Sometime in December, SEO experts started noticing that Google was quietly testing a new feature in its search box.
This is an expanded version of the box we call the Enhanced Edition autocomplete box.
In the right column of the box, Google pulled out the top three people also ask question and a People Also Searched section introduces many related terms and entities.
While there’s a ton of information out there, most news outlets and blogs just re-discuss what the box is and how they can access it.
But it’s not the publishers’ fault.
That’s all the intelligence so far, as this is obviously just a beta test and Google isn’t ready to comment yet.
At the same time, the information provided by the new autocomplete feature is obvious to industry experts.
Many SEO professionals may have noticed this new feature and believe they know what Google is doing.
Maybe we don’t have the full story yet, but I know where Google might take it.
SEO specialists can take advantage of enhanced autocomplete to perform keyword research and topic research.
What is Google’s enhanced autocomplete feature
First, let’s cover what exactly the new enhanced autocomplete box is.
Here’s a screenshot of how it looks:
Google doesn’t provide one for every search.But for some general topics (check out the other screenshots in this post), all I do after clicking is Enter Yes Click once to return to the search bar and then a larger box appears.
Before we get to what’s in the expansion box, you’ll first notice that this thing appears in Featured Snippet at Position Zero and knowledge panel on the right.
What does this tell us? We can’t be sure yet.
At first glance, the new expansion box appears to be just a new way for the search engine to organize some of the search functions it thinks are most important to your query.
Below the left column, in their usual position, are suggested autocomplete your tenure.
In the new right column are three People also ask questions, the following is People Also Searched part.
Note that the box does not contain organic search results, and I don’t expect Google to start picking results.
Well, why is this happening? The results are already here for you to review, in Google’s preferred order.
Overall, if you happen to be looking for any of these three, enhanced autocomplete seems like a way to make your search easier exist Question topics, or buy digital marketing books, or do business with GoDaddy.
If you’re wondering why Google is showing elements in its expanded search box that it already offers on the SERPs, just boil it down to further optimizing the user experience.
You know why exist There is a problem.you know why google knowledge panel exist.
All the enhanced autocomplete box does is relocate the most relevant part of the extra content to the more important real estate section so you don’t even have to scroll to find it.
If you want organic SERPs, you can look down as usual.
So, what do I think about the enhanced autocomplete box?
There’s reveal information out there that you can use for your digital marketing efforts.
Use the enhanced autocomplete box for keyword and topic research
At this stage, anyone can claim to know what the enhanced autocomplete box is and how to use it.
But I believe I can deduce what the box is supposed to represent.
if there is already a exist In a given SERP section, as well as knowledge panels for more mainstream topics, Google will choose a few items from each section to show you.
You know the items you’re showing are the most authoritative and relevant on the page.
As we’ve grown accustomed to seeing in SEO, digital marketers can take advantage of Google’s choice Conduct keyword research and topic research.
keyword research
Take a look at the box below for this version of my search query [pizza].
screenshot from search [pizza], Google, January 2022You will see autocomplete, exist problem, then People Also Searched.
But now look at the regular SERPs [pizza] the following.
screenshot from search [digital marketing], Google, January 2022The SERP shows me what you can expect from this type of query.I have a map my position, local package on the left, and existbelow this.
Now, take a look at the enhanced autocomplete box. It showed me Domino’s, Papa John’s, Little Caesars and DoorDash.
Do you see these entities anywhere on the actual SERP I showed above?
Because Google is showing me these results, it assumes something about my query, i.e. I want pizza right now.
If so, these are some options I could try (like DoorDash) and a convenient way to get it.
But what if I’m a new pizza chain that wants to compete with Domino’s and Papa John’s?If I want to get into Google’s enhanced autocomplete box too [pizza] Inquiries in Wilkes-Barre, PA?
If I was proficient in digital marketing, I would look at these companies’ websites to see what their meta information looks like, what they use in H1, and how they optimize their pages for SEO and user experience.
I’ll see how easy it is to order pizza from their website or find a location near me.
After poring over these sites manually, I look at them in tools like SEMrush to see what’s going on behind the scenes.
What are they doing right and what does my pizza chain’s website need to do to perform well?
Eventually, I might find that these sites have healthy domain authority built on backlinks and Core Web Vitals and content.
However, I can also browse the keywords of these sites to see what opportunities are available for my franchise.
In the context of this example, any owner of a pizza chain must know that Domino’s, Papa John’s, and Little Caesars are very large.
However, you never know what your website can do until you look at your competitors’ keyword profiles.
There is a good reason why Google chose to put these three companies in my enhanced autocomplete box instead of the other three.
In classic SEO reverse engineering, we can use Google’s selection to discover the type of results that the search engine really wants to see.
subject research
The pizza example above is a particularly interesting example for keyword research, as Google gives us some search competitors that don’t even show up in my organic search results.
As I’ve always said, it’s obvious.
But what about thematic studies?
I don’t think there are any particularly good revelations that would solve this problem.
Google is moving the top three exist Ask questions about the enhanced autocomplete boxes for certain searches, which allow us to also reverse engineer the SEO of those results (to see what works for those sites).
So in general, the SEO community already knows how to take advantage of exist.
However, I think we can see three “features” exist Being in the box is just more confirmation of Google’s confidence in these results.
This is to say: if for some reason you don’t notice exist Before, you should absolutely do it now.
Google tells content marketers everywhere that many will also ask these three questions related to your query if they’ve searched for the general query [pizza], they may also want to know if pizza tastes healthy, or who invented it first.
Depending on your market niche, these content topics may be relevant to you.
Maybe you run a pizza blog.
Anything is possible.
takeout
As you’ve probably seen in the SEO press, Google has been testing a number of other SERP features that take up page width lately, from featured snippets to map packs.
This tells us that Google has been wondering whether to deliver the content of the format It will be better for user experience.
screenshot from search [schuylkill county], Google, January 2022Users just need to get used to any changes that Google permanently implements.
Still, SEO pros should pay attention to the enhanced autocomplete box and any other beta tests they’ve seen recently.
Google is hinting at some possible new SERP priorities for us, and it’s up to us all to rise to the challenge.
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