The search engine optimization (SEO) world is buzzing over a recent Google deployment that affects organic search results. According to Moz, this modification, known as indented search results, currently affects about 40% of search engine results pages (SERPs). The likelihood of a broader release, on the other hand, has company owners expecting opportunities and hazards, and planning their SEO strategy accordingly.
Why were indented SERPs introduced, and what are they? What effect will they have on your optimization approach and the performance of your organic search results? In this blog, we’ll go through the specifics of this new Google search results design. We’ll also go over some on-page SEO methods that you can use to keep up with the changes.
What is an Indented Search Result?
You may have noticed that the appearance of some Google indented search results has changed recently. We’re talking about two or more links or listings from the same site appearing in the SERPs at the same time. The first, or primary, the link appears like any other search result, with indented secondary links beneath it that appear to support your original link. These are your Google indented results right now.
Around June 2021, reports reporting this Google search results adjustment surfaced. However, the entire deployment took place only in October.
Indented SERPs aren’t quite new in their look and feel, as they share a similar Google search results page layout with larger site links. For specialists in on-page local SEO services and anybody with some SEO experience, indented SERPs aren’t nearly new in their appearance and feel.
Don’t be perplexed. Sitelinks are secondary links that display behind the primary link and provide more context for a brand or publication, such as an About page. They can appear naturally or as a Google Ads feature, which you should take advantage of when using pay-per-click (PPC) marketing. Indented search results, on the other hand, demonstrate that the listings that make up each of the results are typically linked on both desktop and mobile SERPs.
Will Indented Search Results Have an Impact on Your Seo Strategy?
Various SEO professionals believe that websites with good on-page SEO efforts don’t need to make any big changes to their approach. They’re in a strong position to get cluster listings on desktop and mobile SERPs if anything (once the new design rolls out on mobile).
However, if you’re due for a content audit anyway, you may focus on a few key areas that are likely to be impacted by the Google search results change and make some changes:
Advantages of Indented Search Results for Brands
Increased visibility is excellent news for brands that collaborate with affiliates and influencers. However, you don’t want to lose your whole affiliate network as a result of changes to desktop search results.
Working hand in hand with high-authority, respectable affiliates who can manage the changes, rank competitively, prepare for Google’s mobile search results upgrade, and still produce external backlinks for your web pages is something an expert search engine optimization consultant would recommend.
Internal Links Need to Be Improved
There are no clear instructions on how Google indented search results would alter to combine several items from one domain together. However, any reputable SEO audit company, such as Thrive, will advise you to improve your internal links for thematically related material. This has something to do with Google’s goal of providing a better user experience (UX). Instead of delivering a single search result for a query, it nests relevant and more specialized links to make it simpler for users to locate what they’re looking for.
Creating content clusters, which consist of a pillar page and multiple topic pages, is one form of internal linking that might meet search intent. Because you maintain each content page united under one theme without falling into the trap of keyword cannibalism, this method is supported by technical SEO agencies. There’s no assurance that the topic pages will appear in the SERPs behind the pillar page, but it’s a nice place to start.
True Ranking Will Still Matter
Having many listings above the fold implies you’re pushing competition down the search results page, even to the second page. This is good news for any of your links that weren’t originally on page one since they now look to be included in the top results.
The most significant change is now seen in Google mobile search results, which do not have an indented structure but still rank indented listings in desktop SERPs as second, third, and so on.
Competitors with high-ranking, indented desktop results, on the other hand, can push your links to the bottom of page one, or worse, page two. This is why, to plan, implement, and sustain your desktop and mobile SERP domination, you’ll need a specialized in-house team or a professional SEO audit agency.
Lists Will Remain Relevant
If you’re performing well on lists, keep in mind that Google is still likely to use a different search results style than indented SERPs 60% of the time. For instance, here’s how Thrive ranks for the search term “cheap SEO business in Arlington,” which yields a simple, old-fashioned list of results.
How Will Indented Results Be Useful for Your Website?
Now that you know what the intended results are, it’s time to learn how they might benefit you. If your site is ranked in the top ten, you will receive a big amount of visits. If you have an indented listing, however, you will have twice the coverage of the top ten results. The more times your website appears in search results, the more people will visit it. It’s obvious that the more people who visit your website, the more likely you are to make a transaction. So focusing on indented listings for your website can only benefit your business and enable you to dominate your sector.
How Can You Get Indented Listings?
Now that you’ve learned everything there is to know about indented listings and their benefits to your website, I’m sure you’re eager to learn how to acquire them for yourself. The methods to getting your site and indented listing are outlined below:
- The first step is to get your first page to rank in the top ten search engine results for your selected keyword. This is certainly the most difficult aspect, and you’ll have to go through a lot of processes to get your site there.
- You must now develop a second web page using the same keyword as the first. It is critical to employ a variety of material that will be valuable to visitors and to ensure that all onsite parameters for your selected keyword are optimized. You should also make sure that this page connects back to the original one you made.
- Now you must ensure that your first page links to your website’s second page. The simplest approach to achieve this is to include a link within the first page’s text and utilize the keywords in the anchor text of the link to the second page.
- Finally, you must obtain external connections to the second page and verify that the anchor text of these links contains the keywords. The number of links you’ll need to achieve this will be determined by the competitiveness of the keyword you’ve picked.
As you can see, getting indented links is not as straightforward as it appears, but it is something that can be accomplished with constant search engine optimization.
Final Thoughts
We’ve just gone through how and why certain Google indented search results are different, as well as some pointers on how to get ready for wider deployment in the future.
If you or your current search engine optimization consultant believe this is something you or your current SEO consultant has not prepared for, and no efforts have been made to build quality internal links or optimize on-page elements, it is best to find a partner who understands the importance of SEO in digital marketing and consistently delivers better results.
Go Fly Digital meets the bill in this sense. We are a low-cost SEO firm that provides clients in a variety of sectors with comprehensive, integrated, and quick on-page SEO services. From full site analysis to the establishment of a long-term plan to the execution of complementing PPC or search engine marketing, we provide a wide range of services.
