Yesterday, we hosted an incredibly popular webinar called “Google Instant: Major Change for SEO.” It was attended by over 1,500 viewers, and by the end of the webinar, we had collected close to 200 questions. If you missed it, you can watch the webinar on-demand in our archives ! We couldn’t answer them all, but I’ve done my best to answer some of the most common questions and address some of the major changes we feel the release of Google Instant has brought about. I’m no Google, but I hope these responses were quick enough for you ;)
1. How is Google Instant going to change my ranking for keywords and keyword phrases?
In releasing Google Instant, Google made no change to the ranking algorithm. This means your rankings for specific keywords immediately before and immediately after the release of Google Instant would be unaffected. What Google Instant does change is the user experience and how people interact with Google. Because Google is now predicting what people are searching for and displaying the results before the user even hits enter, more and more website are going to be targeting predicted keywords. This will most likely cause these keywords to become more competitive and, in turn, make it much more difficult to maintain a high ranking for these specific keywords.
2. How does Google Instant affect my SEO strategy?
Because Google Instant presents results before the user even hits enter, there is little reason for the user to visit the second page of search results or possibly even scroll below the fold. It is also much easier for the user to just rephrase the search they are attempting if they're not getting the results they're looking for. This makes it much more important to rank on the first page and, more specifically, in the top three results for specific keywords and keyword phrases, since these are the results that are going to be getting the majority of the traffic.
3. Are there any specific aspects of SEO that are heavily affected by Google Instant?
We believe that page titles and meta descriptions will now play a more important role than ever. Even though the page title is just a minor part in a website's SEO relevance and the meta description doesn’t affect ranking, these are the two items that a user will see as they scan the page when they search. If you can write something compelling, grab searchers' attentions, and stop their search process, you will get a better click-through rate. If the keyword is present within the page title or meta description, it will be bolded and even more likely to grab searchers' attentions, so make sure to focus on creating great page titles and interesting, relevant meta descriptions.
4. How does Google Instant affect my PPC strategy?
Once again, the importance of ranking in the top three positions is increasing. When thinking about the effect Google Instant is having on PPC, it is important to remember that Google is still a business with the main objective of making as much money for its shareholders as possible. The increased competitiveness due to the desire for companies to rank in the top three will most likely lead to higher CPC costs (and more money in Google’s pocket). This makes it even more important to do thorough keyword research before you start your campaign and to constantly monitor your keywords and analytics to adapt to the ever-evolving search ecosystem.
5. How does Google Instant affect the definition of an impression?
Google now defines an impression as an instance when a user clicks on the page causing the search results to be displayed, when the user hits enter, or when the user types in the search box and pauses for 3 or more seconds.
6. How will this affect my PPC campaign?
Users that use Google AdWords do not pay on an impression basis. Google AdWords charges users on a CPC (cost-per-click) basis, so your spending will not be affected by the new definition of impression. However, what is likely to occur is that the total number of impressions will go up. This will cause your click-through rate (clicks/impression) to decrease since the total number of impressions is likely to increase.
7. Should I optimize for short tail or long tail keywords?
There is no clear-cut answer as to whether you should optimize for short tail or long tail keywords. The factors you should consider when trying to decide are how competitive the short tail is versus how much traffic the long tail keywords receive. You should also look at the traffic each type of keyword drives to your site and try to determine which keywords drive the most qualified leads (the ones that are most likely to convert to customers). The key to this is keyword research (please excuse the horrible pun). Once you have the data to analyze the cost and benefit of optimizing for each type of keyword, you can make an educated business decision.
8. Should I optimize for partial searches? For instance, if my keyword starts with a “W” and weather is the first keyword Google Instant returns when a user types a “W,” should I try to optimize for this keyword?
No, you should not try to optimize for keywords that are not relevant to your business or the product you are offering. If someone is searching for something else and your website did pop up as a result, it is unlikely that they would not be a good lead anyway. You should continue to focus on the keywords relevant to your business/product and continually monitor your keywords and analytics to see which ones are producing good results and which ones are performing poorly. Then focus on the well-performing ones.
