Google’s Instant Search Goes Live

September 13, 2010 - This is going to be old news for those of you who faithfully read our blog, because we already reported on this latest Google enhancement when it was caught being beta tested in the wild late last month!

But now the Google Instant Search is a reality for everyone, not just those lucky few that Google randomly chooses to test its latest products. On September 8 the new Google Instant feature was made available to the U.S. Web search population using Google Chrome, Firefox, Safari, and Internet Explorer 8 browsers. The feature should be live for our European and Russian friends by now as well.

To use the Google Instant feature you'll have to be logged in to an iGoogle account and use a full-featured browser, meaning mobile devices don't get the luxury just yet. It also doesn't work yet for video search and other search modes or tools - just normal flavor Google search. You can also opt-out of the feature by adjusting your preferences (cookies must be enabled, and it only applies to the specific computer, not your Google account)

So what exactly does Google Instant do? As you type in your search queries, the suggestions update with predicted search queries - something they've been doing for a while now. However, the new Google Instant enhancement also includes live updates in the search results.

Now if you begin typing "personal injury lawyer" you'll get generic results until you hit another letter. Once your search box says "personal injury lawyer B" you'll start getting results like "personal injury lawyer Boston" "personal injury lawyer Biloxi" "personal injury lawyer Boise" and so on. Adding another letter to make it "personal injury lawyer Bo" will erase the Biloxi search results and replace them with more for Boston and Boise - instant results with no need to click "search" over and over again!

We tested it - it works!

How will this affect your search results as a website that wants to be found? If you're paying for click ads, Google assures marketers that their algorithms for ad display will function just as they always have, meaning the predicted search will still display the proper ads. As for SEO, you'll need to pay more attention to your keywords to make sure that all your bases are covered for the various words clients are searching with.

SEO experts are predicting that while some websites who aren't proactive in embracing these changes may experience a drop in traffic, those who are adamant about doing their keyword research and watching their analytics will be just fine. Of course, if you have an experienced and dedicated SEO company like We Do Web Content helping your website with its search engine rankings, you've got nothing to worry about!

When the demands of search engines change, so does our strategy! While quality, custom content for your website, blogs, and social media is always the way to go with SEO, we make sure that we're employing the best tactics to get those pieces ranked up on the results. Having unique content on your website is a great way to boost your Internet marketing. For affordable, quality content exclusive to YOUR website, blog and clients, contact us today!  1-888-521-3880