As marketers, we operate in an ever-evolving world. With best practices constantly in flux, change is the only constant. If you want to remain profitable and competitive, you must be able to pivot and adapt to the shifting environment.
Today, the growing influence of generative AI technologies – including Google Search Generative Experience (SGE) – represents the next major shift in the marketing world. It’s an entirely new approach to search that has the potential to change how marketing teams approach content creation.
In this new world, content will remain of vital importance, but the path to success looks a little different than what you might be used to. To help set you up for success, let's review Google SGE before diving into a few content optimization tips.
What is Google Search Generative Experience (SGE)?
Google Search Generative Experience, or SGE for short, is a new form of search that uses generative AI to help users find answers to their queries. This AI-generated summary is presented to the user along with recommendations of other questions to ask and a list of the top resources that answer the user’s question.
For example, let’s say you searched for the very important question “How to make lasagna.” Instead of presenting you with a list of recipe blogs, Google SGE will summarize the key information for you. It might tell you that to make lasagna, you must layer pasta, meat sauce, white sauce, and cheese. There might be information about what types of ingredients to include or how long to bake your lasagna for.
In addition to this, you’ll see links to several of the top-ranking pages for your search, other tips, and some additional questions you might have. There isn’t enough information to make the lasagna (you’ll still go to a recipe blog for that), but you now understand the key elements of a lasagna.
(Image: Example of Google SGE Search Result)
This, in a nutshell, is Google SGE: a new Google generative AI search experience that presents an AI-generated summary of the most pertinent information related to the user’s search. So, what impact will it have on the world of SEO and content marketing?
What Impact Will Google SGE Have on SEO and Content Marketing?
In large part, it remains to be seen how much Google SGE will impact SEO and the wider world of integrated marketing. The technology is still under the banner of Google’s Search Labs team and isn’t yet available to all Google users. However, based on what we’re seeing so far, SGE is the latest step in Google’s mission to help users find content that is truly valuable and helpful.
For content teams, that means less focus on keywords, and more on context. This has long been good advice but is doubly true in this new era of search. Content teams should embrace multiple forms of content, from written blog articles to videos, infographics, and more, all with a firm emphasis on quality over quantity.
The Benefits of Optimizing Your Content Strategy for SGE
Major technological shifts almost always give way to huge opportunities for marketers. Cast your mind back to the advent of social media or the shift from desktop to mobile – firms who made bold bets on these new behaviors experienced huge success.
Google Search Generative Experience, and the broader wave of AI technologies, look to be the next of these major technical and behavioral shifts. Taking steps to optimize your content strategy today builds the foundation for success tomorrow. By reimagining their content strategy for this new era of search, businesses can unlock benefits, including:
- Access to New Audiences: Done right, an SGE-driven content strategy will introduce your brand to prospective new customers, fueling business growth.
- Demonstrating Expertise: If your website is included in Google SGE results, users will see it as a signal of your business’s authority and expertise.
- Future Proofing Your Business: Sticking your head in the sand and ignoring the changing nature of search simply isn’t a viable strategy. By optimizing your content strategy now, you’re ensuring your business has the ability to be successful as search continues to evolve.
5 Tips for Optimizing Your Content Strategy for Google SGE
SGE is a new technology and it’s a fair bet that Google Search Engine Results Pages (SERPs) will look pretty different in the future than they do today.
However, that doesn’t mean there aren’t steps that marketing teams can start taking to optimize their content strategy for a world where SGE is the default approach to search. Here are five tips for optimizing for the future of AI search engines:
- Optimize for Featured Snippets: Today, much of the information that populates SGE responses is drawn from featured snippets. Tailoring your content to include sections well-suited to featured snippets can help drive visibility. Continue iterating and experimenting with new approaches to securing featured snippets as SGE continues to evolve.
- Focus on Unique Content: Creating content that’s the same as existing resources isn’t a recipe for success. To perform strongly, marketers need to focus on creating fresh, unique content that’s distinct from anything else out there today. Leaning on subject matter experts and conducting your own data-driven research are effective ways to stand out from the crowd.
- Commit to Excellent On-Page SEO: Much like traditional SEO, generative AI search relies on a series of algorithms to generate meaningful results for users. Steps such as using schema markup to highlight the most important content on your page and optimizing your meta descriptions and title tags give your content the best possible chance of ranking.
- Invest in a Variety of Resources: SGE isn’t just about written content: results also draw in images, videos, product descriptions, and more. By investing in creating rich, varied content, you’ll not only give your business a platform to rank for many different types of search queries, but you’ll also deliver better experiences to users once they visit your site.
- Continue to Monitor New Developments: Google SGE is still in the experimental phase. That means marketers can expect things to change in the future. Teams must stay up-to-date on content marketing trends and SEO best practices as SGE continues to evolve.
Master Google SGE and Improve Your SEO Performance
Changes to search aren’t just coming, they’re already here. Consumers are already embracing new ways to search with generative AI, and many businesses are already amending their SEO and content strategies for success in this new world.
Get started by embracing some of the strategies and ideas outlined above. If you need assistance reimagining your content strategy for Google SGE, reach out to GoDelta digital marketing advisor. Together, we’ll build an SEO-driven content strategy that amplifies your brand’s visibility and ignites business growth.
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