No-Click Searches: What are they and what does that mean for your business?

The consistent thing about search engines is that it is always changing, but Google’s No Click Search has changed the game entirely.

What is this, what does it do and what does it mean for your business?

A No Click Search is when the answer to a search query is displayed right on the search results page where you don’t need to click on any links. No website needed.

The No Click Search is mostly common for queries on map directions, definitions, and database-style searches.

Here’s an example: “How high is the Empire State Building in New York?” This search will come up with the answers on not only its height but also what it is, how many floors it has, its exact location, and what time it’s going to open without clicking on any other links. It’s all there on one featured snippet.

From a business perspective, this could certainly mean less traffic to your sites, but it doesn’t mean less opportunity.

Although there are still a lot of users out there who will be using searches that might lead to links to your websites, a study has shown that people who prefer the no-click searches are growing.

A recent survey conducted by SimilarWeb revealed that between January and December 2020, about 65 percent of Google searches ended without a click to another web property.

About 46.5 percent of searches using a desktop computer were zero clicks while no-click searches on mobile devices rose to 77.2 percent.

This shift in Google may mean less traffic to your web pages but being able to position your brand front and center at the top of Google with all the answers is still a highly profitable way to grow awareness and cultivate trust. And this is crucial to your long-term growth.

How to capitalize on No Click Searches

There are so many ways you can capitalize on this shift:

1. You need to start optimizing your business’ profile and be sure to adapt your content to the way it is presented on the Search Engine Results Page (SERP) to help drive better click-through.

2. If you don’t have a presence on Google My Business it’s time to think of having one. Google My Business is the Yellow Pages of the 21st century — so be on it. Remember to keep your open hours updated as well as your address and contact details. Be sure to upload images and respond to reviews. Doing all that is like putting your best foot forward on a Google-owned platform. In fact, make sure you update all your information and images on all available online listing platforms.

3. Optimizing for featured snippets and adding schema markup, a code that helps search engines better understand your content and then develop that through more informative search results, may help drive awareness about your business. Having an effective schema is necessary if you want your web pages to appear in featured snippets on the search results page. Doing this isn’t enough though, you also need to focus on increasing your website’s ranking for that keyword.

4. Learn which of your target keywords are attracting No Click Searches. Utilize keywords that are likely to deliver a higher click-through rate and try some tools like Moz or SEMRush which uses Clicks Per Search metrics which factor in everything from search volume, keyword difficulty, and even what’s currently ranking to estimate the real traffic potential of a keyword. This means the terms that are most likely to appear in SERP features can be filtered.

Why Google My Business is important to local businesses

With Google’s focus on No Click Searches, it is more critical than ever for businesses to be on Google My Business. Why?

1. It is a free local marketing tool that allows business owners and marketers to promote their business and manage what can be displayed on Google Search and Google maps about them. Do you know the first thing potential customers would do to look for a product or service online? They do a Google search. In fact, Google revealed that 46 percent of consumers that use the Google search engine have local intent, and more than 50 percent of “near me” searches have resulted in visits to a physical store.

2. Being on Google My Business makes it easy for you to connect with your customers and see how they are interacting with your business on Google.

3. If you work from home and don’t have an office for customers to visit, it’s not a problem! You can list your home-based business’ details on the platform, and it will appear on Google with or without a physical address.

Millions of brands worldwide are not using Google My Business to stand out from the crowd and attract more customers. You should be, too.

Do you need help understanding No Click Search and developing strategies to adapt to this trend? Give us a call for a free consultation.

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