Google Updates Desktop Search Results
You may have noticed a slight difference when searching on Google recently. The organic and paid results have seen a bit of a shakeup, with Google redesigning the appearance of the results to be in line with its mobile search results. Here’s what Google had to say on the recent update, posting this statement to twitter on January 13th.
“Last year, our search results on mobile gained a new look. That’s now rolling out to desktop results this week, presenting site domain names and brand icons prominently…”
How have the organic search results changed?
Mobile search results have displayed a small branded icon called a ‘Favicon’ at the start of the URL for the past year. Google’s recent update now shows them in desktop search results too:
The addition of the favicon gives one more aspect of the search results for SEOs to optimise. Favicons should be a simple, small, logo that represents your brand and easily identifies your dental practice. Potential patients will now be able to easily see where the link will take them – for example when searching ‘Dentist Near Me’ – any NHS sites will show the small NHS logo, while practice site’s will show their logo. This will help patients find the correct practice link quickly, hopefully improving the quality of traffic to your site.
How have paid search results changed?
The paid adverts have also had a redesign, with Google removing the green outlined AD and url, replacing them with a plain black AD and URL that looks much the same as organic search.
Google says that the changes made to the paid results makes adverts more prominent with the bolded ‘AD’. However, with the removal of the differentiating green ad text, many users are finding the ads harder to identify. This has left us wondering if this design change will increase the click through rates on paid adverts. Only time will tell and we will be monitoring our ad campaigns closely to see what impact this new style of Ad has!
If you need help adding a favicon to your website, or help with your online marketing, just get in touch and we will be happy to help.
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