[Dele]

Hi All,

With the onset of Google Instant, do you think it sounds a death note to long tail keywords?

Marketers are speculating all over the blogosphere as to its implications and effects for SEO.

What do you think?

[Alan Mater]

Not at all.

Here's a blog post by Jon Leger you may want to check out:

Does Google Instant change the SEO game? : Jonathan Leger

Take Care,

Alan

[Peter Lee]

Discover 1 Easy Google Keyword Research Trick

[Dele]

Hey Alan,

That link in your post gave a good post on the effects Google Instant is likely to have on SEO.

I too think that about the most significant impact will be a likely change in the long tail keywords most people currently optimize for to those long tail keywords that are most prevalent as revealed by the suggestions from Google Instant search.

I think those few long tail keywords are going to get a boost and become more competitive as marketers rush to optimize for them. But again, this will taper off when it reaches saturation point and marketers will begin to rush after a set of new long tail keywords.

An effect definitely will be that some long tail keywords which are not so popular as to feature on Google Instant search suggestions will go into extinction as marketers rush to optimize for those on the Google Instant search suggestions.

That is my thought.

[Dele]

Originally Posted by Peter Lee

Discover 1 Easy Google Keyword Research Trick

Hi Peter,

Perhaps i am not getting it but i do not see the relationship between the contents of this link and the topic of this thread.

Thanks all the same.

[Alan Mater]

Hey Dele,

You may be right to a point, but I don't think long-tail keywords are going to become saturated as there are so many of them. Also keep in mind that if this would happen then all you have to do is build backlinks for them, and you'll be at the top anyway.

You may also want to check out this post by Daniel Scocco:

Google Instant: What It Means To Website Owners

Some good tips in there for sure.

Take Care,

Alan

[inet2]

Just one to think about...

I wonder how many people in the world can touch type - so actually get the full benefit of Google Instant? I mean I guess a lot of people type out what they are looking for whilst looking at the keyboard ( I know very, very few people who can touch type), and then only look at the screen once they have finished typing - which kinda defeats the purpose of Google Instant?

humm...if it ain't broke, don't fix it (though I guess that kills 'progress')
Dave

[Alan Mater]

Hey Dave,

When I type, I'm always looking at the screen. I have no need to look down at the keyboard as I know how to type. I know there are many people like this. This would benefit people as they can see real-time results as they're typing. My problem with Instant is that the results are not "instant" at all. I can type five words before a single result shows up. If I know what I'm searching for, I'm going to type it all out and not wait for results to show up after every letter. To me that's a waste of time, unless of course I don't have a clue what I'm looking for. In this case, Instant would be handy, but I think they need to improve things a bit because it does take time for results to show up.

That's my 2 cents.

[..Q..]

It won't change anything much on desktop if you are providing good content on a regular basis.

Google is going "Mobile First" in everything that they do now. So IMO, Google Instant is more sensible for mobile search.

For now, short tail keywords rule the mobile search and maybe they think that would provide a less desirable consumer experience.

With Instant switched on in mobile, they can provide a more relevant results without typing much and close the gap of user experience on desktop.

[Dele]

Hi Alan,

Thanks for the link to this post too even though that first post was in my opinion, of a far superior quality to this one. I had no choice than to bookmark it.

Originally Posted by Alan Mater

Hey Dele,

You may be right to a point, but I don't think long-tail keywords are going to become saturated as there are so many of them. Also keep in mind that if this would happen then all you have to do is build backlinks for them, and you'll be at the top anyway.

It is a question of one going for keywords that will stress you less to achieve results. Even before the introduction of Google Instant, many keywords (usually the single keywords) are already saturated. Of course, you can still rank for them with many backlinks, but who would want the stress of getting thousands of backlinks before you rank for a keyword when you have the alternative to rank for other equally effective keywords with less than hundred backlinks.

That is what i see happening with Google Instant. If you join the train of ranking for the long tail keyword suggestions presented by Google Instant early enough, then you will exert less effort (fewer backlinks) to rank for them. The moment you are late in catching the train, then you would stress your self by having to get numerous backlinks before you will rank for them.

Forget it for most of those not on the long tail keyword suggestions list of Google Instant as it is either people are not searching for them originally or people have stopped searching for them as they have become saturated.

That is my take on the effect of Google Instant on SEO.

[Dele]

Originally Posted by inet2

Just one to think about...

I wonder how many people in the world can touch type - so actually get the full benefit of Google Instant? I mean I guess a lot of people type out what they are looking for whilst looking at the keyboard ( I know very, very few people who can touch type), and then only look at the screen once they have finished typing - which kinda defeats the purpose of Google Instant?

humm...if it ain't broke, don't fix it (though I guess that kills 'progress')
Dave

I think you have a point there but that was when there was no fore-knowledge as to the existence of any enhanced search feature such as Google Instant.

I see people's approach changing now that they know that Google Instant has debutted, I see many people now beginning to actually look up at the screen to be "led?" by the search suggestions presented and that is where i seem to disagree with Google as to the speed in searching they think it will improve.

I see people now pausing and taking those search suggestions into consideration and therefore spending more time during the search process.

[Jimbeam]

No i doubt it check this out here, a google instant scraper, they're calling it Google Long Tail.

[NoGimmicks]

Originally Posted by Jimbeam

No i doubt it check this out here, a google instant scraper, they're calling it Google Long Tail.

The way that I see it, there's no real need for the tool like that, as there are plenty already in existence.

Google themselves have stated that the suggestions offered in "Instant" are based from their Google Suggest tool so if you want to build up a lot of longtail keywords then any of the pre-existing "Google Suggest" scrapers will do the job just fine.

As for the not looking at the screen while typing - don't forget that most users here may well be more proficient at typing than most due to the nature of work they do - i.e. IT based.

If you watch non-touch typists type they are constantly looking up to the screen to check what they have already keyed in, but that aside I agree with Dele - people's search behaviours may well change based on this new introduction - even if it's only short-term novelty factor.

Fingers crossed it's not long standing though - hate the bloomin' thing personally!

The only reason I've not killed it off already is it's vital to know what the user experience is/will be when they're searching for you - after all, if you don't understand their "journey" to your site, how can you steer/help them get to you without being distracted along the way?

Martin

[bizideas]

Originally Posted by Dele

I see people's approach changing now that they know that Google Instant has debutted, I see many people now beginning to actually look up at the screen to be "led?" by the search suggestions presented

That's kind of an interesting point.
Take a look at this article on tech journal:
New Google instant search could adversely impact SEO for some | TechJournal South

Big G is always looking for that angle to keep the stockholders happy.


_

[Stephen Meyer]

I type with 2-4 fingers and I do it fairly quickly. But, I always look at the screen because it's usually much quicker to see what Google is showing for what I've already typed. If what I want is there it's only a click away to get the information. It saves lots of time.

There will never be a shortage of good long tail keywords you just have to know how to find them.

Hi Peter, thanks for your blog link. The keyword tool you posted about is an excellent source. The key is finding the right keywords and good tools help in doing that.

Stephen