What is Google autocomplete and why should you care?

In this blog post we are going to discuss a cool feature that Google does automatically when you search and how you can use it to your advantage. I love using this and I think that you will too. This is a trick that you can use to quickly inspire a blog post idea or to kick off some keyword research.

Where do these suggested searches come from?

Autocomplete predictions are possible search terms, not statements by other people or Google about the terms, and not the answer to your search.

Interesting enough no humans are involved in the making of these suggestions. It is all done by the computer algorithm. That is wild to think about but it is also super cool.

By the way, if you find this annoying you can turn it off but if you are blogger, I really suggest that you leave it on.

So how can you use Google Autocomplete for your blog?

If you are trying to find a blog post topic or some long tail keywords and you want to try something besides the typical keyword tools. This may be a great resource that inspires your next blog post.

If you use this Google function you will start seeing some possible long tail keywords. At the very least you will wind up finding great long tail key phrases to put in your blog post.

What is a Long Tail Keyword?

If you are not familiar with this phrase, let me give you a quick and simple definition.

This is essentially a phrase that people are searching for. For it to be long tail it must consist of at least two words but generally it will be three or more words.

So a good example is “blogging versus “get started blogging”

To get better suggestions you will want to use Google Chrome and you will want to switch to incognito mode.

This means that your search history will be left out of the equation. You want to get a feel for what other folks are searching for without your search history getting in the way.

Once in incognito mode go to Google.com and start typing your keyword in the search box.

At this point you should start seeing suggestions pop up below your cursor. These are the suggested autocomplete searches. Go ahead and make a note of these searches.

These suggestions didn’t really inspire a blog post so I kept going. Now, go ahead and type a second word in the search. Make note of what comes up for you.

Now, blogging tips for photographers may be a great blog post. I can already think of a few ideas to get the creative juices flowing. Perhaps I could create a blog post giving a few ideas on cropping images, image size, image resolution online, and great WordPress image gallery plugins.

Actually, that sounds like a pretty great blog post for more than just photographers, so I may do that in the near future.

Hopefully, you use this idea to inspire some great blog posts and you start writing content fast and furiously.

A content tip to make your blog look even better

Make your paragraphs super short. I even suggest that you make a paragraph or two that is only one single word. If you want to emphasize something on your blog, go ahead and give that one word or phrase power by putting it on a line to itself.

Short paragraphs make your blog appear shorter and easier to read. If you a blog post that is going to run super long and you are worried that people are going to feel overwhelmed, use this trick.

People are far more likely to read a super long post if there is plenty of white space.