Stop the Scroll: Ideas for Optimizing for Google's Continuous Scroll on Desktop

The age-old, year-end tradition of exclaiming “SEO is Dead” has given way to “Page One Results are Dead.” That’s because on December 5, Google announced that desktop search results pages had moved to a continuous scroll (not infinite) experience. This happened with mobile search results in October 2021. 

As a result, the classic ten-results-on-a-page, paginated search results are officially a thing of the past.

The catalyst behind this change is likely driven by Google losing engagement to other platforms where people can interact with content using search. Earlier this summer, a senior Google official mentioned at a conference that according to their internal studies, 40% of young people use TikTok or Instagram to do searches such as finding a place for lunch. 

What IDX is seeing

We’ve witnessed Google testing this feature for several weeks now. There’s also evidence of this in Search Console as keywords with positions past traditional page one are generating more impressions than prior to this search engine landing page (SERP) feature change.

An example of this is a keyword like “assisted living near me.” One of our clients saw impressions increase 38% and clicks increase 104% despite their average position falling from 36.9 to 42.1. On the desktop, average position fell from 49.2 to 52.1, resulting in impressions increasing 50%; but clicks fell 30%.

While this data is hardly conclusive, it demonstrates Page One visibility may not be the SEO echelon it once was and that it is possible for brands to earn some visibility when they have difficulty ranking for their most desired keywords. 

Other notable and recent changes

Continuous scroll is not the only recent change to Google's SERPs. For months, Google has been working to make search results more visual. Google's transition to a more visual SERP is probably most apparent for transactional keyword searches where organic listings are accompanied by one or more thumbnail images. Additionally, Google has added more organic shopping results. When these listings are clicked on, the searcher stays on the search results page.

How Marketers Should Respond

• Ensure search results are enticing to click. For information-based queries, experiment with different page titles and meta descriptions for those results that appear past Page One to see if a change in language can increase clickthrough rates.
• Analyze search intent alignment of your keywords. For keywords suffering from low engagement, review whether they properly align with search intent. An easy way to do this is to perform a search for a given query and compare your page to the other results that are ranking for that term. If the results are drastically different, your approach for using this term no longer aligns with intent. You will need to modify your content or create new content that better aligns with this new intent. Example: you perform a product search – let’s say a search for “a small business POS system” – and Google returns search results that skew heavily toward articles, such as: “Six Best POS Systems For Small Business.”
• Optimize Free Shopping Listings. If you are an online retailer and are not taking advantage of organic shopping listings, you are missing a massive opportunity. Part of continuous scroll relies on having results that are interesting and visual enough to keep the searcher wanting (and scrolling) to see more. We expect content like infographics, videos, lists, slideshows, etc. may get more traction in future if Google sees it keeps engagement in SERPs high, Set up your product feed and get it submitted to Google Merchant Center, pronto!
• Diversify your content assets. For years, entire business models have been built around long-form article content. This is still a valuable approach  – we are strong proponents – but Google may prefer other content types if it is more “helpful,” which is to say as stipulated in Google’s Helpful Content Update. Side note: A December 2022 Helpful Content Update was rolling out at the time of this writing. We have seen Google display multiple YouTube videos for product and product category focused SERPs. Brands can supplement existing product and service content with videos that communicate how their products work or are made. There’s an additional layer of discoverability here as the continuous scroll environment encourages searchers to explore more results before clicking through to any page. To find these opportunities, use a tool like SEMRush to identify terms where a video or video carousel is displayed in search results alongside your organic listings. Confirm the search intent is behind those queries, then ideate topics and create content that best aligns with those opportunities.
• Leverage your internal search and customer service data. Learn what questions are frequently asked and what challenges your customers are looking to solve. Create tools and publish content that addresses these needs. It scratches the search itch and frees up time for your customer service reps.

As the continuous scroll feature matures, we will report back on how the data is affecting organic search results more broadly. Until then, spend some time interacting with your SERPs and look for opportunities to use some of the above tactics. If you have questions about how IDX can help your brand improve customer engagement in organic search, please reach out.