What does SGE mean for SEO?

SGE has once again changed the landscape for SEO. While it has the potential to reduce organic traffic, it could also help to drive higher quality leads to your website. If you’re looking for help with SEO optimisation for SGE, or would like to invest in general SEO marketing that covers local SEO, technical SEO and more, browse our SEO packages online today.

How to optimise for Search Generative Experience: 5-step guide

Google’s Search Generative Experience (SGE) feature is changing the landscape of search, giving users answers to questions without them needing to click on website links. While this may seem on the surface like the end for website SEO, there are plenty of opportunities to optimise for SGE. Here, we outline five steps to help your site remain visible.

Step 1: Optimise for long-tail keywords

SGE provides an overview of complex topics and encourages users to delve deeper, asking more detailed questions instead of using short phrases. As such, it’s a good idea to optimise your web content for long-tail keywords. For example, instead of optimising for ‘yoga classes’ it might be better to optimise for ‘Beginners’ yoga classes in London’ or ‘Health benefits of aerial yoga’.

Step 2: Create quality content that aligns with search intent

Google has long prioritised quality content that provides users with relevant, helpful answers to their questions. In order to optimise for SGE, it’s important to make sure your content aligns with users’ different search intents. There are four main types of search intent:

• Navigational intent: Users looking for a specific page
• Informational intent: Users looking to learn something (e.g. “What is a Balti curry?”)
• Commercial intent: Users conducting research before making a purchase (e.g. “Best curry house near me”)
• Transactional intent: Users wanting to complete an action such as a purchase (e.g. “Order curry online”)

When you’ve identified keywords you want to target and the search intent behind them, look at what’s already ranking on Google to see what the top results are and how in-depth they go. You can then aim to create even better content.

Step 3: Implement structured data

Structured data (also known as Schema markup) is used to help search engines understand and categorise the content on your website. It needs to be added to the code so that Google can easily find and digest it. Your SEO services manager will be able to help with this.

Step 4: Optimise for natural language

The days of formal tone and a rigid style are waning. Content that mirrors how people speak, with long-tail keywords included, is more likely to rank highly these days, so keep the tone of your copy conversational and natural. It’s also a good idea to structure your content clearly, following a logical format and using headings to break up text.

Step 5: Include multimedia

If your website has historically been thin on multimedia content, now is a great time to invest in it. Elements like video, imagery, infographics and interactive quizzes all help to engage both humans and AI-driven search engines, improving your chances of being referenced by Search Generative Experience.

Prepare for the future of Google SGE

As SGE evolves, it’s important to ensure you’re delivering the best possible experience for users and optimising for a range of keywords and natural language prompts. Our London SEO services will ensure you’re always ahead of the curve, keeping your site visible in the search engines however the landscape changes. Contact us today to arrange a consultation.