Behavioral Search Changing Landscape of SEO
For the last year I’ve noticed a disturbing trend in Google – searches influenced by previous searches, even when logged out of any Google accounts. This is called "behavioral search" and it’s Google’s way of trying to figure out what we really want to find in our search. It isn’t only based on being logged into a count, it’s based on a browser session.
What does this mean for SEO?
It means there really isn’t going to be a pure, absolute position for websites in the SERPs – although some very authoritative sites like Wikipedia won’t likely be as impacted by it.
I first noticed the volatility in results well over a year ago, but then began to notice my rank in the results really depended on what else I’d been searching. I thought at first I’d forgetten to turn off web history – that little link in the upper right corner of the Google page – but I had.
I think there are some good benefits to behavioral search for the searcher, but it also can be a real mess at times. For example, I have a very popular site on parrots. I search parrot, and a bluetooth device often heads the result. I mean, really? Don’t you think someone searching for the bluetooth device would say more than "parrot" in their search?
Google is basically saying if you do a one-word search, we aren’t sure what you want, so we are going to show a bunch of different things related to that term – a bluetooth headset, a few sites about actual parrots…
Then, depending on which one you choose, it will take that into consideration on your next search and give you the appropriate results. If you choose a site about birds/parrots then search amazons, it’s more likely to understand you mean amazon parrots rather than a mythical female warrior.
Needless to say, this changes the SEO landscape.
I also think it changes the search landscape – I do a lot of Internet research, and lately I’ve found results a bit baffling. Frankly, there are times when I want a "fresh" search – not the same old results – so the only answer then is to close out the browser and start a new browser session. Unfortunately, things like turning off web history, starting a new browser session are the acts of highly experienced, savvy web browsers, not the average surfer. This means a lot fewer sites will actually be found in a given search by the average surfer, and as an SEO person, your site is much more of a needle in the haystack of the world wide web than it was a few years ago.
