A few days ago, Google updated their search format to a more visual interface on mobile devices. How will this impact your business?
Barry Schwartz for Search Engine Land:
Google has rolled out a new mobile search interface that allows for a more visual look at some search results. A Google spokesperson told us this new interface helps “surface relevant information related to an image, so users have a deeper understanding of the results they’re seeing.”
Mobile only. The new interface is currently live for mobile searches on Google for select queries. You can try it for the query [hand tattoos] or [game room design] on your mobile device.
More updates. Google said it will continue to make improvements to the mobile and desktop search results. Last year, Google made several updates to the mobile interface design of search and also launched continuous scroll.
Why we care. This new layout in mobile search may help your site get more (or less) exposure in the search results. In these types of queries, you now have two side-by-side results, possibly from two different sides sharing the first position in a grid format.
This may impact your site traffic, click through rates and performance reports in Google Search Console.
This new Google update, from what we’ve seen, really depends on the type of search that’s queried. In local, mobile queries (barber shops or restaurants “near me”), the familiar maps section and results page appears. One thing we do know: Google search is changing all the time. In 2020 alone, Google made over 4,500 changes to search, including its ranking system and user interface.
