Google No Longer has a Page 1? Game changer!!

INTERESTING Google update. Possible game changer for your business.

As I’m sitting here researching their new SEO strategies related to more natural search for images and translations and maps; and checking the impact of their latest big update on all clients’ traffic, I realized something huge.

When performing a search in Google Chrome … there is no longer a page 1, page 2, page 3 … just one long scrolling page. (For the past couple of weeks since writing this post, it has switched back and forth between this new view and the old, expected one).

I thought at first it could be a new Chrome extension I may have added, but I tried it incognito (which has all extensions turned off) and had my husband try on his computer. Same result.

This is NOT the case in other browsers such as Microsoft Edge. But what Google does, they tend to follow behind. Safari mobile has been doing much the same thing (although you will hit the “more” button – but it seems further down than it was). Mobile results may have had something similar for a bit longer, but it’s also now that way on Google and on desktop. And desktop matters – our clients who are B2B still have most of their search traffic coming from desktop. B2C tend to have more mobile users, but they also always still have desktop users as well.

This could be a game changer for you.

Psychologically we already know people don’t like to click on that button to go to page 2. That’s why everything you’ve heard was “you’ve gotta be on page 1, you’ve gotta be on page 1”. But now Page 1 has a LOT more listings that it used to. I didn’t count, but as I kept scrolling, I thought about all of the keywords for all of the clients that we’ve been able to move to page 2 or 3 on an important keyword that had major competition from some of the really big guys (which can sometimes be nearly impossible to overtake using only organic strategies when you aren’t that big) … but now, those results, are in the results that viewers are already scrolling.

Now I also realize all online platforms tend to roll out updates to users at different times. It’s possible you already saw this update on desktop before I did. It’s also possible it hasn’t rolled out to you yet. Maybe it’s a temporary glitch and they’re going to turn it back off (I sure hope not).

Let me know your thoughts … or your questions! What do you think about how this could help you?

Comment below!

Vicky Wu

Vicky is the CEO and Chief Creative Strategist of Vicky Wu Marketing. She draws from 30 years of experience at the CMO level, the CEO level, marketing for Fortune 500 companies and multi-million and multi-billion-dollar organizations, PLUS strategies learned helping startups and nonprofits with limited budgets … now focusing on providing SMBs with effective and efficient marketing strategies – giving them access to the same level of expertise as the really big guys with deep pockets, that they may not otherwise be able to access.