note on SEO Tools
Free SEO tools, including Google Trends, are an often unutilized source of information for website owners and developers. They can highlight useful and interesting information for a business regarding site status, industry trends, and competitor performance. See our SEO Tools page for a list of helpful sites to help you analyze the SEO status of your website.
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