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Google Instant: One Week Later, Thinking About Keyword Research

The dialogue continues on the impact Google Instant will have on SEO.  Three big questions remain.

How many affected searches will there be?

Google obviously holds a large share of any site’s search traffic.  But what share of Google’s referrals will actually be influenced by Google Instant?  There are two main variables to consider here.

1.       Availability:  Only a portion of Google’s referral s will come via the Instant interface.  Many people search from the browser bar, toolbar searches, mobile, unsupported browsers, or international search where one needs to be searching from a logged-in account to see Instant results, for example.

2.       Search Behavior:  Even if your search is done with Google Instant, it may not affect the outcome if, for example, you type faster than the screen refreshes or you look at your keyboard while you type.  Also, as Damien Bianchi points out, user intent will play a large role.  If people are searching with a particular result in mind (for example navigational searches such as brand names) they are more likely to stick to the keyword in mind.  It will be people doing less targeted searches (for example informational searches such as restaurant recommendations) that are more likely to adjust their search.

However, both availability and search behavior will likely change over time.  Availability will expand to international sites (likely you will not need to be logged in) and to other devices (mobile), and search behavior may evolve if people adopt new ways of searching. 

Which searches will be affected?

As we mentioned in the previous update, there is some debate about whether it will help the long-tail (because searchers will continuously revise their query until they find what they’re looking for), or if it will harm the long-tail (because searchers will find what they’re looking for earlier in typing the query). 

There’s no doubt that the long tail will be affected because there will be less keyword diversity.  Even if only a fraction of unique searches are influenced by the effect of Google Instant, there will be a change to the length of the tail.  And since a quarter of all searches (before Google Instant) have never been searched before, there’s obviously plenty of opportunity for Instant to chip away at the long tail.  How big that impact is has yet to be seen and depends on how many affected searches there are (although the long tail won’t ever disappear entirely).    

Maybe both arguments are correct to a degree, and that we will see a squeezing effect on the range of search terms.  Head terms may become less important where searches short in length become longer as people refine their search until they find what they’re looking for.  Conversely, some searches that were intended to be long will be answered earlier.  This effectively fattens the “belly” section of search. 

Keyword research becomes even more important with this added new variable.  Long-tail keyword phrases that have the qualifying word early in the keyword sequence will be affected more than those with the qualifying word at the end.  For example, “running shoe review sites” or “Vancouver Greek restaurants near Stanley Park” are much more vulnerable than “top reviews of running shoes” or “most popular greek restaurants in Vancouver”.

This means that keyword competition has a new variable.  Instead of considering the competitiveness of a keyword phrase as a whole, SEOs need to consider how competitive the keyword sequence is at each stage of the query.  

A note to keyword research:  Google has already explained how impressions will now be counted in Google Webmaster Tools (expect an increase).  But there is uncertainty if Google’s other keyword research tools (for example Adwords Keyword Tool) will be impacted in the same way, and increasing search volume.    

How can we optimize for the affected searches?

1.       Map out the possible suggested searches (what Google guesses you want) for your keywords.  I’m looking forward to seeing a tool to do this.  Start in your analytics by sorting your keywords driving traffic (pre-Instant) alphabetically and by volume.  Group keywords together at each keyword change and total the volume.  For example:

1st Word	2nd Word	3rd Word	4th Word	5th Word etc	Volume
Red	Running	shoes			20
Red	Running	Shoes	For	Kids	2
Reviews	For	Men’s	Running	Shoes	10
Running	Shoes				1800
Running	Shoes	Discounted			80
Running	Shoes	On	Sale		200
Running	Shoes	Reviews			550

 2.       At each change in the word, see what Google Instant is offering and whether you should be there or not, and how competitive it is.  You will probably find that a portion of some longer tail keywords will have less importance and their traffic will be diverted up the keyword sequence.  Similarly, watch where your shorter keywords lead to longer ones. 

3.       Divide keywords into groups by search intent.  Some keywords such as brand names are often navigational queries which are less likely to be vulnerable.  (This isn’t always the case though - we have one client whose brand name is keyword rich which means many competitors are now appearing in the process of typing their brand). 

4.       Understand where the competition will come from in the keyword sequence.  You may want to adjust your keyword targeting accordingly, creating new content and focusing especially on great title tags and meta descriptions that answer the query’s intent.   But be careful that the changes are warranted.  We still do not fully understand the reach Google Instant will have and the proportion of affected searches.  It will be different for every site. 

5.       Monitor your traffic to fully understand the impact.  In our first Google Instant update, we had a link to an analytics trick to monitor Instant referrals.  That analytics trick apparently doesn't work (as updated on their site).  Instead, watch keyword diversity (total number of keywords driving search) as well as the traffic levels of individual keywords, especially those that are vulnerable.

