You’ve likely noticed a significant shift in your web browsing experience in recent months. Instead of presenting a list of suggested links that match your search query, the top half of your results page is taken up with a blurb related to the topic. Using a dropdown, the content expands into several sections addressing various aspects of the same topic (almost like it’s guessing what you’ll ask next).
The paragraphs summarize information related to the topic at hand, and they were collected by scraping the internet. The process is known as Google’s Search Generative Experience (SGE).
People often get the answers they were searching for without clicking on anything at all!
And that’s why we keep getting asked…. “Is Google stealing my clicks?”
It’s a valid question. If people don’t need to click through to your website to access the information you’re sharing there, then you don’t receive their visits and engagement. If people don’t visit your website, they might not become customers and clients. And you might not get credited for your company’s experience and expertise, which was used to create that content.
Here’s our answer: Yes… and no.
It’s possible that Google SGE will lead to fewer visitors landing on your page. But only if you fail to adapt to the existence of the Search Generative Experience… which doesn’t seem to be going anywhere.
Instead, there are steps you can take to ensure that you still see traffic coming to your page when people search for relevant content. Those include:
- Continue creating compelling content. It might sound counterintuitive, but it can actually help for Google SGE to grab info from your site. That’s because featured blurbs also include links to sourced websites. Users can navigate directly to your website if they find your insights helpful—driving traffic to you, rather than stealing visitors from you.
- Use formatting to your advantage. Google SGE is more likely to find your compelling content and feature it if you use bulleted lists, succinct writing, and Q-and-As.
- Feature your expertise and unique value prospects. There might be a lot of people sharing similar info to yours. Add value and compel engagement by highlighting the pros at your company and why their voice matters. Offer in-depth guides, unique commentary, or interactive products that make it more worthwhile to click through.
For a customized plan to optimize your website’s existing and future content for Google SGE, feel free to reach out to the content marketing experts at Mad 4 Marketing.