The Great Google Makeover: SearchWiki - Not Your Average SERP
Recently Google rolled out a new feature to their SERP (Search Engine Results Page) called SearchWiki – a new tool which allows users who have signed into their Google account to rank, reorganize, and post reviews to the organic listings on each page. You heard right - SearchWiki makes your search results totally customizable. Say you know your favorite go-to website for running when you see it, but you can never remember the exact URL – with Google’s new feature you can set that page to appear at the top of your personalized SERP. With customized search engine results listings you never have to read through the links again to fish out the site that you were searching for – you always know it will be right at the very top of your page. Moreover, you can also post reviews on each presented link. So, if your favorite retailer has the best selection of running gear in town you can let everyone know…and if their return policy is less than generous you can also forewarn other potential customers.
That last part doesn’t sit so well, does it? What if a retailer has been established for more than 20 years and one disgruntled customer posts a bad review? Even worse, what if the listing is spammed and a “review” is posted promoting an adult website? What if your search marketing firm has been SEOing your site for over a year and you have secured the top SERP spots for all of your keywords? Although listings with offensive, or spammed, comments can be flagged as inappropriate, until that time its kept available on the SERP for anyone to see. Is it fair that Google users get to determine site ranking over its own algorithm?
What prompted the creation and implementation of SearchWiki anyways? Some say it was created to fight website scrapers and spammers – people who steal content from one site only to paste it onto their own site. With SearchWiki spammers won’t be able to rank if their content is determined to be scraped from another source. This is a win-win for users and Google and promotes a sense of social community where we’re all watching each other’s backs. While ranking a well developed site or posting a review to a business, users are acting in able to communicate with others in ways we never imagined. If the listings are properly patrolled it wouldn’t be a bad thing to hear that the restaurant you are considering visiting this Friday evening has a huge rodent infestation. Still, business owners now have to worry over one bad review spoiling all the rest.
Others in the SEO community believe that Google is trying to make site owners face up to the fact that just appearing in a list of rankings isn’t going to cut it anymore. Site owners will have to entice web surfers to come to their site and really enjoy themselves while they’re visiting. Wikis, gadgets, video, and optimization are all variables in the new sort-of quality score ranking – customer satisfaction. If your competitor has a video showcasing their product and you don’t it may cost you in SERP rank. And if your customers can’t find you, sales can’t be made.
Love it or hate it, SearchWiki is probably here to stay. Some believe that before too long the feature will be available to anyone searching on Google’s engines regardless of whether they have signed in to their Google account or not. While the bugs are being worked out, be sure to check back with us regularly and head over to our blog [insert link?] for new developments. As the rules to the online marketing game change, you can be sure that our team at NetSearch Direct is updating our playbook.