9. How will Google Instant affect the Bing and Yahoo alliance?
We don’t really see this as a play by Google to try to completely knock Bing and Yahoo out of the game. Google’s main goal is to try to return the most relevant result to the user. This means attempting to return more personalized search results, an area that companies like Yelp and Facebook have been trying to secure. Early polls show that not many people have strong enough negative feelings to actually switch away from Google, so it is likely that if people used Google before, they will continue to use Google. Only time will tell how much more search traffic Google gets because of the Google Instant change.
10. How does Google Instant affect people who use browser-based search boxes?
Google Instant does not affect how users interact with browser based search boxes. Users who use these search boxes must continue to type in their query and hit enter in order to display search results. It is important to remember, however, that once a user hits enter, they will be taken to Google and any subsequent searches will take place using the Google Instant interface.
Inbound Marketing Blog Feed
Ryan Beale 3:14 PM on September 24, 2010
Hey Eric,
Great Post! I'm pumped that HubSpot put on the Google Instant Webinar and what it means for SEO, yesterday.
With respect to question #4, I wrote an article a few weeks ago, right when Google Instant launched and How Google Instant May Impact PPC: http://rbeale.com/ppc/google-instants-potential-effect-on-ppc-advertising/
You may be interested - enjoy.
Eric Vreeland 3:22 PM on September 24, 2010
Thanks for the link Ryan. It's going to be very interesting to see how Google Instant affects PPC in the long run and your post is very insightful.
PS I like the Google Instant screen shot you used.
Mike Ewing 3:33 PM on September 24, 2010
Great Post and Recap Eric.
I find the long tail of keyword optimization especially relevant.
Striking a balance between short and long tail is always tough, but essential. I still am a believer in expanding short tail phrases into longer ones:
inbound marketing
vs.
how to implement inbound marketing plans
Php2ranajn 4:33 AM on September 25, 2010
I will keep in mind whenever I am going to utilize Pay Per Click Services. One think I want to know other Company also going the PPC adversing services or except Google AdWords offer that king of services.
Dan Tyre 3:39 PM on September 25, 2010
Does a user have to set a preference for Google Instant or is it a mandatory default?
Kyle Deming 9:02 PM on September 25, 2010
Great webinar, it was timely information and you avoided the extreme hype that many have called to this issue. Definitely some key takeaways but Google Instant is far from the end of SEO.
I would be very interested in seeing the research about the number or percentage of searchers who use the browser search bar, personally I almost always use the browser toolbar so I rarely come across Google Instant, I wonder if this is common?
John 10:29 AM on September 26, 2010
Great post Eric. Regarding most of the topics you discussed here - there are polls going on @ SEROUNDTABLE - and webmasters/SEOs are participating in them - thus giving good insights on the mood/thoughts of the industry as awhole.
shivam seo 1:05 AM on September 27, 2010
i really like to appricieate this article this everything about SEO strategy. to good guys keep talking
Pinewood Derby Cars 2:13 PM on September 27, 2010
I've been comparing keyword volumes with various keyword tools, even Google Keyword tool and what instant shows in their instant top 5 as "high volume" or "popular", doesn’t always match with what these tools show. I wonder why Google isn’t always using the most popular or high volume keywords? Perhaps they just have another way of deciding what deserves to pop up in the drop down?
mike 10:51 PM on September 29, 2010
Thanks for the heads up. I however don't like using google adwords because their tools don't seem to work.
Carol Kollm 6:51 AM on September 30, 2010
Nice, easy-to-read list that addresses the basic (important) issues about Google Instant- PPC and SEO. Changing the way ppl search and not going to the second page of SERPs is significant.
nirwana 2:35 AM on October 01, 2010
Your article is very interesting with Instant Search does not affect how users interact with browser-based search box.
Rich Dougan 3:08 PM on October 01, 2010
In talking with businesses about the Google Instant changes the underlying concerns is always about placement. Even though Google hasn't changed the ranking -- the user has as they type and stop to review the "Instant"" results.
