Now that you’ve (presumably) battled your way back from a hard-earned New Year’s hangover, we can talk about the Apple Cider Vinegar Diet, liver flushes, and magnetic elliptical trainers.  What? You’ve never heard of these things? I hadn’t either until my colleague, Erin O’Donnell,  put some New Year’s resolutions search data on my desk.  It turns out people actually search for these odd regimens along with products like bee pollen and glucosamine sulfate chondroitin supplements once the new year comes around.

The Usual Suspects

Moving beyond the strange and unique, there are a lot of extremely common search terms that will be popular again at the start of this New Year.  We forecast that all of the usual generic weight loss terms and smoking or other habit cessation keywords will see a rise in January and February of this year.  With the economy continuing its slight, but steady growth, and the holiday season posting considerably stronger retail sales, it’s likely that consumers will be more willing to loosen their purse strings when it comes to buying self-improvement products in 2011. 

In order to make this data actionable for you as an advertiser, my team has compiled easy-to-view lists of keywords encompassing weight loss, vitamins, body care, fitness, and New Year-related keywords.  Additionally, my colleague Peter Haubold wrote a very insightful article about New Year’s Resolutions; it can be downloaded as a PDF paper below.

New Year’s Resolutions PDF Paper

New Year’s Keywords

Making Money Moves (US Only)

In addition to more health and resolutions traffic, the US financial services industry should see an increase in searches from January through April thanks to the tax season.  Also, the stock market has been on a tear in 2010, and the large outflow of cash from the bond markets may signal a change in the way people are choosing to plan financially for 2011 and beyond.  For a list of popular terms in the financial sector, check out our PDF paper outlining popular keywords and our recommendations for news-related negative keywords.

Search Tips for Financial Planning PDF Paper

OR

Download Financial Keywords Directly

My Own 2011 Resolution

My 2011 resolution is to start up a Twitter account to keep all of you Small Business Search Engine Marketers informed through industry analysis and “insider” updates on search happenings here at Microsoft.  I encourage you to follow me at http://twitter.com/michaelmostert.

From me and my colleagues on the Small Business Search Team, we wish you the best in 2011!  Good luck with your resolutions, whether it’s to consume more Milk Thistle Tablets, stay on the 7 Day Cabbage Soup Diet, or use your brand new Space-Saving Interval Training Elliptical Machine to shed some pounds.

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