Research Phase vs Purchase Phase

I recently been noticing some new menu options on Google.com – these don’t appear to be visible to everyone or on other regional Google(s).  So for a search for ‘ipod speakers‘ you are presented with a search results page (SERP) like:

Down the left hand side you will see there are now options to filter the search results to have fewer or more shopping sites.

This filter alters what types of sites are listed and also how (and what) Universal results are positioned amongst the Web listing.

For example when you are researching into a product/holiday/etc you may want fewer shopping results and more informational sites and so you can filter to have fewer shopping sites such as:

You will also see that there are image results within the top half of the page – another way to further build your brand awareness until you achieve strong Web listings.

So when you filter to have more shopping sites you get results like:

You will notice that Google has placed its shopping results right at the top – if you don’t have a presence there and you are a transactional site you are missing out on some prime SERP real estate!

Also additional information is being pulled in such as price and product names/details. Google’s search results are now becoming a comparison shopping engine themselves. As you develop your product pages do consider micro formats and their integration into these pages to ensure your Web listing is as attractive as possible.

Other filters are Page Images which pull in even more images into the SERPs:

And Page Previews which pull in screen shots of the landing page and also a longer meta description:

Rich Search Results

This new SERP formatting should further enforce the need to make the most of all your image and video collateral as well as considering using product feeds with Google.

Also integrating micro formatting is now becoming even more key to provide enough information to attract that click-through from the results page.

Personalisation Information

This could have implications for sites listed on the first page of the standard search. As the user refines their searches and navigates through to sites, this user history will then inform their personalisation and so impact on the sites listed in the main results.

If there was ever a reason to build out the content on your site this is it. As a brand you want to present during both phases to be able to ensure maximum coverage and brand recognition.

Also if you are visibile for the research phase, and your content satisfies the users need for information, they may not even need to return back to a search engine to then find somewhere to make their purchase – they just return to your site and convert.

Potential PPC Developments

Interestingly the PPC sites that are displayed do not appear to change depending on the type of view the user has selected. Potentially this could be another development Google could add to this type of filtering, allowing you to change the landing page/creative – or even if your site is visible – depending on what types of sites the user is interested in.

Final Thoughts

In short ‘Content is still King’!

Google is providing their users with an uncluttered view of sites that will provide information to aid in the research and eventually purchase phase. If you are soley focussed on the transactional side of this process then you are missing out on engaging with your target audience at an earlier stage and so build brand awareness.

The importance of good content online is so important. There is some much content out there, but how much actually achieves what it is meant to do – is it content for contents sake or does it meet its specified needs.

As a brand you need to start:

• auditing your existing content – because if you don’t know what you have how can you plan what you need,
• analyse your findings to understand what you have, does it need further development or can it be optimised to gain visibilitiy within Universal results,
• and build a strategy to generate, develope and maintain useful content that satisfies your users needs as well as your business objectives.