Long Tail Keywords = New SERP's Results (Google)

So you woke up and noticed that Google results pages now have slightly changed in terms of looks. Any idea what’s different?

Let me explain; Google has introduced two new additions to the way the SERP results work and display. Google explained that it said would “help guide users more effectively to the information they need.” (It sounds like a winner, but will it return better results?)

So what are the changes?

1. Search refinements

Google is trying to understand what you’re looking for when you search, not just the words you type. So if you type “Paula Abdul Idol,” for instance, Google will understand that you’re looking for information about the “American Idol” judge, not people who idolize Paula Abdul. (If you want a geekier search term, check out the image below on the search for: “principles of physics.”) At the bottom of the page (and sometimes at the top, Google says), it will give you terms related to the “principles of physics” or what ever search term that was typed in.

This should help people find related pages and make it easier for us all to find what we are looking for. The related searches will also give us ideas of what to search for. Looking at this on an SEO point of view this will help when looking for associated phrases that can be used for a new or existing webpage.

2. Snippets

The other change to Google’s SERP’s is “”snippets. Google says, when you enter a query longer than three words, it will give you snippets with longer lines that show you more of the words you typed into the search, showing those lines in bold (bigger description area, see image below for an example). The query “spice market review shrimp starter dessert,” Google says, will show you snippets that include a review of Spice Market, with segments talking about shrimp starters and desserts, with the relevant words in bold.

“We’re constantly looking for ways to get you to the Web page you want as quickly as possible,” said the post on Google’s blog, by Ori Allen, the founder of Orion who is now technical lead for the search quality team, and Ken Wilder, the snippets team leader.

What remains to be seen is if these improvements will alter user behavior, either by keeping people on Google longer or by changing the way they enter search terms. If they don’t like the bold and snippets, maybe they’ll enter search terms that are shorter than three words. If they like the snippets, Sterling said, they could enter increasingly specific searches, knowing that the words they’re looking for will show up in the results and potentially save them time.

In conclusion

I will be doing lots of research into these changes as it may be a huge change in possible search behavior or is it just a ploy to get searchers to stay on the serps for longer for paid ads viewing. Clicks on PPC listings means more coppers in the pocket. Time will tell…

Let me know what you think and why you think Google has changed things.

Tags: Google SERPs, Long Tail Keywords, Search Refinements