Google Suggest 'could impact on SEO'

11/09/2008

The rollout of the Google Suggest tool on the Google homepage could have implications for search engine optimisation (SEO), it has been claimed.

Google Suggest, which offers real-time query suggestions as users type terms into the search box, has already been launched on Google.com and could do so in the UK if it is a success, according to E-consultancy's Graham Charlton.

To this end, marketers could find that their SEO strategies may need to change should the tool gain ground among UK web users, he noted.

The expert gave the example of the potential necessity of using a wider range of keywords to account for the detailed terms offered by Google Suggest.

And because the tool is based on the popularity of certain queries, Google Suggest may mean that long-tail keywords will become less important in search optimisation campaigns, Mr Charlton stated.

"Google Suggest will now correct most misspellings, so websites that have been using these terms to drive traffic will need to think of another way, which is no bad thing considering the quality of most of these sites," he added.

The toll was first developed in 2004 and since been implemented in Google Toolbar, Firefox and Google Maps, among other services.