What are zero-click searches?
Zero-click searches refer to when people don't click on a link because they've already gotten the answer on the Google page. For example, if you search for "when to change to summer tires", you get the answer directly on the Google page without having to click through to a website.
However, there are several reasons why many don't click through:
- People rephrase their questions
- People search for quick facts
- People get the information they need about the company
- People navigate directly to apps
People rephrase their questions
When people search on Google, they don't always know exactly how to type it. Often people start with a broad search, such as "pants", and after viewing the search results, they realize that they were looking for "black pants" instead. Since the first search didn't result in any clicks, this is known as a zero-click search.
People search for quick facts
People often search for quick facts such as the weather forecast, time zones, when we switch to daylight saving time, etc. With these searches, you can see the answer directly on the Google page, so people don't have to click further.
People get the information they need about the company
For example, when people search for the opening hours of a specific store or the store's address, they can find the answer directly on Google's page and don't need to click further.
People navigate directly to apps
For some searches, people are navigated directly to apps instead of websites. For example, if people search for a TV show, links to streaming services such as Netflix will appear - if they have this app on their phone, clicking the link will take them directly to the app. Therefore, this click does not count as it is not a click to a website.
What do you need to do?
Although some might think that it's not worth focusing on SEO if many don't click through anyway, it's important to remember that those who don't click through are simply looking for a very specific answer and therefore wouldn't be converted into customers anyway.
But what exactly should you do? One of the most important things is to become even better at doing more thorough research on which keywords are relevant. For example, if you are visible on many search phrases that do not result in clicks, but your target audience is also searching for other keywords that are relevant for them to click on, then it is important that you adapt your SEO to this. This way, you can hopefully drive more traffic. It is therefore important to find out exactly what your target audience is searching for, what questions they have, what your company offers, and then match these against each other to make sure you offer what customers are looking for.
3 ways you can increase your visibility in the open web
If you still want to increase your visibility in the open web, i.e. on Google's site, you can do one of the following (or all three if you go all-in):
1. Strive to appear in the featured snippet
The 'featured snippet' is the top (unless there are paid ads) you sometimes see in Google search results, which gives a brief explanation of your question.
You can't do anything specific to make sure you appear in the featured snippet. However, it's important that you optimize your content on your site in terms of SEO. SEO and provide answers to what people typically ask about/search for. This way, there is a likelihood that you will appear in the featured snippet.
2. Strive to appear in 'Frequently Asked Questions'
'Frequently Asked Questions' is an FAQ box that sometimes appears in the middle of Google search results.
The principle here is the same as with the featured snippet; make sure you optimize your content to answer what people are asking, i.e. Frequently Asked Questions. This way, you are more likely to be featured in Frequently Asked Questions.
3. Use paid ads
In cases where it is important to be shown to the few who are actually interested in clicking through, it can make sense to use paid ads. This is because paid ads are shown above the featured snippet and the visibility is therefore higher.
