2020 was a year dominated by the coronavirus pandemic. This unprecedented event changed readership patterns. It made people pay attention to topics that impacted us on an individual and collective basis. With lockdowns continuing across the world, some of these trends carried on from the end of 2020 into early 2021.
We examined trending topics within our network of publisher partners in Australia to understand the interests and concerns of readers by looking at specific keywords or topics that appeared in articles that generated a high amount of pageview traffic.
A surge in pageview traffic to certain topics from December 2020 to January 2021 showed some of the priorities and interests affecting Australians’ lifestyles as they crossed into the New Year.
We saw trends related to self-improvement in the areas of fashion, image, and career.
Budget-Friendly Fashion
People kept a tight rein on their clothes spending during this period. The Taboola network recorded 2 million pageviews on articles related to budget-friendly fashion.
This topic recorded a 140% increase in pageviews between December and the following January.
A glance at the sample of headlines indicates interest in budget-friendly clothing items. This could indicate that consumers were more price-conscious during this time. They were looking for deals to help stretch their dollar. We saw a trend towards budget-friendly wedding dress ideas also, as plans were perhaps scaled down.
Fashion money-saving articles that were popular included:
- This £10 H&M Dress Looks a Lot Like a £200 Designer Version,
- Dazie Reveals $99 Dress Dupe for Popular $695 Cult Gaia Design
- This Gorgeous Dupe of Kate Middleton’s £1,295 Denim Dress Is 60% Off in the Boden Sale
Hairstyle Trends
With hair salons closed during lockdown, we looked for hair solutions that could be done at home. The Taboola network recorded 2.5 million pageviews on articles related to new celebrity hairstyles and hair trends for 2021.
This topic recorded a 100% increase in pageviews between December and the following January. This reveals a trend for budget-friendly haircare remedies or DIY hair coloring/styling hacks at home.
Hairstyle and haircare tips appeared in headlines such as:
- New Year, New Look! Julie Bishop Debuts Stunning Hair Transformation
- Bella Hadid’s Latest Two-Tone Hair Transformation Is Loaded With “Ginger Spice Energy”
- 8 of the Biggest Hair Trends That’ll Dominate 2021
- Katy Perry Brought Back Her Signature Long Black Hair — & Fans Are Obsessed
Weight Loss and Healthy Eating
Weight loss is always a big trend in the New Year. In 2021, however, perhaps a few more people had been over-indulging during lockdown, providing an added reason to start exercising and eating healthy food.
Pageview traffic to articles about how to lose weight and ways to eat healthily saw a surge in traffic in early January. This is likely related to New Year’s resolutions after the December holiday season. The Taboola network recorded 1.8 million pageviews for such stories.
On a longer time range, the Taboola network recorded a 94% increase in traffic related to the topic of weight loss, when comparing traffic between October 2020 and January 2021, with a pageview spike at the beginning of January. This shows a trend towards reading more about healthy eating and healthier meal prep.
Headlines that people were reading on weight loss and healthy eating included:
- 5 Tips To Actually Stick To Your Nutrition Resolutions All Year
- 3 Dietitians Debunk 18 Weight Loss Myths, From Cutting Carbs To Fad Diets
Career Advice
New Year New Job – the beginning of 2021 sparked some people to think about changing their jobs, while others had to look for new work as a result of the economic damage caused by the pandemic shutdowns.
Pageviews of articles about career advice increased over 100% between December and the following January. The Taboola network recorded 4.3 million pageviews about stories related to career advice. Articles with keywords such as ‘cover letter’ and ‘resume’ also saw an increase in pageview traffic in December and January.
Job seekers and career improvers sought out articles including the following headlines:
- Caution: Warning Signs of a Bad Boss (Ask These 5 Questions To Find Out)
- How Volunteering Can Help You Gain New Skills
- What To Do When Your Career Isn’t Going To Plan
- The 5 Skills Employers Want Now (and How To Show Them)
While these trends focus on the Australian readership, the dataset is based on several thousands of news sites across the world that partner with Taboola.
Taboola’s news publisher partners have access to data on trending topics in the Topic Insights part of Taboola Newsroom, our real-time audience analytics platform.