Attractive visuals for google search
OK, so it’s been about a while now and i’m a little behind in my blogging, but finally I wanted to take a look at Google’s (recent not new) Instant Preview feature, and what it means for search results.
Instant Preview is the little magnifying glass found on the right hand side of the search result. When activated it will display a snapshot preview of the website, this post covers the importance of great visual design.
Brief History
For a large number of years some of the first page search results have been filled with ‘UGLY’ websites. A website that is full of links, keywords and well, just god damn hideous. Yet with the introduction of instant preview the ‘searcher’ can now judge if the search result is relevant to them before actually clicking on the link.
What it means?
In a nutshell, a website that was receiving hundreds or thousands of visits may see a great reduction if there website is showing poor content or poorly designed. Searchers want to see content that’s most relevant to their search term and before Instant Preview, searchers would click the link, view the website (judging usually within a few seconds) and if it wasn’t what they were looking for…backclick. Now on a more positive note, although the website for example mentioned above would receive less clicks – the website’s bounce rate would also be greatly reduced.
People still judge websites by appearance and they make this decision in just a few seconds, using the back button in the browser is what causes this bounce rate.
Not just organic results but paid adverts too
The Instant Preview function initially started just on organic or natural search results but in May was added to Google’s Adwords or paid results too. This can only be seen as positive as the viewer judges the website before clicking, greatly reducing the number of clicks for people uncertain of what to expect, the reduction of clicks means that there advertising budget will last longer. The result – lower click throughs but higher conversion rates.
What can you do?
Along with your Search Engine Strategy you should also consider the overall look of your website. Is it aesthetically pleasing? Are the core messages clear and does it say enough about you in a few seconds?
For natural rankings you should focus on making the overall design more visual, large images and fonts have been trending recently in the web design world, big and bold will be seen through the instant preview snapshot – this will look far better than an entire page on directory links.
For paid listings you could create tailored content pages or specific landing pages, from here you can create a visual design that surely captures the searcher’s attention, getting the click, delivering the right content and converting the lead.
You could also monitor your paid lisitings and if it seems your advertising budget is lastly far longer, then you will know that the content or design delivered is not what the searcher is looking for. From here you can modify and tweak to gauge better results.
Conclusion
Providing that people find the new tool useful. This could pave the way for a beautiful internet, one with lower bounce rates, higher conversion rates, fewer directory style websites with thousands of ugly links and adverts covering them from top to bottom … and a few more happier design companies.
