If you haven’t recently noticed the type of results being displayed differently in Google, you are likely to notice them soon enough.
Google has recently brought their ‘personalised search’ out of Beta after more than a year of testing, providing you with a new way of viewing search results, that will change the search landscape considerably.
So what is Google Personalised Search?
The overall look and feel of Google will still stay the same, you will simply find Google provides you with search results based on your own individual search history. For instance, a consumer who searches using the keyword ‘Rhinoplasty Surgery’ will be very likely to be looking for a Plastic Surgeon to give them a nose job, where as a Plastic Surgeon who is searching under the same keyword, will be more likely to be researching new techniques, or finding out more about what is happening within their industry. In the previous Google environment, the results for this keyword search would have been exactly the same.
So enters ‘Personalised Search’
Through your search habits, Google will better understand whether you are more interested in looking for a plastic surgeon, or you are the plastic Surgeon, and give you results better customised to your needs. It will also mean that sites you visit more often, will appear at the top of your related search results.
Will everyone one see Personalised Search Results?
At this time, personalised search results will only work for you if you have a Google Account, and you are signed into it.
If you want to find out more about your search history with Google, login to your Google account, and in the top right hand corner of your Google page, click on ‘Web History’. Here you can view the previous sites you have visited, and even remove results if you feel they might ‘skew’ your general search results.
While for some, this raises issues of privacy, if it is of concern to you, all you need to do to ‘opt out’, is sign out of your Google account.
I believe that while this is a major change to how we see our search results in Google, it is one that will prove very beneficial to us as Google users. And now more than ever it is important to make sure your website is being found in the Google results of your target market.
Looking to improve your Google search results? Contact us today to find out more about what we can do for your website’
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