Our natural inclination when presented with terms such as “keywords,” “trend research” and “data mining,” is to associate them with SEO… to imagine “How can I utilize this information to drive traffic toward my site? Ken Jurina and Curtis Dueck of Epiar march to a slightly different beat. Mining data and conducting keyword research, they’ve discovered that we’re able to do far more with this information than choose the proper keywords for a title tag. At Chicago’s Search Engine Strategies Dueck and Jurina shared their vision with WebProNews.

According to Dueck, “We have the ability to put our finger on the pulse of history in the year 2006: What people want… just by the way that they’re entering stuff into search engines.” Closely following the ebb and flow of search trends equips us with a window on political opinion, popular culture and the current view on any other topic we wish. “It’s mind boggling.”

With this power, market research has been turned on its head. Jurina adds, “[This is the] largest sample size you could ever want.. the biggest focus group… and the information is unbiased as no one even knows they’re really being watched… Instead of having to look through a small sample of phrases, we’re usually looking at eighty thousand, a hundred thousand or multiple hundred thousands of phrases. So as a result you are collecting some good information that can provde some great business direction and trending information.”

Many traditionalists are having trouble coming to grips with this new capacity for knowledge. Yet, previously where few pursued such marketing angles, many are now beginning to realize its potential.

Dueck mused, “The evolution within the mainstream industry has been really interesting. We’re showing just the tip of the iceburg… and people’s jaws are dropping.”

It’s certainly exciting for marketers to dwell on the notion of such a vast pool of information, yet the best is yet to come. As search data collection continues, this set gets larger and the data gets richer. Jurina commented, “[Marketers need] to identify the long tail phrases versus the short one or two word phrases which are much more difficult to determine the intention of what the person is looking for. Is there a likelyhood that they are going to be converting? …This is where the real opportunity to conversion is.”

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