Multisearch is one recent development that aims to make it easier for people to find the goods they’re looking for online. Here’s how the technology works and what benefits it offers consumers shopping digitally.

The Problem with Text-Only Search

Text search has proven to be a highly effective method for finding information online, but it isn’t completely foolproof. For example, you may see an item of clothing on a website that you love but would like to have in a different color. Using text to search for this item can be tricky, since there’s no efficient way to convey this information with text alone. It would be much easier to use a picture of the clothing, then include additional detail using text.

How Multisearch Improves the Customer Experience

Multisearch addresses this issue by allowing users to search for images and text at the same time. Using the above example, you can include a screenshot or picture in your search, then use the “+ Add to your search” in the Google app to refine the search criteria.

This technology is made possible through artificial intelligence, which “learns” search habits and behaviors to provide more accurate results. The search habits of consumers tend to be a lot more intuitive than search engines were previously capable of. The addition of image searches is just one way that Google and other search engines are providing an enhanced experience to users all over the world.

What That Means for Your Business

Businesses must also remain on the cutting edge of technology to ensure they’re providing the best possible goods and services to customers. Here at SonicSEO.com, we constantly follow new technologies and trends to make certain our clients are fully informed and aware of the digital landscape. For instance, our knowledge of search intent allows us to develop a compelling and impactful internet presence for the businesses we work with.

We’re always happy to discuss your current marketing strategy, so feel free to call (505) 821-2000 if you have questions or would like to update your current approach.

Here’s the quick and easy guide to Google’s declaration of no support for “noindex” and what it means for your website.

What Is robots.txt?

To understand the significance of Google’s July 2 announcement, you first need to understand what robots.txt is in the first place—it’s essentially a command file that provides directions to Google’s search bot about how to move through your site.

Sounds kind of counterintuitive, right? No one knows what exactly Google search bots use as ranking factors, how much weight they assign to ranking factors, how long they take to detect and index new content or changes to existing content. Yet, SEO professionals can, in part, use robots.txt to control what pages the search bot “reads,” indexes and what links it will follow.

What Is noindex in robots.txt?

One command SEO professionals have been able to give Google’s search bots in robots.txt is “noindex.” It means what it says—it tells the search bot not to index the page. The search engine crawler does not “read” the content or images, so nothing on the page will ever rank and show up on a search engine results page (SERP).

Why Would You “noindex” A Page?

Again, it might seem counterintuitive that SEO professionals would ever tell search bots not to index a page. After all, the point of SEO is to get better ranking and visibility for web pages and website.

“noindex” can actually help website ranking potential by removing pages that do not add value to a user’s search experience from consideration.

Perhaps you’re thinking, “Why not just remove the whole page?” That’s because the page is often necessary for an individual user experience and/or for internal purposes. So, pages that SEOs often “noindex” include:

• “Thank you” pages—these pages simply thank a user for some kind of submission. It’s good manners on the part of the company website, but it doesn’t do anything for ranking potential.
• Administrative and login pages intended for internal users—these pages are the gateway to internal content; only internal users need to know where they are and how to locate them, so they shouldn’t end up on “public” SERPs.

SEO pros may also “noindex” archives and auto-generated pages or posts that a client doesn’t really use (this often happens with ecommerce product page templates).

What Does This Mean for Your Website?

Google’s announcement that as of September 1 it will no longer support “noindex” in robots.txt does not mean SEO professionals have less control over search engine bots. They can direct search bots to move through a site, exclude a page, not follow a link, etc. same as always, just through different means.

SonicSEO.com can—and will—continue to direct search bots to high-quality pages and steer them away from internal pages and pages that don’t add value to public searchers’ experiences.

So, while Google announcements usually come with some sort of “brace yourself” warning, you’re just not likely to feel an impact from Google’s declaration of independence from unsupported robots.txt rules.