The Festive season is upon us so it’s time for another round of Top 10/20/50/100 breakdowns of the year. Yahoo has published a range of top ten charts this year, including top searches, top news items, top male and female celebrities and so on. Many of them are just for fun, but some of them can contain useful information, especially for content creators and SEO professionals.

While not all of us are particularly interested in the latest developments from the Bieber/Cyrus universe, there is value in keeping an eye on the top trending topics and searches. This is especially true if you are a content creator, a website owner, or involved in SEO in any way – which is most of us these days.

It matters, and this is why: We’re not sure if this is the official term for it, but we believe it’s like ‘surfing on the crest of a wave’. Here’s an example –

‘Obamacare’ paced in the top ten of news searches for obvious reasons. Now think about the other terms that were receiving a boost as a result of it, like health care plan, health, insurance, etc. Content creators who shared news that was trending, or who’s businesses linked to these keywords could have received a boost too. That could have been medical practitioners, medical supply retailers, medical services like private nursing homes etc. The list is endless, and the point is, there is always trending news out there that can be of benefit to the right brand.

We’re not suggesting all website owners repost other’s content or breaking news all the time. What we are saying is that by keeping an eye on the trending topics, and focussing on your brand message, you’ll spot the big topics that you can go surfing with! And this will help to influence and direct the content you create.

Taking the time to find out the top trending topics linked to your business or brand will really give you are clear perspective on the type of content that is popular, and how to attract your audience.

We’d like to hear how you use trending topics to give your own content a boost and get the best from a little bit of clever ‘wave surfing’!