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Google's Site Image Preview's Affect on Micro-Niche Sites

by SalahStudios
13 replies
  • SEO
    • |
Is it a game changer? If a user can see that legendary Xfactor style template from a mile away, will they still click-through?

I don't think users will take long to adapt their searching habits to it and become much more selective with their click-thorough. The impact on micro-niche sites and traditional IM sales pages could be substantial.

Seems like the image preview just rolled out to the masses this week, I didn't notice it until this morning when checking my SERPS and all of a sudden I saw a full page preview image ala the Greasemonkey FireFox plugin...by accident. You don't even have to click on the magnifier just click anywhere on/around the description and it pops up, once active it happens on rollover for each result.

I was shocked at first and immediately started thinking of the implications...but being the talented designer that I am this is actually good news for me. As a designer I really had to force myself not to spend too much time on the design aspect of my micros, now I have a good reason to. I'm still gonna keep my lovely high CTR layout structure above the fold but my logos, headers, mid-text graphics, and sidebars are going to get some of that special design love I usually reserve for custom client sites.

I think pretty sites are making a comeback, what do you guys think?
#affect #google #google image preivew #image #micro niche #microniche #preview #site #site preview #sites
  • Profile picture of the author yukon
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    • Profile picture of the author torentash
      Originally Posted by yukon View Post

      I keep all of my Adsense sites clean & simple.

      I've never used an xfaxtor template, no offense they just look ugly.

      I also never use the same theme for more than one site.
      Yes, one template for one site. It's so easy to change templates than there is no excuse for using one template. And btw xfactor's template is not ugly at all. just add some shadings and amazon-like background, and the template could be beautiful. even if there isn't any graphics involved.
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  • Profile picture of the author terryd
    Those templates sure do look ugly and I actually like the preview feature. For people who can create and enticing looking site it's only going to benefit them hugely I'd imagine.
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    • Profile picture of the author JoshuaG
      I agree, the xfactor type sites will look ugly in the preview and that may lower traffic. This is a good reason for adsense publishers to have clean, inviting websites.
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  • Profile picture of the author Rob141
    I doubt many people will use this preview. Nothing to worry about in my opinion.
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    • Profile picture of the author Tom Goodwin
      Originally Posted by Rob141 View Post

      I doubt many people will use this preview. Nothing to worry about in my opinion.
      Only time will tell...but to be honest, I don't think the average Google searcher will ever use the previews.
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      Masters Powerlifting
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      • Profile picture of the author paulgl
        Originally Posted by Tom Goodwin View Post

        Only time will tell...but to be honest, I don't think the average Google searcher will ever use the previews.
        And if they do...what are they going to see? Not much! Tried one of my
        pages and you can't make out squat. What is hilarious, is the adsense
        ads are taken off. So your site has a much different layout anyway.

        If people want an instant search, they are not going to click on any
        magnifying glass first.

        Looks like just some novelty added to the search. No big deal either way.

        Paul
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        If you were disappointed in your results today, lower your standards tomorrow.

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        • Profile picture of the author zombiewarrior
          The key is long-term building... build beautiful (even if they're simple/one-page) sites and it won't matter if there's a preview or not, people will still go
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  • Profile picture of the author WealthWithin
    Good. This was bound to happen someday.

    Sure they make more money. But everyone knows they're ugly and created for search engines.

    Think long-term. Build quality sites.
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  • Profile picture of the author cma01
    It will be interesting to see if people use it and if it does affect click through rate.

    Well the MFA template I've seen was butt ugly, lol.
    I agree. It is obnoxiously ugly.

    I have one base layout for mine and then create custom graphics for each site and just change the CSS. I don't want to work on a site that I hate looking at.
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    "Wise men talk because they have something to say; fools, because they have to say something."
    ~ Plato
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  • Profile picture of the author calfred
    My AdSense sites don't seem to be affected by Google preview. Up and up.

    Don't see what's the big fuss about this preview feature.

    My hunch is users are looking for information that they want.
    By using the preview, they can get a rough idea whether the site really contains what they want (their search keyword) in a faster way.
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