The Anna Nicole Smith drama is about to go into its third act as a Bahamian court reveals DNA test result showing that Larry Birkhead is the father of Dannielynn. There’s a reason I told you that on this e-business site: when it comes to traffic, timing is essential.

It’s not a cheap trick if you have legitimate reasons for covering something, right? Regardless of the sketchy ethics, part of search marketing and optimization involves following the trends and being able to predict future trends, as related to your subject matter.

The resolution to Anna Nicole’s baby-daddy drama (Hip Hop reference courtesy of Today’s Ann Curry, who officially introduced "baby daddy" into the mainstream news vernacular last week) is the perfect opportunity to talk about trend monitoring.

Searchers are right now asking: Is the father Larry Birkhead or Howard K. Stern? Or is it one of a number of hounds vying for position on a less-than-becoming list of would-be essence donors? They’ll know soon, and the search for Baby Dannielynn’s Daddy will hit the roof.

So, let’s not delve too deep into obvious reasons a webmaster might cover Anna Nicole news. Some less obvious reasons may include that your site sells baby formula, DNA testing, ahem, condoms, pregnancy tests, et cetera. Catching hot news as it’s breaking is a great way to gain exposure.

Each week, Google releases it’s Zeitgeist list of hot searches. The most recent edition shows how last week people were looking for information on the Masters Golf Tournament, the pet food recall fiasco, Good Friday, Wrestlemania 23, Rose McGowan, Lauren Conrad, and Will Ferrell’s new movie Blades of Glory.

While breaking news is harder to catch, like Lauren Conrad’s sex tape possibility (and harder to justify covering), others can be seen coming well in advance. If you sell golf supplies, then obviously, you want to optimize in advance of the Masters Tournament—a month or two in advance for good measure.

The same goes for Easter items, et cetera.

While Google’s Zeitgeist list is a good measure of what was hot before, and Yahoo’s Buzz Index blog is relatively current, the best idea is to follow the TV and radio news for the latest infotainment updates. You can bet what’s breaking today will be a great traffic builder for a week to come.

Google Trends is also a great tool for determining what’s hot in the search world, so use it liberally.