Not-so-recently, Google introduced split results onto the first page of its results pages. The search engine had been splitting results to some extent for some time through providing spelling suggestions, but these splits were something new.
Usually, for a website, split results mean a possible canonicalisation problem, in which traffic is being split between two related domain names. Finding the results being split in Google is the symptom, not the cause of the problem. This isn’t that kind of split, but more in line with the splits Google comes up with for different versions of search terms.
Google does not split its results for every search, but on certain search terms it will offer a handy shortcut to the viewer by splitting the page and offering the results for a related suggestion. One example someone in the community pointed out was using the search for ‘html underscore’, which turned up three results, then split to offer the suggestion of ‘html underline’. The results then returned to the ‘html underscore’ results.
This format has been around for a couple of years now, and seems to be geared for only specific searches. It’s a natural progression of Google’s suggestion technology. As with all of Google’s intuitive add-ons, however, it can have an effect on your traffic. Finding yourself suddenly kicked off the first page of search engine results just because you aren’t in the top three can be a nasty shock.
If your keywords are affected by Google’s split, you will quite probably already know about it. However, some of the splits are time-sensitive, such as those based on occasions and seasonal search terms, and changes in searcher behaviour. It could also take predictive behaviour into account, based on the search engine’s knowledge of what’s happened in the past.
Google’s use of this kind of split doesn’t necessarily mean all bad things for your site. It adds to the complexity required from your site’s strategy but at the same time offers more opportunities. By automatically splitting the results into related terms, you might find that your site turns up due to some of your less-used keywords. You might also find, with a bit of work, that your site turns up twice in the top ten of the search engine results pages, because you’ve achieved top rank in the broader and more specific search terms. That’s good news.
The bad news is that your must become even more complex if your site is to come out on top on a split page. This might involve a lot more work, but is worth it. Preparing for the possibility of these kind of search engine results page splits also further optimises your site for the specific searches your viewers will subject your site to. This can only be of benefit in the long term, particularly as Google’s search protocols evolve in complexity. For advice on how to target these kind of splits, contact Company.