6.       Using these steps, look for which top existing keywords are most vulnerable, and don’t forget to also look where new opportunities exist.  Prioritize your efforts accordingly, but do not over-react too early.  Watch to see how many queries are affected and test with small samples.  Quality SEO has never been more relevant.

If you’re looking for more reading, aimClear Blog has put together a handy reference list of the best Google Instant commentary from the past week. 

Google Instant and How it Changes SEO

Google Instant was launched on September 8^th and has created hype around the effect it will have on search marketing – both organic and paid search.  This is by far the most significant change to Google’s  user interface since Universal Search was when it appeared in May 2007.  The one thing we can say with certainty is that the basic SEO best practices remain unchanged because it is not an algorithm change.  What will need to change is your strategy, because Google user behavior and keyword usage will likely be changing. Exactly how it will change or to what degree is yet to be seen.

Google Instant will likely affect only a portion of Google searches, but that proportion will likely grow as users become accustomed to Google Instant.

Google Instant functionality is turned off for users who: 

1. Type their query directly into the browser or toolbar search.
2. Are outside the US, UK, France, Italy, Germany, Spain and Russia.
3. Using outdated browsers.
4. Using mobile search. (Google Instant functionality to be added this Fall)
5. De-activates it.

Many search marketers feel that the biggest impact will be felt in pay-per-click because of the impact of having more impressions.

How impression data will be counted (for both PPC and Webmaster Tools):

1. A searcher chooses a query from the suggestions.
2. A searcher clicks any link on the search results page.
3. A searcher is inactive on any results for more than 3 seconds (aka 'the 3-second rule').

The SEO Impact

Many search marketers are hypothesizing that the long tail will lose search volume because people may see the results they are looking for before they finish their intended query.  This means that it is especially important to have results that appear early in the word sequence for highly searched phrases, which often (but not always) are head terms.  Whereas others speculate this might actually be GOOD for the long-tail because it does not force people to commit to a query, searchers are more likely to experiment with suggested long-tail queries. 

The impact to the long tail will be in certain word sequences where keywords are early in the word order, but the query is general enough that it can be answered with the head term listings that appear before the Google user ever finishes the long tail query they planned.  For example “Tom Cruise’s Birthday” will likely be affected more than “How old is Tom Cruise”.

Keyword research becomes even more important, with an added emphasis on word sequencing – this means the time it takes to do keyword research analysis will increase.  Sites that do not have an established presence for head terms will want to be careful in their selection of long-tail terms.  The importance of having enticing meta tags (title and description) is emphasized because people can see what they will get with a given query and are more likely to modify it if they don’t like what they see. Sites that cater to niche markets are less likely to feel an impact.

It is also likely that Google users will do more searches in the buying cycle than ever before, because it is much faster to do the search. This means that you want to rank high for as many search terms as possible, because your target audience will likely be faced with a few more provider options at a faster speed than in the past.

For now, the best approach is to:

1.       Consider the comments above and begin thinking about how your keyword strategies need to evolve.

2.       Monitor your traffic to fully understand it’s impact.  This will be the perfect data for the ROI on the SEO initiatives that may have been on the back burner.  Semetrical has produced a good trick to track Google Instant in Google Analytics.

3.       Study the results (and how they change) when a user types in your keywords.  Identify the ways that your search listing copy needs to be improved.

4.       Focus on ranking as high as you can in search engines for targeted keywords, especially head terms.

5.       Monitor what people are seeing and saying about the Google Instant impact. The SEO community is great about sharing information you just have to look for it.  There will undoubtedly be several studies coming out in the coming months that should offer more insight into the impact on search behavior and the types of keywords affected.

For more reading, we suggest:

Search Engine Watch’s summary of Google Instant’s Impact.

If local SEO is important, this article offers insights on the impact of Google Instant on local search.

Several search marketers have provided their take on the impact Google Instant will have at e-Consultancy.

As an aside, Google Instant is not a new product.  Yahoo! had something very similar in 2005 (almost identical in fact!).

 

Tic Toc, Tic Toc – In-House SEO Exchange Early-Bird Pricing Ends Soon.

The early bird rate ends September 10^th.  Don’t delay – the event costs less than a couple PR4 links and is guaranteed to provide more SEO value.  There’s a reason that Michael Nguyen (SEO Strategist at Shopzilla.com and Bizrate.com) says: “…the In-House SEO Exchange is flat-out the best reason to attend an SMX conference.”

The event is October 7^th and follows on the heals of SMX East in New York City.  The Exchange can be purchased together or separately from the main conference.  You can check out the impressive line-up of speakers, the day’s schedule, and register on the SMX website.

Hope to see you there!