What Is Google Instant And How Will It Impact SEO
Google recently announced a major modification to the way your search box works. It’s called Google Instant, and their goal is to speed up your searching process. In a nutshell, Google Instant is predictive searching based on the letters you type into the box. As you type a phrase, you are show a range of possible search queries in grey to refine your options before you hit the search button. According to Google, this will save an average of 2-5 seconds per search.
Here’s what Google has to say about the Google Instant feature:
“Google Instant is a new search enhancement that shows results as you type. We are pushing the limits of our technology and infrastructure to help you get better search results, faster. Our key technical insight was that people type slowly, but read quickly, typically taking 300 milliseconds between keystrokes, but only 30 milliseconds (a tenth of the time!) to glance at another part of the page. This means that you can scan a results page while you type.
The most obvious change is that you get to the right content much faster than before because you don’t have to finish typing your full search term, or even press “search.” Another shift is that seeing results as you type helps you formulate a better search term by providing instant feedback. You can now adapt your search on the fly until the results match exactly what you want. In time, we may wonder how search ever worked in any other way.
Benefits
Faster Searches: By predicting your search and showing results before you finish typing, Google Instant can save 2-5 seconds per search.
Smarter Predictions: Even when you don’t know exactly what you’re looking for, predictions help guide your search. The top prediction is shown in grey text directly in the search box, so you can stop typing as soon as you see what you need.
Instant Results: Start typing and results appear right before your eyes. Until now, you had to type a full search term, hit return, and hope for the right results. Now results appear instantly as you type, helping you see where you’re headed, every step of the way.”
What does this mean for your Search Engine Optimization?
While it’s a bit too soon to know for sure, there are two lines of though on the issue. There are those who believe that the new Google Instant feature will increase the importance of long-tail search terms. They reason that a searcher can continue to keep typing until they find the exact term they were looking for.
The other camp believes that Google Instant will kill the effectiveness of long-tail keyword search engine optimization. Why would people continue to type when Google is recommending different options. If Google is recommending a search term to select, who is going to continue to type an obscure or unclear term.
Only time will tell, but our guess is that targeted keyword research and effective search engine optimization will become more critical as people learn to search differently over time.
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