The Google Search Result have and continue to evolve with over 3,000 changes to the search result interface in the last year. Many queries now have 70+ different options for you to click on, versus the ten blue links of the past. This was presented at the State of Search 2019 Conference by Mark Barrera of TrustRadius.

1. Goodbye 10 Blue Links
By Mark Barrera
@Mark_Barrera

2. @Mark_BarreraCurrently:
Previously:
Ziff Davis Tech / Commerce:
PCMag / Mashable / AskMen / Offers.com / BlackFriday.com /
Geek.com & more
State of Search Founding Chairman
DFWSEM Past President / Board Member
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3. 595,429
Search quality tests
15,096
Live traffic experiments
44,155
Side-by-side experiments
3
Google Search Tests Last Year:
3,234
Launches

4. “Evolution of search – moving from 10
blue links to have a richer experience
using things like carousels and meta
data
*Source - Jackie Chu at yesterday’s Google Event
44

5. Place your screenshot here
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DESKTOP
This is how you think
today.
👉
@Mark_Barrera

6. Mobile
This is what you NEED to
be focused on
Place your screenshot here
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👉
@Mark_Barrera

7. Shift to Mobile Results in your Desktop Browser
▰ Chrome - Inspect Element
▰ Then switch to mobile
view
You can also use a UserAgent
switching plugin. This will
serve the mobile version of
everything you browse
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8. A PICTURE IS WORTH A THOUSAND WORDS
Almost everything on mobile
now has an image of some
type associated with it.
▰ Optimize what images
you use
▰ High quality mobile
thumbnails can drive up
CTR
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9. Example - Robot
Vaccuums
How many opportunities
to click in this result?
78+
Place your screenshot here
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@Mark_Barrera

10. Desktop
Is the color of milk and fresh
snow, the color produced by the
combination of all the colors of
the visible spectrum.
Desktop vs Mobile - Robot Vacuums
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11. Mobile:
Featured Snippets
are Everywhere
FS / PAA / FAQ / Related
Searches / etc are all
versions of a single
answer in the SERPs
Place your screenshot here
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@Mark_Barrera

12. Example:
Pricing Modifier
Pricing is a structured
data element tied to a
specific entity.
Place your screenshot here
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@Mark_Barrera

13. Example:
Comparisons
Google is creating their
own Search feature for
these types of queries.
Structured data feeds
these modules so use
these to know what data
you need on your site.
Place your screenshot here
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@Mark_Barrera

14. Emulating Google
Horizontal Scrolling is
allowing Google to pack
more results into mobile
than ever before.
What can you do on your
site to mimic Google
mobile interactions?
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📌
@Mark_Barrera

15. CTR Curves - Drastically Different by Query
▰ The usage of so many different features in the search
result leads to many differences in CTR.
▰ The old CTR click curve models are dead. You have to
invest in calculating yours by template and keyword
modifiers.
▰ SuperMetrics is a great tool to build these out on the fly.
▰ You’ll have to go deep in your GSC data to understand
performance by Search Feature as well.
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16. CTR by Feature
CTR Differences depending on where
the feature shows and device type
You have to have a plan for each
feature and know the outcome of
achieving each to prioritize efforts.
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📌
@Mark_Barrera

17. Search Volumes Estimates - Wrong!
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😭

18. TAKEAWAYS
▰ Study the SERPs!
▰ Mobile First, but Desktop too
▰ Rich media is taking over - especially on mobile
▰ Ranking Data is harder than ever to track in the new features
▰ Search Volumes can be masked when a SERP pulls in a feature
from another query
▰ Google will continue to enhance results with the features that are
most relevant to that query type (comparison / product / head /
purchase / navigational / local / etc)
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📖

19. 19
THANKS!
Any questions?
You can find me at
@mark_barrera