Right to reply: Google Instant doesn’t mean the death of SEO

Does Google’s new instant search tool mean the end of SEO as we know it? Search engine optimisation company QueryClick argues why the pessimists have it wrong…


The launch of Google’s latest search enhancing tool, Google Instant, will change the way we search and are searched for via the internet.
The latest development in auto-complete functionality has enabled the user to view SERPs (Search Engine Results Pages) before finishing the query, and without the need to press enter or the search button.
This is a clever, tidy piece of design on the search engine’s part, offering quicker and more efficient access to the end result.
Pre-Instant searches were thought to have lasted, on average, some 25 seconds. With the advent of the new feature, it is believed that 2-5 seconds will be saved per query as a result.
Whilst performing a Google search was quick previously, it is now almost…instantaneous.
This is all very well, but how will the latest evolution of search affect SEOs (search engine optimisers) whose task of utilising search term usage in the process of driving sites up the rankings – amongst many other things – may be negatively affected at the expense of quicker search results. Search engine optimisation company QueryClick do not adhere to such pessimism.
With the SEO industry embroiled in a state of panic, QueryClick are not clamouring for the nearest industry exit, far from it:
“A similar epidemic of paranoia swept across the industry when personalised search first came to prominence, an feeling which has turned out to have been unjustified. The development of Google Instant may be a slight game-changer, but it does not signify the death of SEO.”
Certainly, this seems to be the dominant opinion emanating from the Google camp as well, with vice president of search products and user experience, Marissa Mayer reassuring SEO practitioners that there will be only a “small change for the SEO community.”
The industry has a penchant for the hypochondriacal. This is a perfect manifestation of such over-reactive behaviour, mainly from those with a restricted understanding of the nature and implications of SEO.
Speaking of the general effects of Google Instant search technology, a QueryClick spokesperson pointed out that: “Although this development is considered to be a catalyst for great change in the way we search and are searched for, the latest innovation from Google seems to be a zero-sum game in terms of search engine optimisation, and to a lesser extent conversion rate optimisation and pay per click advertising.”
With the increase in general adword exposure due to the continuous refreshing of the results page, there is scope for a dramatic increase in both impressions and clicks. From a conversion point of view, the theory stipulates that the enhanced levels of suggestion specificity will result in a more efficient conversion rate for websites. If this theory translates into reality has yet to be seen.
Source: http://uk.queryclick.com/search-engine-optimisation-seo/
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