Looking to start your own business but short on ideas? Google can help.

First, understand that most new products and services don’t suddenly appear out of thin air in a burst of creativity. Far more often, innovation results from seeing what already exists and finding new and better ways to put them together. Google offers a superb tool for seeing what people are looking for in today’s world.

Google Adwords can be a great source of ideas based on what people are paying to advertise for. Using the site’s free keyword tool, you can easily see which keywords are generating the most searches per month, and how much advertisers are paying for a top position in the sponsored listings.

Analyzing the data on the site can open your eyes (and your mind) to potential products or services you otherwise might never have considered. And if you do settle on one idea, the data on Google Adwords can help determine the viability of the market for your idea.

Keyword Planning Tool

The main research tool on Google Adwords is the Google Keyword Planner. This handy tool allows you to search for keyword and ad group ideas, review historical statistics, and see how a list of keywords might perform. You can also create a new keyword list by multiplying several lists of keywords together.

Learning about the products and services people are advertising and searching for can spark your own ideas for creating something new, different or better. Accessing the keyword planner does require creating a Google AdWords account. But you don’t have to buy advertising in order to use the tool.

Google Trends

Once you’ve identified some high-traffic topics of interest to you, running your list of keywords through Google Trends will allow you to see how interest levels in those keywords trend over time. It also shows lists of related keywords that may be rising or trending downward.

The best part about Google Trends is the ongoing collection of trending information – especially the data on “breakout” keywords that have risen more than five thousand percent. In this way, you can identify various trends or related terms that might trigger new business ideas.

When it comes to generating big ideas that could turn into a business, Google really is your friend – and so is Ideator. All the Ideator links on this blog, along with many more startup resources, are available within ideators resources portal.

Originally posted by Ideator