Where do we usually go when we want to get to know consumers and their online behaviors? For the most part, we usually go to Google, right? We’ll either look at Google Trends to see what’s trending, and the Google Keyword Planner to understand the quantitative volume of searches.
The problem that presents itself when using these tools is that the data that is presented to use is aggregated either on a weekly or monthly basis. Because of this, we can’t see what’s going on on a day to day basis. Plus, the data we have us delayed. This can be a problem because we need to know what’s going on in the now. The data we need is something we need to know NOW.
So where is another good source of information that I can use to understand online consumer behavior in actual real-world metrics that will be as current and possible? Wikipedia.
That’s right. I said it. Wikipedia.
But, why Wikipedia? In an article by Benjamin Spiegel, there are some reasons he gives as to why Wikipedia is a great source of information.
- Wikipedia ranks highly for almost all terms that matter
- It’s a trusted source of information on millions of topics
- Content intent is very clear on Wikipedia
- And finally, they give away their pageview data for free
How can you use Wikipedia to your advantage when trying to find the data you seek? Check out Benjamin’s post on Marketing Land and see!
Marketing Land: Leveraging Wikipedia Data For Deeper Consumer Insights