What are Zero-Click Searches and How Will it Impact your Content Strategy?
During my high school years, I dabbled a bit in competitive debating.
It wasn't by choice - my 9th grade English teacher pushed me forward against my will.
I was not an ideal participant for two reasons:
If there was one thing that I learnt from those school debating competitions, was about the importance of information conciseness - presenting content in a succinct manner.
And I learnt this lesson in the most crushing way possible.
My high school was...how shall I put this politely...one of the most crappiest schools imaginable in not just the suburb, but the entire state.
It was the type of high school where calls to the police were just another Wednesday.
So it came as a surprise to many when our school debating team (myself and three others) became Sydney Metropolitan West Debating Champions! *insert applause
The next phase was entering the quarter-finals of the state championship.
Our competitor in the quarter finals was listed as James Ruse Agricultural High School.
My heart sank.
If you grew up in the state of New South Wales, that high school name alone would send a shiver down your spine.
James Ruse is a selective school - basically they are the SAS Special Forces equivalent of high school students - the kind of kids that go on to become doctors, lawyers and astrophysicists.
Nonetheless, our team travelled to their campus to compete, and to say we were "annihilated" would be the understatement of the century.
To this day, I still remember the girl that I was directly opposing as second speaker - I had about 39 palm cards, and she spoke with no notes - delivering her arguments in a concise manner with a look of confidence that would break dictatorial regimes.
While our team fled their school with our tails between our legs, that little lesson has stuck with me over the years, especially now working in content, where being concise and informative can help you yield positive results for SEO.
Since the most recent Google Core Updates this year, it has becoming more apparent that search engines are focusing heavily on concise answers to direct questions searched by audiences, and even more prevalent with the growth of SGE and SXO.
Put real simply: Google wants to provide the most succinct results to users that don't require them to navigate to another page for the answer.
And this is known as a Zero-Click Search.
The concept of Zero-Click Searches is by no means new to SEO.
Think about Featured Snippets or Knowledge Panels and you'll soon realise that Google (and other search engines) has been doing this for a while now.
Even your Google Business Profile is an example of a Zero-Click Search, especially for customers who are only interested in your contact details.
Why Zero-Click Searches have become even more popular in the SEO world right now is because of the launch of AI Overviews by Google, where the search engine is hoping to deliver answers succinctly to audiences in the above-the-fold real estate, combining the power of search engines and generative AI into one serious beast.
Depending on your level of anxiety, this can either be just a new exciting digital age for content SEO, or quite frankly the end of the world.
So what could this mean for your future content strategy?
Before I attempt to answer that, let's answer a few questions on the topic.
What are Zero-Click Searches?
Zero-Click Searches are where a user enters a query into a search engine, gets their answer directly from the search results page, and doesn't feel the need to click on any links or go somewhere else to find the answer.
They've essentially got what they need and can now return to their daily habits of watching cat videos on TikTok.
A couple of examples from the customer side of Zero-Click Searches could be:
While Zero-Click Searches are convenient for users (especially those in a rush), from a business standpoint, it can/will have an impact on your website traffic and SEO strategies.
Personally, I don't believe that Zero-Click Searches are the end of the world, but like everything in digital content, demand us to adapt by providing users with high-quality informative content that draws users to click-through and learn more.
How do Zero-Click Searches impact SEO?
From the positive side of things, Zero-Click Searches can increase visibility to your content in search engines.
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Appearing in zero-click results can increase your brand visibility and authority.
Another positive impact is an improvement in organic rankings - search engines may prioritise content that frequently appears in zero-click results, leading to higher organic rankings for related keywords.
Worth also mentioning is the enhanced user experience of Zero-Click Searches.
Organisation that can provide direct, no BS answers to user queries can improve the overall user experience and build trust with the organisation's brand.
There are of course some cons for Zero-Click Searches, such as a decrease in engagement on-site.
Users who find the answer to their query directly in a zero-click result are less likely to visit your website - which doesn't allow you to capture a lot of data to make informed decisions about your future content strategy.
What are some examples of Zero-Click Searches?
Before AI Overviews came along, Google already had a number of avenues to test and probe audience responses to Zero-Click Search results, using tools such as:
How can I optimise my content strategy for Zero-Click Searches?
This is a question that I've been thinking about for a while now.
The easy route would be for me to say, "Optimise your content for the above bullet points."
But that's only part of the answer (and in fact, should ALREADY be a part of your SEO strategy, and if not, you got a lot of work to do).
My first piece of advice is don't fight or ignore Zero-Click Search.
Instead, identify opportunities to capitalise on it.
Create content designed for Zero Click Searches
Look for ways to craft content that can be delivered in short snippets or bites.
One of the most common SEO tactics for this is leveraging FAQs by providing concise and informative answers to common questions asked about your particular business or expertise.
Content is not enough here - you also need to harness your Technical SEO side by implementing FAQ (or even HowTo) schema markup to help search engines understand your content's context.
As has been a running theme in the article, you need to ensure that your content is informative and concise.
Identify rich snippets
Rich snippets are enhanced search results that include additional information beyond the basic title and description.
They often include elements like images, star ratings, product prices, event dates, or other relevant details.
This extra information makes the search results more visually appealing and informative, increasing the likelihood of users clicking on your content.
So take the time to speak to your web team about whether you can incorporate star ratings, product reviews, event information, and other relevant snippets to enhance your content in search results.
Don't forget the B-word
Yep, branding.
Even though I still cringe today every time I have to write enhanced adjectives to describe my company, branding plays an important role in determining whether an audience clicks or NOT on your content result.
The only way audiences will trust you is if you produce content that demonstrates Experience, Expertise, Authoritativeness and Trustworthiness (otherwise known as E-EAT).
It's easy to be concise, but it's even harder to be trusted.
While it's a difficult KPI to measure, trust is linked heavily to your brand, and for Zero Click Searches, can be a critical factor.
Final thoughts
As I wrote earlier, I don't think Zero-Click Searches are the end of the world - they are simply a reflection of the way audiences search for and digest content.
Organisations that don't adapt to this search behaviour will find their content is left in the cold with both low clicks and impressions.
Zero-Click Searches cannot be ignored or fought against - like SEO and good grammar, it's the way things are.
But how you tailor your content strategy to meet the concise and informative demands of audiences will determine whether you can draw benefit from this opportunity - which is what it is.