Last week we looked at what Google Instant is and what it does not do. With all the media and chatter going on about Google Instant, what does it really do?
For a refresher of what Google instant is, please refer to my previous post, or check out Gizmodo’s article at http://gizmodo.com/5632969/what-is-google-instant
What Google Instant DOES Change:
Some industries will be more likely to be affected than others, based on the customer base and the keywords themselves. First off, an industry that targets technology savvy customers is more likely to be affected than an industry that targets people who don’t use computers very much. This is because technology savvy customers can type while looking at the screen, allowing them to take advantage of the feature where others will not.
In other cases, businesses that target certain types of keywords are more likely to be affected. As an example, the searcher looking for “Web Design Software” won’t be as affected as the searcher looking for “Web Design San Jose.” When Google Instant starts displaying results for “Web Design S,” the searcher will first see the results of “Web Design Software” and may deviate from their original search “Web Design San Jose”. This can be a huge advantage to what Google presents first and money lost for the losing search.
Right now it is too early in the game to see how much Google Instant has affected searches. Since it will start displaying results for short key phrases before a long key phrase is entered, there is the possibility that long tail keywords will become less commonly used. At this point it is too soon to tell how much this will reduce the use of longer key phrases. If shorter key phrases do end up becoming more widely used, business owners might need to pay more to get shorter phrases with a higher PPC. They may also have to use traditional SEO tactics to market more aggressively in order to get results for shorter key phrases.
For those skilled in the art of SEO, this can actually be beneficial. This is because you will be able to focus your efforts on a few shorter key phrases instead of trying to get ranked for several longer variations on the same key word. Since the PPC may get higher for these shorter phrases, this could be doubly useful for those who are skilled in SEO and are selling Google ads.