What’s this about?
This is an extract from TWIS SEO News & Updates 28 July 2017.
Read about how Google has dropped Google Instant as a sign of alignment between desktop and mobile search which may affect organic traffic.
If you would like to discuss the ways Google dropping Instant could impact your web business, please feel free to contact me.
#SEO #Google #GoogleInstant #SERP #MobileSearch
Google Instant No More
Summary:
- Like the black bar the the top of SERPs and various other Google features, Google Instant is no more.
- This means, as you type your search, the search results are not going to dance any more as Google pulls results in line with the query.
- Auto-complete in Google Search should be a more than adequate replacement.
Actions to take:
- There isn’t a huge amount you can do about this, it just is.
- If you were the beneficiary of lots of Google Instant traffic (such as having a long, but unique brand name). then it is definitely worthwhile keeping an eye on Organic Traffic in Google Analytics, and Search Impressions in Google Search Console.
- In fact, it is probably worthwhile keeping an eye on Search Impressions in Google Search Console, to see if there are significant changes. In most instances, auto-complete should be a more than ample replacement for Google Instant.
- Contact me if you would like to review issues in Google Search Console and whether this is impacting your site.
Discussion:
This is a case of desktop and mobile search aligning, as Google gets ready for Mobile First Indexing. I don’t recall it ever actually working on mobile, so it makes some sense for Google to retire it at this point. Also fewer people had been search on Google itself. The Omnibox / Address bar on almost all browsers now executes the search.
When it was launched, it was going to revolutionise search, and possibly the world, but it never quite reached those dizzy heights. It was a very impressive bit of software wizardry, pulling and refining relevant results instantly, but now, no more. We’ll just have to make do with typing all parts of the query, or doing voice search.
The people who are going to be affected by this, are people with long brand names, which would pop up quickly once the first few letters had been typed. Their users are going top have greater instances of RSI as they type the full query rather than relying on Google Instant to fulfil.
More info:
Mobile First is NOT Mobile Friendly
TL;DR
- Google has said Goodbye to Google Instant.
- No more shaky SERPs as you type.
- Read The State of SEO in mid-2017.
- Read about how Google’s Mobile First Index is not Mobile Friendly.
Thanks for reading. If you would like to discuss what these changes mean for your web property, or would like to know how to implement them, please feel free to contact me.
