The “Show Options” link under the Google search box is so subtle, maybe you haven’t noticed it. But, many searchers have so you need to know what it does and what it means to you.
For searchers, it’s a way to filter their results by type of content (Videos, Forums, Reviews), and recency. Searchers can also choose to see more photos in the results or more text. Both of which pull additional content from the indexed websites and display it within the search results on Google. Related searches may help searchers refine their search query based on similar searches performed by others. And, the Wonder Wheel graphically displays search terms related to the search.
During the Google Refocus B2B Summit, one Google engineer told us that Google is giving more control to its users, while taking control away from marketers. And, Google Search Options put more of a premium on fresher content.
I don’t see it as taking away control, but rather putting responsibility on marketers to continually update our content, and segment it in such a way so it can be optimally indexed within these new filtering choices.
Here are some suggestions put forth during the Summit:
- Participate in forums. (And, it appears if you create your own forum, put “forum” in the url: forum.mysite.com)
- Continually update your site’s content and add new content as often as possible
- Videos can be searched by length so make several versions of your videos, in different lengths (0-4 minutes; 4-20 minutes, longer than 20 minutes), and give each a unique title.
Now, if you’re wondering if you’ll be able to track which filters searchers used to find your website, the answer is no. At least not at this time.
You can read more about Google Search Options on the Google Blog.