Ranking In Google: Google's Predictable Behaviour Part II

bySamDal

124 followers

7 years ago

Hey guys,

Yesterday I wrote about how Google evaluates a site and search result to deliver the top rankings to searchers:

https://my.wealthyaffiliate.com/samdal/blog/solving-the-goog...

Today I just want to touch on a few other important things to take notice of and I'd like for you to even test these for yourself to see how simple it is to overlook the obvious.

Especially when you're so focused on the question of "How Do I Rank In Google?"

Personal Experiment

As I combed through hundreds of search results, I discovered a very striking consistency in Google search ranking results based on what the user is searching for. I tested this across dozens of industries on hundreds of different sites and the results just kept replicating.

I strongly beleive this to be an important factor and not *the* only one.

OK, here it is...

Intelligent Precise Relevance.

I touched on this yesterday but Google is looking to match what a searcher is looking for with the best result for the INTENT of their search, and not necessarily a direct word match.

For example: "how to get high rankings" is intended towards search engines and not how to smoke lots of pot even though "how to get high" is in the search phrase.

This is where Google's intelligence comes in - based on trends, historical data, statistical models, algorithms and God knows what else they use to work things out, they know someone entering that term has an extremely high probability of looking for help with their search engine rankings.

Here's something else I noticed...

Physical product sites were all about the product the user searched for and were VERY thin on content. Yes, I know, I know. That's the exact opposite of what many of us have learned but bear with me because the training here is not wrong since most top ranking results do have longer content.

It's just that in order to be ahead of the game, you need to understand Google is very good at working out search intent and combining that with the result that will give users the very best experience.

So in the above example, they know from their data sending someone to a "getting high on pot" site results in them clicking off it very quickly. As more users gravitate towards a particular result, Google adjusts to recognize what is relevant to intent and what isn't.

"How To" Searches Vs Physical Products

So I dug deeper and found every single time I searched for a physical BRAND NAME product, the #1/first few were always the manufacturer. So "minecraft Lego sets" yields not surprisingly; Lego.com as the top dog and several positions below that too. Pretty logical:

Now when I looked up NON BRAND physical products like "french fry cutter" or "contact lenses" it was invariably a general store/site selling those products.

When you click on these results, you have the store showcasing the product and some blurb (product description) and a check out cart. The site had all the other elements of being legit such as Contact, Privacy, About Us, etc but that's about it.

No content heavy sites to be found.

Didn't matter if those physical products were branded or non branded, the content was very thin aside from customer reviews.

"But Wait, There's More!"

Now - where content DID factor in very heavily almost 100% of the time was when folks entered keywords wanting to LEARN something - not buy something physical right away.

I guess Google figured out if someone types in "Amish furniture" they want to browse Amish furniture and not necessarily be given a doctorate thesis on them whereas someone looking for "how to plant your own blueberry bush" would want a little more detail than a picture and blurb.

Here, type these examples in to see for yourself:

Physical products: minecraft Lego kits, ninja blender, first aid kits - very little content, very many pictures/descriptions/specs

Non-Physical: "how to know if a girl likes you", "how to fix hail damage", "ways to protect yourself" - significantly heavier content sometimes topping 4,000+ words.

You can test this on whatever you like and you'll consistently see these patterns.

In the end, it gets back to how Google is ever evolving to bring more human results. The more you can make your content a ridiculously accurate fit for your niche, the better Google rankings and traffic you will receive as a direct result.

Remember, Google is hunting for the very best - sometimes it gets it wrong but often it gets it right and as time goes on, it'll be correct a lot more often than its not.

So be ahead of the game by understanding your searcher's psyche - do they just want to buy a product and move on or do they want to learn more or read a review?

One More Thing

The higher priced an item is, the more likely the searcher wants a lot of information on it. Commonsense yes but many get so involved in the details, they overlook simple concepts like this.

Someone looking for a fridge, TV or laptop is going to do a lot more research than someone wanting to refill their scented candle stock.

Finally, be ready for the next wave of relevancy.

When someone searches for "how to train a German Shepherd"", Google works out PART of the content that would be useful for a search term like that may include:

• Techiques
• Info about temperament
• Time it takes
• Complex Vs simple commands

And so on. Yes, it lists the related searches at the bottom of the page but you need to be ahead of the curve here. You can use those of course as a guide but keep in mind, Google will eventually refine and refine its capabilities to eventually give users extremely precise results.

So if you write with your target in mind, you will have laid the foundation for a lot of very high rankings terms for any niche you choose.

Write your content around the moment guys, not to just fill in word quotas.

I hope this has been of some benefit to you guys!