Yesterday Google rolled out Google Instant.
What is it?
We’ve all become used to Google’s auto-complete keyword suggestion technology, where Google suggests phrases in real time as you type in their search box. With Google Instant, they take that a step further: now the actual search engine results update in real-time, as you type.
Interestingly, this real-time updating affects both organic and paid (PPC) search results.
It’s an amazing use of technology, which Google claim to have invented to save time when searching:
By predicting your search and showing results before you finish typing, Google Instant can save 2-5 seconds per search.
Here’s Google’s launch video with more details.
What does this all mean for SEO?
It’s early days for Google Instant and we’re still getting used to it. Personally, I don’t actually like it very much at the moment, as an end user. However, there’s no doubt that the new technology will significantly alter the face of SEO forever.
1. It will change how people search
Google’s ‘auto-suggest’ technology was in itself a big deal, especially for businesses engaging in SEO work to rank more highly for certain phrases. The suggestion technology often alters the phrase that people actually end up searching for, regardless of their original intentions.
We’ve already seen quite marked differences in reported search volumes for any given phrase anyway, as a result of auto-suggest, compared to pre-suggest. When users see the actual suggested results (with titles and page descriptions), as opposed to just keyword suggestions, this will even more significantly alter the search volume (and therefore value) of different keywords.
2. It will give Google more control
Google now basically controls the popularity of search terms. While the presented search results are supposedly based on the probability of what the searcher intended, increasing further still with each key stroke, you’ve got to wonder at how much control Google now has over returning results it wants you to see.
We’ve noticed (and many others are also reporting) a heavily-weighted probability towards displaying brands, such as Apple, Mercedes, BMW, rather than generic keywords, especially with 1 or 2 characters entered into the search box.
3. It will skew keyword research and reporting
At Woof we rely heavily on reported keyword average search volumes from Google, when researching markets and planning SEO campaigns. These reports used to be a dependable(ish) idea of how many people searched (specifically intended to search) for any given keyword.
With Google Instant – not so. Partly, because Google will be suggesting actual search results as people type, we’ll have a less objective measurement of interest in keywords. But also, there’s now no concept of users actually searching for a phrase: users no longer have to physically hit ‘Return’ or ‘Submit’ to confirm their choice.
How will Google record if a search has been made? I’m hearing that any keyword, phrase or even set of characters that remains in the search box for more than 3 seconds is counted as a page ‘impression’, and presumably therefore as a search for that keyword.
Of course, people will still be able to complete their full intended search query and hit ‘Submit’ anyway, and I’m sure many people will continue to do that anyway.
What’s the upshot of all this for you?
As an end-user, we’d be interested in your thoughts on the new technology. I rarely, if ever, use Google’s website to search anyway. Typically I’ll use the search bar in my web browser, or on my phone.
For SEO, it’s early days but I think there are certain potential repercussions that are hard to ignore:
Well-written page titles and meta descriptions will be more important than ever – searchers will far more likely evaluate these when deciding whether to stop typing in the search box.
Having specific ‘landing pages’ on your site that are optimised for long tail keywords will be more important. Ranking well for long-tail keywords (longer, more specific, less generic keywords) will be more important, because results for these are likely to be seen by searchers, even if they didn’t intend directly searching for them.
Being in the top 5 results will be even more important still, because only really the top 5 results will be clearly shown while people type. Organic results have been encroached on for a while now with results for maps, video, news results, etc. I think Google Instant will make it harder still for a company to be ‘visible’ in the search engines through organic search alone.
Ranking for top-level ‘generic’ keywords will be more important than ever too (seemingly contrary to point #2!). People typing in fewer characters will display results for ‘head terms’, especially when users become lazy, getting used to the idea they don’t have to bother formulating a specific search phrase at all!
What can you do right now?
Search for your keywords, your brand, your company, in Google, using the Google Instant technology. Have a look at what pops up at each stage of the typing process. Are there unexpected results that might get in the way of a searcher finding you? What do you need to do to make sure you can compete? Could you also compete for the keywords and results that appear? Does the new technology represent any new opportunities, or challenges?
One thing’s for sure: quality keyword research and good search engine rankings have now become more important than ever.
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