Thursday 7 September 2017

Search for 'best' soars on Google

This is straight from the horse's mouth...




  We read 'Think with Google' so our clients don't have to (not about reviews, at least) - here is the full text of this week's article

...and the implications are far-reaching. 

Let's look at this in more detail:
  • consumers - self-evidently - want the 'best' in any search - the 'best' restaurant or the 'best' lawyer, in fact 'the 'best' of everything
  • Google is actually pretty bad at delivering 'best' - so that uplift in the use of 'best' as a search term is not really delivering. Look at these examples...

 'Best' hotel...

   
Top result? A hotel rated 3.8 - it just so happens to have the word 'best' in its name, but the Seraphine at 3.9?


'Best' estate agent...

  
 Well, you cannot argue that they are not all 'Best', but possibly not in the way searchers want or need


'Best' lawyer...




 One at 2.8?


And our favourite... 'best' financial advisors...




 ...currently serving a 150 year sentence in a Federal jail!

But seriously...

What this illustrates is the conflict of interest that is at the core of Google's business model - and they have the key to solving that conflict, the only question is: when will they decide to use that key.

The key?

Reviews, of course. 

One day soon, hopefully for those using 'best' as a search term, Google will base the answer on review scores. It already has them - and if it does not it is up to the business concerned to remedy that situation - and it is certainly possible to deliver, from a technical point-of-view, by implementing a simple algorithm. After all, Google is already doing something very similar with its filter and 'Top rated' (more on that here).

What does your business need to do?

At the core of Google's research is the - unsurprising - finding that their users want to find great businesses, not just businesses with massive advertising budgets, but businesses who deliver great products and services - so just take some of your PPC budget and apply it to getting great reviews.


  

Businesses like this - this business had two Google reviews when it became a HelpHound client - already look great in search, and they can relax in the knowledge that they will rank at or near the top when Google gets round to delivering the 'best' in search


Strive to 'be the best' reviewed business in your marketplace, so when Google get around to ranking businesses yours appears at - or at least somewhere near - the top of the list. 




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