Could Google Suggest change SEO strategies?

11th September 2008

Marketers may need to make changes to their search engine optimisation (SEO) campaigns should Google's Suggest tool prove successful on its homepage, according to E-consultancy's Graham Charlton.

The expert said that the tool, which offers users a list of suggestions for searches as they type their own query into the Google.com search box, may lead businesses to revise how they approach SEO.

This could include incorporating a larger number of keywords into campaigns to capitalise on the fact that Google Suggest tends to offer queries with several words in them, Mr Charlton explained.

It could also mean the end of relying on misspelt terms for some website traffic, he noted, as Google Suggest automatically corrects misspellings.

Mr Charlton also touched on the implications for long-tail keywords, stating: "Google will be providing search suggestions based on the popularity of phrases searched for, so more obscure, long-tail terms are far less likely to appear when you start to type."

Google recently amended the tool to protect user data further when collecting information for the purpose of collating suggestions.