Google just announced a major change to their search results pages. Those of you that have a Google Plus profile and are logged in will now be able to see some very personalised search results (well you will if you live in the US anyway, it doesn’t appear to have reached us yet).
So what’s the difference?
There are 3 brand new features in Google search:
- Personal Results – Google will display content that you and friends within your Google Plus circles have posted, within the search results.
- Profiles in search – You’ll be able to search for profiles of people you might be interested in folowing
- People and pages – You’ll be able to find people and profiles related to a particular topic.
Take a look at the video below for a quick preview.
What’s the idea behind it?
Google clearly want to diversify the search results and provide more personal information. Rather than just seeing the really established sites and those who have made a good job of their SEO, Google want you to enjoy a much more personalised experience, including content from your friends or communities you might be interested in.
What does this mean for web site owners?
It could (and is likely to) eventually change search marketing forever. Influencing the search results is going to be much less about SEO and a lot more about being involved in online communities, something we here at Woof have been recommending to our clients for some time.The top 10 search results will be different for everyone. You may have noticed that Google have been experimenting with the first page of search results quite a bit recently. The first page of results is gradually being eaten up by paid advertising, local results, image and video results and now personalised results.
Claiming your content as an individual is becoming more and more important. Google is placing more and more importance on high quality unique content, written by real people.
Don’t panic! At the moment the personalised search results will only apply to a fairly small number of people. The searcher must be logged in to their Google account, and click the ‘Search Plus’ button when they search.
Future proof your online marketing by investing in social media marketing. Relying entirely on search engine marketing is becoming a risky strategy.
If you would like to discuss future proofing your online marketing strategy, give us a call.
