Importance of Google+ for Implicit & Local Search

[Linda Buquet]

This is an interesting article so I wanted to share. It looks at local search from some different angles.

<a href="http://targetedimpressions.com/importance-google-local-implicit-search">The Importance of Google+ for Implicit and Local Search</a>

Search intent has changed with the abundance of metadata available for Google to use in its algorithm. This is evident in the rise of implicit keyword phrases. The search engines know enough background information that the end user does not need to specify certain descriptive keywords. The emerging trend of implicit keywords is most visible within locally minded searches that often trigger the Knowledge Graph and/or Local Carousel.

End of Long Tail Keywords? Hell No!

Even though short, implicit search queries are on the rise, by no means do I perceive this as decline in long tail queries. Genuine long tail keywords are on the rise. Think of this trend as a standardization. Many years ago, the end user needed to be extremely descriptive because relying on the implicit information would provide a poor search result. Now they only need to be descriptive when necessary because the implicit data will fill in the gaps.

With the advent of the Google Hummingbird update and the increasingly interactive Google Instant, long tail keyword insights are even more descriptive.

TL;DR.

If you do not utilize Google+ appropriately, you are not optimizing for implicit search queries and stand to loose a significant amount of traffic from early stage searches.

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Image Credit: Moz Whiteboard Friday


What do you guys think?

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[jasonkd]

I agree that spamming explicit longtail keywords is going to die down.

Google is getting better at predicting what we want to search for. For example, while people used to have to type in "restaurant in Chicago, IL" a few years ago, people in Chicago only have to type in "restaurant". As Google is changing, it is also teaching searchers how to search more implicitly. So, spamming the keyword "restaurant in Chicago, IL" even though you were a restaurant in Rockford, IL, is no longer as viable as it used to be.