The Top 10 most searched terms of Google in the UK, 2016?

In the world of SEO, it is of extreme importance to make sure that when you are picking keywords for campaigns, they are relevant to your business, likely to generate sales, and are a popular search term.

The search volume of your keywords is one of the most important thigs to consider when creating a campaign, since the amount of people searching for your keywords predicts to some extent how many leads you will generate from searches.

So, what were the overall most popular search terms throughout the UK in last year? We are here to provide some inspiration and shed some light of the top trends of 2016.

Euro 2016

So, as it turns out, with all the events of the year, football has topped every single one, with ‘Euro 2016’ being the most popular search term throughout the entire year.

This may come as no surprise; aside from the common knowledge that the Euro 2016 is an all-round major event both socially and otherwise, highly reported and televised, football is also the most popular sport in the UK. The high search rates for this term are likely to be largely due to constant checking of scores, results, game dates and research surrounding this massive event.

Pokémon Go

It is likely that we are all now familiar with the concept of this popular app which was launched in July last year. Combining popular characters appealing to both children and adults along with a quest game structure, whilst encouraging people to step out of the house and engage in exercise, this app was highly supported and became a major phenomenon of 2016. For this reason, it is also up there on the list of most popular Google search terms at #2.

David Bowie

Following the death of this major superstar in January last year, there is no surprise that the term ‘David Bowie’ is also high on the popular search terms list.

Famous for classic tunes such as ‘Let’s Dance’ and ‘Under Pressure’, the death of David Bowie clearly shook the nation. It is likely due to copious amount of public research, interest and support for Bowie’s music that led to this mass Google Search being #3 on the list.

Donald Trump

This year, political events have been at the forefront of many conversations, with some major elections and decisions going ahead all over the world. President Elect Donald Trump has been one of the most publicised US political celebrities of 2016, particularly prominent across news and social media, so it is no surprise that this search term has reached the #4 in this chart.

Prince

It came as shock to nation when another musical legend, Prince, died in April. The Purple Rain singer was highly popular, and was certainly considered to be a musical legend throughout his time. To prove the nations’ commotion after this public loss, the name ‘Prince’ is the next most researched Google term of 2016.

EU Referendum/Brexit

It is reassuring to know that the EU Referendum was a highly researched topic on Google before and perhaps after the vote took place. Aside from using the search term to investigate the pros and cons of each option, it is likely that people would have also used this search term to find out the results of the vote, and to ensure that they know what the results will mean for the future of the country’s politics. A serious issue for every business, holiday maker and regular Joe of the UK, it is surprising that the two search terms ‘EU Referendum’ and ‘Brexit’ have been grouped together and are still so low down on this list, considering the magnitude of the event.

Alan Rickman

The seventh result reflects the public mourning surrounding the death of the third star in this list, this time from the film industry. It seems that Alan Rickman’s death prompted many fans to research his career, life and death via a Google search. Rickman’s major acting career was led by blockbusters such as ‘Die Hard’, ‘Harry Potter’ and ‘Love Actually’.

Olympics

Another highly publicised sporting event has also proved to be a major search term of 2016. Hosted in Rio De Janeiro, Brazil, sportspeople competing in the 2016 Olympics achieved fantastic results from this historic, long-running event appealing to fans of all sorts of sports. Winning 67 medal overall, and 27 amongst them being Gold, the UK ranked in at 2^nd place this year. There is no surprise that it makes #8 in the list of popular search terms, with much interest and support from the nation.

US Election

The nation’s interest in worldwide politics is highlighted again here, as people have shown to take a keen interest in the highly reported US Election. It is assuring to know that we as a country are fairly well-researched on worldly issues. Perhaps not as well versed as we are on the workings of Pokemon Go, however…

Deadpool

This last result on the list of the most popular search terms of 2016 reflects one of the major excitements in the movie world last year. It was a box office smash hit, topping the charts for months and breaking records such as the highest grossing R-rated movie premiere of all time. Its popularity is certainly reflected in these top Google search terms of 2016.

So, there you have it. The top 10 relatable, interesting, and perhaps in places surprising search terms of 2016 in the UK. The nation’s events and interests are certainly reflected in these results, and it makes for an interesting read about what is most researched and relevant to the nation.