Google’s New Look Means More Opportunities for You!
Posted by krosenblatt in Affiliate Marketing, SEO, Traffic Thursday, 13 May 2010 01:30 9 Comments
You might have noticed that Google’s results page looks a bit different. There’s a new way to navigate the search results. There’s an options panel on the left-hand side of the page that enables you to sort the search results by information type: news results, blogs, shopping, images or books related to your query.
The change is really about customizing search results. Google keeps perfecting their search to provide the most relevant information for their users. The tweaks to the design are to clear up the search engine results page (SERP) so it’s more streamlined.
The sponsored-links on the right-hand of the page, have also changed a bit. They’re closer now to the main body of the search results, and the look of the ads is similar to the natural search results.
So what does this all mean for you? We’ll explain after the jump!
Google has listened to their users – both the search audience and the advertisers – and has taken heed. The movement of the right-hand ads closer to the center search results is great – searchers who once ignored or missed the advertisements can’t help but see the options now.
The left-hand panel allows the user to refine his or her search, which can be really useful for you, the Internet marketer.
For Example…
Think about it; if you have a blog associated with your exercise site, instead of your latest entry on Reebok shoes competing with every page Google finds on the query, if the user specifies ‘blogs’ – which she might do if she’s looking for reviews – your blog has a better chance of a better page rank.
Here’s a screenshot of a Google results page for the query ‘Reebok easytone shoes:’
As you can see the first few results are the big retail websites.
Now here’s a screenshot of the results page sorted by the ‘Blogs’ category:
You can see that the pages that show up in the results are much more diverse, there’s even a blogspot blog by a Malaysian dancer (the SashaBashir link).
The Result?
The results are the same with videos, images, and shopping results – every category listed in the panel. Now if you use multiple types of content on your site, your site has multiple opportunities to rank higher on Google’s SERP!
I am not quite sure if I like the new look search I was trying to figure out how to go back to the old version lol. I guess I will just have to get used to this way now. Sally
You are correct – this is a great opportunity for the reasons you described. But the problem is that it depends on the user defining the search. If they don’t define their search result, they will receive results for all the categories.
It would be interesting to see statistics about how user’s are responding to this new ability in Google.
Hats off to Google for making the serps easier.
I like the wonder wheel and the related searches. Google does make a great effort to benefit it’s surfers. “Google Analytics” is also an invaluable tool for marketers which is (my god) free!
John
this is good! and informative too! i would also recommend reading http://www.aceaffiliates.com/affiliate-education/affiliate-marketing-commandments.html
which talks about Top 10 Affiliate Marketing Commandments
Good article, I can see the logic in this new development and it should provide plenty of opportunity to improve page rank. Excellent news!
What I like about the new Google search is the ease of going over to the left sidebar now and see what results come up for your keyword as a video, updated tweet, etc. This is much easier to me than the SERP’s or having to log in to another website.
I never have gotten much out of the Wonder Wheel however. Seems to suggest keywords are a bit odd and of no interest in my search.
Thanks for the post. It makes a lot of sense.
Very informative and incisive writeup.
Very useful especially if you know what kind of content you’re looking for i.e. tweets or videos. Good job, Google!