Google Instant - What does it mean for your website?
Ok. First off, if you haven't - give it a go. You'll need a Google Account as this initial roll out is only for those signed in to their Google Account. Sign up for one here. Once signed in, you'll get to experience Google Instant first hand by going to it's home page, Google.co.uk.
As you type, search results appear. The results aren't actually the letters you've typed, but a results page of Google's first suggested (or predictive) search query - this is what appears in the drop down box below the text box.
So what...
In short, this means the results of other searches will appear before the search result you were looking for. Equally (and eventually) the search results will be for your search query before you've even finished typing it out. Great! But what about the small business? The web pages that make up the vast majority of the Internet. Search marketing is already competitive and this 'feature' could be the beginnings of making it even more difficult.
Before, we could get away with searchers typing in an entire search term before seeing results. They weren't tempted by other results, other company's websites or by search terms they hadn't thought of. It will, undoubtedly, change the way people search.
Initial Response
Scouring the web for articles, commentary and advice has highlighted some initial reactions, but, as yet, no-one is quite sure how it will affect SEO and visitor click-throughs. Google has unequivocally stated that it will not affect the rankings.
The hope is that the net effect is not just faster searches, but more searches:
“One of the things I’ve seen in my own personal usage, is that while each search is faster, I spend more time doing searches. Because I actually see the results coming in and out as I’m doing my searches… I learn things as I go. And after I’ve actually fulfilled my query, a lot of times I’ll see interesting suggestions, so I’ll scroll around and learn different things and so I think ultimately, it may increase engagement of our users.” - Techcrunch
First page results are even more important:
"For one, searching on Google is going to become a much speedier process for the end user, who may now be less likely than ever to click through to the second page of results." - ReadWriteWeb
Be found faster:
"This literally means you can get found a lot easier than before. instead of having to hope a client types something your focused on pressing enter, thinking about some other key phrase, you now get Google suggesting searches related to it even before you knew you wanted them." - ReadWriteWeb
Expect changes in your analytics.
"This may notice some changes in your search queries data due to the launch of Google Instant."
My Advice
Sit tight. Analytics will tell you more, so let that data come through.
I expect that websites that are already doing well will do better (more visitors), and for those that are struggling with SEO will do worse (less visitors). Let me reiterate that the rankings themselves won't be affected, but am suggesting here that the number of visitors will, as users remain on page one, and are tempted by shorter, more sought-after keywords.
Going forward, as you would expect, optimisation will become even more important. Page 1, the holy grail of search marketing (as if it wasn't already!). Page 2 and page 3 become less important.
However, let me reiterate. Sit tight. Let those analytics flow in (hopefully!).