Basically, as you start typing in your keyword in the search bar, the search results below will change dynamically (or stream) as you continue to type. Kind of cool, right?

Here’s a video of the experimental search in action:

As you can see, with each word you type in, the search results will give you different options and predict what you are looking, possibly saving you time (seconds?) in typing.

Is This Good?

I can see a couple of benefits of this new streamlined search:

• You can see new sets of results instantaneously with just couple of keystrokes.
• No needing to load new result pages for new searches.

But I have also read some negative comments:

• The first few words of your search could yield some not-so-welcomed results
• Some have complained of a drop in rankings and/or less traffic to their website.

What Say Ye?

My opinion is still neutral; I can’t definitely say one way or the other if this is an improvement or not. But, what do you say about this experimental feature? What if it’s here to stay? I’d be interested to hear your thoughts.

However, there is still a large number of small business owners and marketing folks who persist in the notion that if you rank top-10 organically for a keyword (sometimes even top-20 or 30), that you shouldn’t bid for it with your PPC campaign. The reason is that you don’t want to cannibalize sales from SEO, which makes complete sense.

Except when that doesn’t happen.

Far too many times, people assume that if you’re running PPC and SEO concurrently for a given keyword, PPC is surely gobbling up sales that they would otherwise be getting “for free”. It could be happening, but how do you know? ‘Cuz you better KNOW. In this age of ultra-online-trackability-for-free (thank you again, Google Analytics), why would you assume anything with your business on the line?

Let go of the assumptions, mostly propogated by SEO-philes and SEO-only agencies looking to pad their numbers (you bet I went there).

You have to apply the mantra of online marketing–TEST IT.

A few questions to help you find out what’s really happening:

Have you tested both scenarios (SEO only, SEO and PPC together) long enough to get statistically significant results?

You can’t run both for a week (unless you get a whole heapin’ heck-a-bunch of traffic to your site) and expect to KNOW if PPC is robbing from SEO. You have to test each scenario until your pile of data is bulky enough to be conclusive. Make sure, however, that you’re not testing through seasonal highs and lows that might skew your results.

Are the conversion gains from PPC+SEO noticeably above your SEO-only totals? Are they within your efficiency thresholds?

If you answered ‘yes’ to both of those questions, you should keep running PPC. Even if PPC appears to take a small slice of your conversions from your SEO efforts, who’s going to argue with more overall profitable conversions?

Are your competitors bidding on your high-ranking SEO keywords?

You’re not doing this search thing in a vacuum. Your competitors are trying to make you homeless and they’ll happily accept you not bidding on your SEO sacred-cow keywords so they can skim more PPC conversions for themselves at a lower cost. Something to think about…

It’s all about the data!

I’ll forego the discussion on conversions that result in recurring revenue. Suffice it to say that if customers re-up with no further acquisition cost, this should never have been an issue in the first place.

And let’s not get into the opportunity you have with PPC campaigns to generate more focused content for a landing page that would convert better than just some deep link on your website.

For now, let’s stick to the simple truth that we can all afford to live by–When you can track it, always test it. Always.

First the honesty. We can’t read the algorithm’s mind. No matter how good you are there is a lot of unknown or things beyond your control. The good news is the payoff is big and if you implement sound search engine optimization, you’ll see an impact over time. Normally over several months, depending on the competition.

Clients and readers often ask why a site that’s younger, smaller, or just plain “uglier” outranks them. There really isn’t a simple answer. More than a few times I’ve had to say, “I don’t know.”

What Matters for Web Site Marketing:

1. Publish quality, original information on your site that establishes you as an expert in your industry. Blogs are a great way to do this. Each blog entry is like adding another web page of information to your site.
2. A larger more established web site will generally rank higher than smaller separate sites. It pulls more weight.
3. Get quality, relevant links from a variety of sources.
4. Set realistic expectations – if you want to rank for the words “internet marketing” it’s going to take a while. Or, you may not have much of a chance. It’s a general term and a lot of other web sites want to rank high for it. Also, your competition may have been around much longer with many links, great content, and trust built in search engines.

I like to think of web site marketing as a relationship – it’s something you build over time. Since many clients like to see results faster, paid advertising in search engines can fill in the gap. Notice the difference – one is running an ad, the other is building a relationship. Sure you pay for every link, but it’s quick. That’s why doing both is key.