Should it be this word or that word?
Nonprofit communicators debate these kinds of things all the time.
For example, earlier this month, I wrote a blog post called Improving Your Open Rate: The From Line.
As I was writing, I realized that I was using “from field” in many places, but “from line” in a few.
Which one belonged in the post title? I wasn’t sure.
So I made the decision to go with “line” based on a Google Trends search.
When we revamped our blog categories earlier this year, I used Google Trends when I was waffling about which terms to use. For example, even though I personally prefer the term “media relations” for the work we do with journalists, Google says that more people search for “PR” and “public relations” so we went with PR.
Here’s another fun one . . . I still hear that some people are reluctant to use the words “nonprofit marketing” to describe what they do, instead preferring the word “nonprofit communications.”
But look at the search results . . .
It’s clear that “nonprofit marketing” gets a lot more searches and has for some time.
Have you used Google Trends to settle an argument about word choices? Share your example in the comments.
