Google Instant Search and Your Website SEO
Google released its latest search enhancement, Google Instant, on September 8, 2010. The Official Google Blog says search is now faster than the speed of type. Find out more about Google Instant.
In essence, Google completes the words that it thinks you might be typing before you type it and returns results instantly. I typed x in the Google search box and Google figured that I was searching for xbox with additional suggestions listed below such as:
xbox
xbox live
xm radio
xkcd
And Google also returns the search results for xbox and the sponsored ads for xbox and, since I typed x in the search and then didn’t type anything else for three second the ads that are showing will count as impressions. You can turn off Google Instant if you want to. Instant is the default search mode now.
Google Instant will change how we search and what we end up clicking on. Searchers may stop typing as soon as a word is suggested and the list appears and just click on it. Google Instant could also distract the user from their original intent and could change how they search in the future.
For webmaster tools and AdWords Pay-Per-Click advertising campaigns the number of impressions counted will change if a searcher stops typing after 3 seconds and when they complete the search. It may mean the impression could be counted twice. Another effect could be that searchers won’t browse beyond the first page making spots 1-4 hot property for your search terms in both AdWords and organic search. And don’t forget that Google will show results for each searcher’s local area.
Now that Google Instant is here its time to take another look at your website’s search engine optimization also called SEO. How fast does your website load? Is that 1999 design now just a slow loading website in the 21st century Internet? Your site architecture is important to your site load time which, in turn, is important to Google. Have an Internet marketing and web design company take a look at, and evaluate your website. They will let you know what changes can and should be made to help improve your search engine rankings.
A number of our OnYourMark, LLC clients subscribe to a monthly search engine maintenance plan for their website. Our team keeps on top of the changes in search engine world, including Bing becoming the search engine for Yahoo!. Meta tags and content is monitored and “tweaked” as needed for proper keyword phrases as well as a check of statistics, broken links, etc. to work on improving or keeping your top search engine rankings.
Your website represents your brand and it needs care and maintenance to keep it vibrant and relevant. If you don’t have the resources or the expertise to manage these aspects of your website you can hire a search engine specialist.
We would love to hear your comments and/or any changes you have noticed since Google Instant started.