On Wednesday of last week, Google launched their newest web design infrastructure, Google Instant. This platform is one where Google attempts to complete your keyword search by predicting what the user is searching. For example, is you start typing “can” you get predicted results of: Canadian tire, Canada411, Canada Post, and so forth. Some countries require the user to actually sign in to their Google account before showing predicted search results. It is Google’s goal to eventually have this as a default setting so that anyone can receive predicted search results.
There is quite a bit of controversy in the online community regarding this new platform, and whether or not it will be a success. Here is a list of benefits to having Google Instant:
- Better Search Terms Formulated. When you are sitting at the computer about to do a search, sometimes it is hard to come up with a well targeted keyword search term. For example, if you want to search for travel you need to come up with a more targeted keyword search term then simply “travel”. Google Instant will help to formulate and expand this keyword search term to include terms such as; Travelocity, travel Ontario, travel insurance, etc.
- Saves Time. Using Google Instant can actually cut your search time by about 2-5 seconds. Although this may not seem like a long time, every second adds up. It saves time because you no longer have to type in the entire keyword search term as it is being predicted.
- Great for SEO. If you have a strong SEO campaign, then Google Instant can be extremely advantageous. It helps to promote localization as Google is pulling information from your IP address location. In addition, if you have a strong keyword search term, then you will appear higher in the prediction list.
In my opinion, I think that Google Instant is a great platform. Everyone is always looking for a way to save time and this is certainly a key benefit offered by Google Instant. It may take a few weeks of getting used to as it is a new format; however, in the end I feel it will be a successful advancement to the current Google search infrastructure.