In the long run the users are the ones who determine the success of "Instant" and how good a job it does in predicting what the user is looking for.
How many users have already turned off "Instant"?
patricia de miranda 5:53 PM on October 01, 2010
i use everyday many times google search but i feel now that it show more links in my natural language (Portuguese) and what i search is always about new behaviors of fashion and information about design, and the information write by Brazilians don´t have the same quality of the people that write the north hemisphere, and now i need much more time for to find the information that before...
Barbara 6:58 PM on October 01, 2010
Although Google claims they haven't changed their ranking algorithm, I wonder how the suggestions and and instant results will change what the user is (or thinks he is) looking for. I see real potential for Google to manipulate the user into searching for what Google wants them to, in order for Google to make more money on clicks to sites that may be less relevant than the one that would have been returned, had the searcher entered their own terms, instead of settling for what Google suggests.
patricia de miranda 8:17 PM on October 01, 2010
barbara you don´t think that maybe users like me that work with researches if they don´t find quick what they want they can try a new option of search? I understand that it must be a good business always for google but sometimes the people can´t to lost time...
Barbara 8:49 PM on October 01, 2010
Patricia,
Savvy searchers will look beyond the instant results, and will try different combinations to find what they are looking for. There are a lot of people who don't understand search, and will take what they're given, without looking deeper, because they'll think Google must know best. Google can control what these people see by skewing the results in whatever way is best for Google, as they have all along. I think some people will get frustrated with what Google serves up in instant searches, and will go over to Yahoo or Bing. But since Google is the major player, it probably won't make much of a difference.
patricia de miranda 8:53 PM on October 01, 2010
thanks barabara ;o) i understand now after your reply about the strategy of google ;o) thanks
Rey Tamayo 1:07 PM on October 08, 2010
You mentioned that as long as you controlled the domain that is all you needed to watch out for in a blog. But you also said in case Wordpress goes away....this got me thinking should we install WorddPress or another software on our site and run our blog from it in our own site so we can keep the content of the blogs our property as well or does it not matter? What system do you use and are you hosting the software yourself on your own site?
Robin Howard 1:12 PM on October 08, 2010
Good afternoon. I attended today's "Website Redesign Tips" webinar. Great session! My university is beginning a website redesign, and I am looking to learn as much as I can from others who have been through the process.
I am posting a question that we did not have time to discuss during the Q&A session.
Does the Blogspot CMS support power users who wish to create web-based applications that interact with databases using software development technologies such as php, Java, MySQL and Java? Thank you.
CP 6:49 PM on October 08, 2010
I am posting 2 questions that we did not have time to discuss during the Q&A session of today's "Website Design Tips Webinar."
Our company recently purchased a dozen or so different domain names. How can we use them to our advantage for SEO purposes, etc? They are all currently pointing to our main site.
Also, if we were to design a "new" landing page that sends our visitors to our current homepage, how would that affect our rankings in Google?
Thank you.
Adrian Mott 7:09 PM on October 10, 2010
Hey @Robin Howard -
The HubSpot CMS actually does not support or enable you to use databases on the backend or run server side scripting like Java, PHP, etc... The CMS is a really nice and simple to use web front end that is well optimized for SEO and ease of editing, but it's not meant for building web applications on. Hope this helps -
- Adrian
Sean Fine 9:30 AM on October 11, 2010
Hello, I'm asking some questions related to the 'Website Redesign' webinar you gave on Friday.
1) When you said "You should control your website, it shouldn't control you" What are some good examples of that?
2) You answered briefly about implementing a blog, but advised against using systems like wordpress, blogspot, and so on. What would you say is the best implementation to create a blog for your site?
Kipp Bodnar 9:33 AM on October 11, 2010
Sean,
1) That basically means having some type of content management system so that you can easily make changes to your website with out the help a of webmaster.
2) We use HubSpot software to run our blog, but their are many others as well. Your blog needs to be a part of your website.
Look for a post later this morning with lots of questions answered from last week's website redesign webinar.