Has Google changed things for SEO in an Instant?

On Wednesday this week (8th September) Google announced Google Instant – a new way of delivering search results. Essentially, as you type in the search request it shows the search results reflecting the letters typed so far with predictions about what is coming, for more information see http://www.google.com/instant/

So does this affect marketers? It could do, it is early days yet, but the area it certainly has an impact on is search engine optimisation (SEO) – some traditional SEO methods may not work well with Google Instant. One thing which Google are suggesting is that it will affect keyword frequency in analytics – http://analytics.blogspot.com/2010/09/google-instant-and-google-analytics.html – leading to the possibility that an individual searching for something could get a different result from someone else searching for that at a slightly different time.

Which I guess all leads to having to learn all over again how to secure that elusive top spot in the Google rankings! It will be interesting to see responses to this change in search and how it might affect the content of student work in assignments for the recently launched CAM Digital Marketing qualifications – for those looking at SEO as a major part of their digital strategy it will have to be reflected in the content. One thing is certain, Google will continue to change the way search operates. It was only in June this year that they introduced Google Caffeine as a new indexing system for their searches – they certainly like to keep SEO marketers on their toes, and also like to keep their competitors a step or two behind!