Author // Mike Kalil
Yesterday, Google rolled out a new feature that allows users to preview web pages without clicking on the links. It’s one of several changes the world’s most popular search engine has unveiled in recent months that is favorable to websites that provide valuable content. Instant previews make having a well-designed website more vital than ever: If users don’t like the way your preview looks, they’re likely to not click through to your site.
When visitors type queries, they’re now given the option to preview the results by clicking on or hovering over a magnifying glass icon. The previews appear to be the latest cached version of the web pages. So, if you’ve just modified a web page, it could take days or more for Google to display the altered version as a preview. The frequency that your site is indexed depends on how important Google deems it; the more quality links you have pointing to it, the better off you are.
There are several steps you can take to increase click-through rates:
A clean look and feel: If searchers are confused by your preview, they’re obviously less likely to click on your result. Make sure your navigational structure is simple and that users can easily digest the content on your pages.
Avoid Flash: As it stands, the instant previews have trouble displaying Flash, so it may be best to avoid it. Google says it’s “working on rendering these rich content types accurately.” Flash-based sites also tend not to rank as well because search engines cannot crawl their content, so it’s already best practice to avoid it.
Enhance imagery: Web pages that do not have imagery are boring to look at and are less likely to be attractive to potential visitors. If you’re on a tight budget, there are highly affordable alternatives to hiring a professional photographer or graphic artist.
Craft comprehensive content: Given the choice, a user will obviously click on the result with paragraphs of content on a subject than one with just a few sentences. Just make sure your content is valuable or visitors are likely to hit the backspace key within seconds.
Avoid pop-ups and other distractions: These can obscure your preview and make it unattractive to searchers. Check out the example below. Would you click on that result?
While instant previews don’t affect how sites rank, they clearly present another opportunity for businesses to increase their online profits. If you need help improving your conversion rate, feel free to contact us at (603) 217-5583.
