September 19, 2023 | Daryna Putintseva

SGE: A New Era for Digital Content in Google’s Ecosystem

The way we use search engines is continuously changing. The next big thing to change the way we consume digital content might be Search Generative Experience (SGE) by Google. Let’s talk about what SGE is and how modern businesses need to adjust to align with an entirely new way to show up in your audience’s search results.

What is SGE, and why do we need it?

Search Generative Experience (SGE) is an innovative approach to search engine optimisation that Google is currently testing. This strategy uses artificial intelligence and machine learning algorithms to generate unique and relevant content for a website’s search engine results pages.

The idea behind SGE is to create content that is not just keyword-rich but also engaging and informative for the user. Using AI, SGE can produce content tailored to each user’s needs and interests, resulting in a more personalised and satisfying search experience.

According to Google, the initial test rollout of SGE has been successful. There are several possible reasons behind this:

• Users have low trust in the majority of information they find online (the spread of undeveloped AI models, deep fakes, hype marketing).
  
• Social media isn’t genuine, with creators trying to sell rather than connect or tell a story.
  
• Search engines prioritise paid content, reducing the visibility of other valuable but not-promoted sources.

SGE aims to solve all these by taking the user on a tailored discovery journey. And although the end goal is still promoting products and services, we will be shopping instead of listening to constant sales pitches.

Is SEO Dead?

Absolutely not. And in fact, the way it evolved over the years is very similar to the principles on which SGE is built on.

In its early days, SEO was often characterised by keyword stuffing and low-quality link building, where the primary goal was to manipulate search engine rankings. However, SEO had to adapt as search engines like Google refined their algorithms. 

Today, successful SEO is about delivering a seamless, informative, and user-friendly online experience that aligns with the evolving demands of both search engines and users. Simply said, we are starting to see less and less infinite-scroll articles about the century-long history of a zucchini bread family recipe. 

Isn’t that wonderful?

Essentially, SEO is still very much a requirement. But the way we optimise going forward will be focused on accommodating both users and AI algorithms.

SGE Fundamentals: EEAT

Here is your ultimate cheat sheet for staying relevant and thriving in the era of SGE – EEAT:

• Experience – a record of being part of your segment and delivering value to your customers.
  
• Expertise – high-quality, informative content demonstrating a deep understanding of the industry or topic.
  
• Authority – consistently establishing your brand as a thought leader in your field.
  
• Trustworthiness – transparency, reliability, and ethical practices in everything you do online and offline. 

There are several key aspects that contribute to EEAT. Digital accessibility, for starters, is an ethical practice of ensuring your content is informative and, at the same time, usable by anyone. This includes optimising the technical features such as loading speed, image contrast, and alternative text.

Demonstrating thought leadership by engaging with your audience is another aspect. Actively contribute to conversations, show what inspires and informs you, and include relevant and verified data.

But the most important rule when optimising your content for SGE is always putting the user first and AI second. Thinking like AI will help you rank better by tweaking structure or arranging keywords. But at the end of the day, the value you offer matters the most.

Five Steps to Start Optimising for SGE

1. Business identification. Tell Google you mean business. Specifically, what kind of business you are in, your areas of expertise, and what you offer your customers.
   
2. Market analysis. Regularly update your analysis results and conclusions to align the content with your audiences’ specific needs and pains.
   
3. Strategize. Focus on the outcomes you want to achieve and prioritise your content efforts accordingly.
   
4. Rich content. Use natural language in copy and facilitate a streamlined and comfortable user experience to deliver consistently good quality. Include images, infographics, and videos to further enhance user experience.
   
5. Check with Schema. Run your web pages through Schema.org to ensure you structure data in a way that’s easy to perceive by humans and AI algorithms.

Don’t Wait for SGE

The “Browse with SGE” experience is currently available through Google Search Labs to a limited number of individuals in the U.S., India, and Japan. Now is a good time to start preparing for the future. Besides, what SGE currently stands for is a pretty reasonable direction for creating quality content in general.

Being a trustworthy expert on a certain topic really matters online because there’s just so much information out here. It’s like working as a guide in a big, confusing maze. So, becoming a go-to person or channel for something people care about opens up many doors to networking, growing, and communicating your message.

Focus on delivering rich content, creating with purpose, and actively engaging and networking inside and outside your audiences. And you’ll be ready for the new era of search whenever it goes full-blast.