How Google Instant could affect SEO and PPC

Following Google’s press conference they have now officially launched Google Instant in the US, with major roll-outs planned across Europe. As explained in yesterdays post, Google instant is a new search engine experience where Google will actually try to complete your keyword search by predicting your search. As a user types more letters into the search box the search results change.

In fact Google instant is now being tested in the UK but is only available when a user is logged in. Google will soon fully roll out its instant search feature in the UK , but what will the potential impact be for search agencies and their clients. My thoughts on this are below:

Inform your clients and don’t panic
All search engine agencies keep up to date with the latest industry changes but your clients won’t. It is important that you inform your clients as quickly as possible letting them know they may well see some traffic changes over the next few weeks. You should detail how as an agency you are looking into the update and possible affects it may have. The main thing to inform your clients is not to panic, don’t look at your Google Analytics reports every day, the data in Google Analytics is only useful over a period of time and results may be vague.

Most importantly you should not make any quick decisions as to your online marketing plan due to the update, if your marketing plan is working there is no need to change it yet. Let your SEO company review the data in your analytics account and let the professionals make some decisions as to your online marketing strategy

How it could affect SEO
There are many possible SEO affects that the Google instant update may affect, I have detailed some of my thoughts below:

• Reinforces top positions – The search bar in Google Instant is slighter larger, this will make the scroll smaller meaning there are less results on the page. For users using low resolution monitors they may only see one or two results
• Enforces big brands – Large brands will tend to rank for more short tail search terms, meaning that these brands could potentially receive more clicks than previously
• Adult search terms – When you search for a selection of adult search terms instant search does not work. A user has to hit enter before they are displayed with results, this may well reduce clicks for these terms as users may believe there are no results
• Longtail – Some users who regularly use the internet may type quicker than Google instant can react, for these users the affect will be minimal. The change will also reduce the level of long tail search terms as it consolidates search volumes into a smaller set of search terms
• SEO Tools – All SEO companies use a range of keyword search tools to analyse traffic and create SEO campaigns. Following this update we need to be careful that the data we collect for a search term is accurate and not polluted by inaccurate impression data

Affect on Analytics data
One interesting question is how Google Instant may affect Google Analytics data. Obviously if your site is clicked on when a user searches for a short-query such as ‘w’, then the visit may mean nothing to you. Google has stated that the data in Google Analytics will assume the most popular search term, in this case ‘weather’. It would be useful however to be able to extract the original search term in Google Analytics so that you know the short tail terms your site is appearing for. Fortunately someone has figured out how to Extract Google instant in Google Analytics, this clever change to an Analytics profile actually lets you see the instant search term used.

PPC
This update will change what Google see’s as an impression, an impression for PPC could now be one of the following:

• Pressing enter at any point in the search
• Clicking the search button
• Clicking on a result
• More than a 3 second pause in the search

From a paid search perspective this impressions are going to increase, meaning that click through rates may go down. It is good news that Google will wait 3 seconds before counting the search as an impression, this should go some way to keep impression numbers for PPC down. The changes however will make it more difficult for PPC managers to evaluate the data they are receiving.

It could also mean more clicks for short tail queries, a user may click on a PPC advert in the middle of their search journey. Short tail search terms are more expensive than long tail search terms which may mean smaller business are affected, to counteract this Google may place more strength on the quality score of the landing page and other factors.

Conclusion
At the moment the impacts on this update are merely theory’s, the implications on PPC and SEO can be easily over or under estimated. Some bloggers are even stating that this blows SEO out of the water. My thoughts are that this makes a strong seo strategy even more important.

Paul Spreadbury
SEO Manager