Passage indexing was announced to the world in a recent Google blog post. According to Google, the update will impact up to 7% of its global searches and hopes to increase the chances of giving answers to complex search queries. We’ve already seen how invested Google is in trying to get users the answers they need. Their most recent updates have been attempting to use their algorithms to determine users’ search intent. All of the best SEO services take this nuance into account. However, this latest update may impact eCommerce sites quite profoundly. What does Google’s new passage indexing update mean for eCommerce websites?
Intent-Based Searching
If you’ve been following the most recent updates from Google, it’s clear that they are looking at intent-based results as a means of getting content to users. ECommerce sites will understand that results are based on what the user wants, not their search terms. When optimizing for SEO, eCommerce website owners have had to factor this into their product descriptions and content marketing posts. Intent-based searches are supposed to reward companies that put more effort into their websites than just the bare minimum. They tend to favor companies that engage in content marketing. However, the intent-based search is backed up by Google’s Snippet system.
Snippets and Links
The featured snippet or “answer box” is a tool that Google uses to highlight important information so that searchers can quickly access information without having to visit a site. They’ve made it a lot easier for websites to rank on the first page by prioritizing those that cater to the featured snippet box. However, research from Ahrefs notes that links still matter more than snippets, at least for now. This lack of popularity may result from fewer businesses incorporating the featured snippet on their search content.
Passage Indexing and the Snippet
Google seems to be highly invested in the snippet box, and its newest update indexes page content to add to the snippet. Even websites that don’t take advantage of the snippet functionality will get their snippet featured at the top of a web search. However, the indexing tends to favor more long-tail keywords, and as a result, long-form content is typically preferred for indexing purposes. For eCommerce websites, this means that their content marketing may have to shift gears and head in a different direction. Instead of creating empty content, they need to build more indexable portions within their content marketing.
Both Users and Businesses Stand to Benefit
This change reflects Google’s push for business owners to understand the content on their own websites better. Bulk, low-quality content will be penalized more, as well as content that doesn’t add value to the consumer experience. Users stand to gain from having more rich content from their web searches. Even so, the Ahrefs research shows that people don’t really pay much attention to the snippet if they’re shopping for products. In such a case, a business might be able to get away without having to revamp significant amounts of their on-site content. Those that want better results may need to look into long-form content.
