Just in time for Back to School campaigns, a practical demonstration of how online marketers can get the most leverage from Google Insights for Search – for free
With retailers and parents alike getting ready for back-to-school shopping, it’s a good time to remind ourselves of the need to do our own homework as marketers. 
We’ve written before about third-party keyword research tools, which are irreplaceable for competitive research but also a considerable financial investment, especially for small to mid-size companies. Happily, anyone can use one of the best, deepest data resources available for search trends completely for free.
Cram Session: How to Use Google Insights for Search
Google Insights for Search is essentially a souped-up version of Google Trends, the search engine’s simple report on “Hot Topics” and “Hot Searches.” Beyond merely finding out what’s hot right now, the Insights tool offers the ability to analyze historical search patterns. You can track searches as far back as 2004 (further even than most paid tools) and quickly grasp the seasonality of particular keywords as well as entire market segments. Note that you’ll need to log into any Google account (you probably already have one via Gmail) to access certain features, like indexes.
As the next installment in our ongoing review of resources for online marketers, below is Part 2 of our Keyword Research Tools Guide.