Google published their yearly report of the most searched words and phrases and it is no surprise that searches related to the pandemic ranked at the top of the list. Also high on the list were searches relating to severe weather events, such as the fires in California, searches for social justice initiatives following the deaths of George Floyd and Breonna Taylor and searches about the tragic loss of celebrities such as Chadwick Boseman, Kobe Bryant, and Naya Rivera. And, of course, searches about various election topics ranked high on the report, as well.
As members of the golf car industry, we also want to know what golf car owners were searching for in 2020. I did a little digging and came up with this list.
Golf Car / Golf Cart
The terms “golf car” and “golf cart” were collectively searched 93K times each month around the world in 2020. Whether users are searching for the latest models of top brand golf cars or actually looking to buy or rent golf cars is unclear. Searching those terms results in a massive amount of content, classified ads, online stores, and advertisements. It is clear that everything to do with golf cars is growing in popularity, resulting in more than 1M searches of the freestanding term in 2020.
Street Legal Golf Cart
Club Car dominates this search with their information page about their LSV product line. In 2020, 3,500 users searched “street legal golf cart” each month. This search volume corresponds with the increased construction of golf course communities and news laws across the country permitting street legal golf cars on roadways. Will the demand for street legal golf cars continue to grow? Current search inquiries seem to indicate that the answer is “Yes!”
Golf Cart Decorations
Nearly 10,000 searches were made for “golf cart decorations” in 2020. We can speculate that since golf car parades are considered to be a socially distanced activity, their popularity increased this year. I am proud to be part of a community that responds to a pandemic by decorating their golf car!
Golf Cart Accessories
Golf car owners continue to push the limits when it comes to customizing their golf cars. “Golf cart accessories” was searched nearly 300K times this year. When I search for golf car accessories, I want to see what is new and trending for my golf car. Thankfully, even through the COVID shut downs, golf car accessories continue to ship to anxious golf car owners.
Custom Golf Carts
Nearly 100K searches were made for “custom golf carts” in 2020. Balls Out Motors ranks #1 on Google search for the term. Congrats to them! Whether users want to transform their existing golf car or purchase a customized golf car is unclear, but it seems that golf car owners, myself included, are never satisfied with factory golf cars. We need to put our own touches on it.
2020 has been a wild ride and now that it is over, we can all breathe a collective sigh of relief. I am grateful for the resilience of our golf car community.
Julie Starr, Owner of WHEELZ Custom Carts & Accessories, was one of the industry’s first online retailers of golf cart parts, when she founded her business in 2008. Julie’s eCommerce store, www.WHEELZLLC.com remains a popular online shopping experience for innovative golf car parts and accessories.
