Search Engines Reveal Top Searches of 2015

Looking at the top search trends of the year helps internet marketers, content creators, SEO professionals and webmasters understand how people use the internet. While these lists are typically dominated by celebrities, news events and sports moments, they nevertheless provide valuable insight and perspective for anyone hoping to attract more traffic to their site.

And while the importance of search engines may be diminishing slightly when compared to other methods of content delivery such as social media, these lists could help content creators find audiences in unexpected places (like Yahoo, for instance).

Most Searched Terms Overall

While Google’s top searches contain a mix of celebrities, entertainment and news, it seems as though Yahoo users are particularly interested in famous women:

Google:

1. Lamar Odom
2. Jurassic World
3. American Sniper
4. Caitlyn Jenner
5. Ronda Rousey
6. Paris
7. Agar.io
8. Chris Kyle
9. Fallout 4
10. Straight Outta Compton

Yahoo:

1. Bobbi Kristina Brown
2. iPhone
3. Caitlyn Jenner
4. Kendall Jenner
5. Minecraft
6. Jennifer Aniston
7. Kim Kardashian
8. Katy Perry
9. Ronda Rousey
10. Farrah Abraham

Getting Answers

If you need any more indication of how chat apps are becoming an important content portal, look no further. Also, Google devoted an entire list related to beauty issues, indicating that there’s still a large demand for that type of content despite so much of it already existing on the internet. Here are some of the questions that users wanted answered this year:

Google – How To:

1. How to use the new Snapchat update
2. How to solve a Rubix cube
3. How to get legendary marks
4. How to play Charlie Charlie
5. How to upgrade to Windows 10
6. How to get the new emojis
7. How to authorize a computer on iTunes
8. How to lose 10 pounds in a week
9. How to use Apple Pay

Google – What is:

1. What is 0 divided by 0?
2. What is Ashley Madison?
3. What is a Buckeye?
4. What is the Charlie Charlie Challenge?
5. What is a Lunar Eclipse?
6. What is Ebola?
7. What is ISIS?
8. What is Red Nose Day?
9. What is a Blue Moon?
10. What is Listeria?

Google – Beauty Questions:

1. How to do the Kylie Jenner lip challenge
2. What are lip fillers?
3. How to remove gel nail polish
4. How to remove acrylic nails at home
5. How to use beard balm
6. How to do a french braid
7. How to pop a deep zit
8. How to get glowing skin
9. How to put braids in a bun
10. How to make your hair not staticy

Yahoo – Top Questions:

1. How to tie a tie
2. How many ounces in a gallon
3. How man ounces in a pound
4. How many ounces in a cup
5. What color is the dress?
6. What is cloud computing?
7. When is easter 2015
8. When is the Super Bowl 2015?
9. How many weeks in a year?
10. How much water to drink daily?

News and Celebrities

Here were the biggest events and most searched celebrities of the year.

Bing – Top News Stories:

1. Paris attacks & the threat of ISIS
2. The EU refugee crisis
3. Earthquake in Nepal
4. Snowstorm buries NE US
5. German wings 9525 crash
6. Wildfires & drought
7. US-Cuba relations restored
8. Planned Parenthood faces defunding
9. Ashley Madison hacked
10. Discoveries on Pluto and Mars

Google – Most Searched People:

1. Lamar Odom
2. Caitlyn Jenner
3. Ronda Rousey
4. Donald Trump
5. Ruby Rose
6. Charlie Sheen
7. Brian Wiliams
8. Rachel Dolezal
9. Adele
10. Jush Duggar