All you need to know about zero-click searches and SEO

Google is increasing the frequency of zero-click searches in a variety of SERPs. Here, we analyse what zero-click searches mean to SEOs and strategies in B2B marketing.

Click one of the questions below to find out more.

What is a zero-click search?

What does a zero-click search look like?

Why is Google moving towards zero-click searches?

Is it bad for my website to rank for a lot of zero-click searches?

Is it possible to completely avoid zero-click searches?

How can I improve my SEO clicks?

Is your website future proofed for an increased number of zero-click searches?

How do zero-click SERPs impact SEO?

Does anyone actually care about traffic anymore?

Contact us to adapt your SEO strategy for a zero-click future.

What is a zero-click search?

A zero-click search is when a user taps in their query into Google and their response is there on the search engine result page (SERP) without the need to enter a website. 

What does a zero-click search look like? 

A zero-click search can take the form of around six forms.

Direct answers: These are typically for obvious questions where the user would never convert. Like: “What’s the capital of England?”

Featured snippets: A short answer or a list from a webpage which typically answers a question from a user’s query. 

Knowledge panels:   These are information boxes that appear on Google when you search for entities (people, places, organizations, things) that are in the Knowledge Graph. 

Local search results:   These are search results that are relevant to a user’s location. They are often displayed in a map pack, which shows the top three local businesses for a given query.

AI Overviews: These are summaries of information that are generated by AI. They are designed to help users quickly find the information they are looking for.

People Also Ask:  This is a section of the search results page that shows related questions that users might be interested in. It can be a good source of inspiration for content ideas in an SEO strategy.

Why is Google moving towards zero-click searches?

Google’s primary aim is to enhance user experience by delivering answers faster and more effectively. There a few different reasons that Google’s edging ever closer to zero-click features across the board.

User Intent Matching  

Users prefer instant results for simple queries, especially on mobile devices where convenience and limiting clicks matters most.

Google’s Ecosystem  

By keeping users on Google’s platform, the search engine can maintain control of the experience and serve ads effectively through the data collected.  

Voice Search Growth  

Voice assistants like Google Assistant and Gemini’s live feature thrive on quickly providing concise answers, further driving the adoption of zero-click SERPs with featured snippets powering these results.

How can I improve my SEO clicks?

There are a multitude of different things to tweak in a page’s meta data and in its keyword strategy in order to increase clicks. 

It’s important to think of a meta title and a meta description as an invite to a webpage. Using an eye-catching compelling meta description can help to generate a sense of intrigue for potential website visitors. 

If your site has any additional high quality content to offer, like downloads or tools, it can be good to include these in your meta descriptions to incentivise readers. 

And, as with all good SEO strategies, it’s imperative that you focus on your user’s journey and on-site experience. As clicks continue to become premium metrics, it’s important that a journey is sign posted clearly and accurately for optimal lead generation and conversions/key events.

Is it bad for my website to rank for a lot of zero-click searches?

No. 

In fact, we just need to train our brains to realise it’s a good thing. Zero-click searches often increase brand visibility since the user still sees your content. The challenge lies in making your content valuable enough that, when users do need more in-depth answers, they choose your website over competitors.  

Is it possible to completely avoid zero-click searches?

Honestly, no. In all spheres of searches there are now zero-click elements on the SERPs. Simple, factual queries will always lead to zero-click results. 

Is your website future proofed for an increased number of zero-click searches?

If your website has all of the following, then you’re probably okay. If not, give us an email and we’ll sort it all out for you.

• Features schema markup
• Has a wide range of blogs all about your separate products, services or categories 
• Is optimised for a cohesive keyword strategy with both long tail and short tail keywords
• Highly relevant and high-quality content on every page 
• A mobile friendly website design
• Quick website load times
• A strong social media presence
• Good user experience 

How do zero-click SERPs impact SEO?

Websites are typically finding that fewer people are visiting their sites for informational terms. These zero-click centred SERPs and zero-click searches are causing impressions to increase and clicks to decrease.

Does anyone actually care about website traffic anymore? 

Many SEOs, and marketers in general, are starting to agree that traffic is more a vanity metric than a key performance metric that means much. Of course, there’s a balance that marketers need to hit with visibility, traffic and conversions. But, as long as conversions are up, that’s the main thing. 

Increasing traffic of customers that want to convert and putting them into a meaningful customer journey, like smart email journeys can help to increase conversions without the attribution to Organic search.