Short Clicks Vs Long Clicks

Long Clicks – Short Clicks – Determines User’s Satisfaction

Various search engines and Google regulate search result rankings by looking at huge amounts of user data and scrutinise user activity within the results. The search engines examines large sets of user data observing a variety of things in determining user’s satisfaction with the search results which are the long clicks vs. short clicks.

Internal metric Google utilising to determine search success, is time to long click and to comprehend this metric,it is essential for search marketers to assess changes in the search landscape. Moreover it is also beneficial for optimization of policies.

Long clicks take place when users perform a search and clicks on a result, remaining on the site for a long period of time. In the ideal scenario, they do not tend to return to the search results to click on some other result or to reframe their search. They do not return back to the result set immediately in order to click on another option.

Long clicks, in general are alternative for satisfaction and success. A short click on the other hand takes place when a user tends to perform a search and clicks on a result and then returns to the search results quickly to click on another product. They are an indication of dissatisfaction and failure.

Search Engine Result Page - SERP

Short clicks is when a user performing a search gets back and forth between the search engine result page – SERP, for the search option and sites displayed within the result.

In this case, the user does not come back to the result page immediately to click on other search option or to change the search option. From the point of view of Google’s perception the outcome which ends with longer clicks successfully fulfils the search query.

Moreover, a search engine also determines the time taken between clicks as a means of satisfaction which would decrease the chances of providing results which do not deliver valuable content for a specific search query.

This data can be stored for each search query and compared to the normal short click behaviours by a SERP rank page. For instance, if Google finds that the first result for a search query tends to have a remarkable high bounce rate, this information is read as negative signal by the search engine’s algorithm.

Google – Measures Short Click – Leveraging Tracking Mechanisms

Subsequently, the search engine tends to reduce the page’s rank within the SERP in its future algorithm update. For the result to be highlighted, it would perhaps need a statistically above average short click rate.

Google tends to measure short click activity by leveraging the prevailing tracking mechanisms. The long clicks are important to Google since it provides a means to measure the satisfaction of the result established on downstream behaviour.

 Google is aware that the search algorithm is still not quite smart and could tend to make mistakes. This could often lead to wrong path by forceful search engine optimization.

Feedback mechanism is provided by long clicks, a kind of human quality assertion which could be lacking in the algorithm. The talk from Google could be a part of the algorithm, though what the future holds in store remains to be seen.

Flying Pigeons: Google’s updated search algorithm

Is that a bird? An airplane? Or may be superman? No that is the “Pigeon”. Google has recently updated their search algorithm with undisclosed changes and the folks at Search Engine Land have dubbed it “Pigeon” as it lacks any internal names among Google’s mojo and the last one was named “Panda”. The update has only been rolled out in US English searches and will be gradually rolling out for others, though a timeline is not available at the moment. While this has led to a lot of speculation about its effects on rankings and relevance of search result along with more localization, we try to dissect and strain out whatever useful information we can from this update.

What it brings to the Table? 

The core changes have happened behind the scenes and are not fully disclosed by Google till now. However, it seems like it is affecting local search results. Some sources have quoted saying that local searches are now more tied to local information in traditional Google search and from Google maps. Talking specifically, you may now see the top carousel displaying contextual and relevant information in a visually appealing package. Also local directory searches are getting more preferences now along with Yelp at top result for searches specifying it, which also implies that individual items don’t show until 2nd page.

What is in it for Business? 

The most recently affected are small businesses. Small businesses may see an increment or decrement in their referral count, leads and other statistics. Major directory websites like Yelp, Trip Advisor, Urbanspoon are experiencing increased page 1 rankings and some changes in search results. Google has also said that their new algorithm improves parameters such as distance and location ranking significantly, and is aiming to provide more relevant/contextual results for end-users but it may be affecting individual businesses to get a better SERP. Thus more localization can be a boon for directory based searching where as a bane for individual websites thus making your SEM all the more important to stay relevant.

The Reason

We all like to know the whys of every change that happens specially if it affecting us. Thus it is legitimate to ask why this sudden shift in focus? Right at this moment it is more speculation than fact as the rolling out is partial and it will take more analyzing to come out with something concrete. One reason can be the fact that Yelp accused Google of favoring their search results. In addition, users on mobile devices would be happier if searches provided them with detailed location, information and localized information might warrant a shift as mobile is becoming an increasingly important strategy. Hence, it seems like we may have to play the “wait and watch” game for a few weeks.

The Future

Some are already stating that Google has turned the world of digital marketing on its head. For any SEM professional this can be the most challenging and scariest of propositions to deal with. A high degree of adaptability and vision is required to taste success. As it is often said, “Survival of the Fittest”.