We all are aware of Google’s autocomplete suggestions. Maybe not by the exact term but by its definition. Let us make this clear to you in a bold manner.
Suppose you type a keyword or a key phrase in the search bar on Google. Google automatically list down a few suggestions that you might be willing to search. This list of keyword predictions is termed Google Autocomplete.
In this article, we will focus on how do google suggestions work and how it influences SEO, but before that let us pay attention to a few basic topics. Friends, if you are new to this Google feature, you must not skip any section in this content.
Points which we are going to focus on are –
- What is Google Autocomplete?
- How does Google determine the predictions or suggestions?
- What are the factors affecting Google autocomplete predictions?
- How do google suggestions work exactly?
- How can you see more Google suggestions?
- How does Google autocomplete SEO work? How it influences SEO?
- What are the different Google autocomplete tools?
- Steps on how to remove Google search suggestions. (Easiest)
- Why Google removes autocomplete search suggestions?
- More about Google Autocomplete suggestions
What is Google Autocomplete?
On average 3.5 billion online searches are made on the “Google” search engine every day, compared to other search engines. To optimize the user’s search experience, Google uses the most interesting feature “Google Autocomplete” to provide multiple suggestions to the keyword searched by the users before they complete typing.
In other words, Google Autocomplete is a Google Search feature that has the ability to display possible words related to the search’s query. This particular feature saves time by restricting the user from typing the exact word or sentence on the search bar. Not just that, it even gives new ideas based on the query that users may search for.
As per the latest statistics, around 25% of typing time is reduced by introducing the Google Autocomplete feature. That’s indeed a good percentage!
A few easy steps are there following which you can use and remove Google autocomplete suggestions if you want and simultaneously see more Google suggestions for a better SEO. You will learn about them in detail when you keep reading the article.
How does Google determine the autocomplete predictions or suggestions?
According to Danny Sullivan, the journalist who covers news regarding SEO and SEM topics, Google uses the most realistic approach to determine the autocomplete predictions or suggestions.
In 2018, he disclosed that Google goes through the real searches made by the users. It either shows the most common and trending topics based on the entered characters or it makes predictions based on the previous searches and location.
Google autocomplete predictions depend on multiple factors. Let us talk about them in detail before we move on to how do google suggestions work.
What are the factors affecting Google autocomplete predictions?
Google autocomplete suggestions depend on a few prominent factors; have a look –
1. It is Different for Different Countries
Google autocomplete depends on the location you exist. Suppose you are in Chicago and you type a keyword like “best restaurant in” it will automatically show you suggestions like “in Chicago” “in Lincoln Square”, “in West Loop”, etc.
2. It is Different for Different Languages
Google’s suggestions differ for different languages as well. Suppose if you have the default language as English, the suggestions will be made in English. However, if you choose other languages, it will present the suggestions based on them.
3. It is Different for Different Search Histories
Even the search history affects the suggestions made by Google. Google remembers the search keywords made in the recent past and brings down suggestions accordingly.
Besides, Google even works on a few other factors to bring accurate suggestions for the users. These include –
4. Common Yet Trending Queries
Google remembers the queries that are most frequently used by the users in the search box and accordingly brings suggestions.
5. Freshness
Google believes in producing fresh suggestions as well. If the starting letter is associated with any updated news or recent story, Google immediately shows it as one of its suggestions.
How do google suggestions work exactly?
Now since you have an idea about the factors on which Google suggestions actually depend, you can frame out how it actually works.
How do google suggestions work? How the suggestions are ranked on the search bar? – These are a few common questions that hit the mind whenever someone talks about the predictions made by Google.
Let us unfold the queries one by one.
Summarizing the above-mentioned factors, Google suggestions depend on –
- Location
- Languages
- Previously searched queries
- Real or trending searches
Google Instant Search uses this autocomplete suggestion feature to load results and change the results according to the factors.
Now the question is – how the search engine ranks the suggestions?
Many say Google ranks suggestions based on popularity. Yes, of course, popularity is a factor. But relevancy makes better preference. If Google finds a less popular query more relevant, it will rank it above the most popular ones.
The two most important factors on which Google makes its decision are –
- Spelling Corrections – Even if someone types a wrong spelling for a word, Google shows proper suggestions with proper spellings. For example, if someone types “HarryPotter” as a single word, Google displays suggestions of “Harry Potter”. It reads the searcher’s mind and drops suggestions accordingly.
- Freshness – For Google suggestions, freshness matter a lot. It determines the most popular searches and shows autocomplete suggestions to the user who might be searching for the same query. Without even achieving long-term popularity, Google automatically displays the long-term suggestions and ranks them higher.
How can you see more Google suggestions?
Do you want to get more suggestions from Google on searches? In that case, you need to learn a few things. First of all, it is not possible to see more than 10 Google suggestions. To see more Google suggestions, you have to follow a few steps.
Choose the customize option on Autocomplete tab. Google allows users to customize their suggestions as per their needs. It has options like Included, Excluded, and Excluded patterns.
Choose the “Included” option and add the autocompleted suggestions that you want to show the users whenever they search for a matching query. You can also use this option to rank the suggestions by adding any number between 0 to 10,000. Higher scored suggestions are displayed above the lower scored suggestions.
How does Google autocomplete SEO work? How it influences SEO?
Now since you know how do google suggestions work, it’s time to unfold how this particular concept influences SEO.
Google’s autocompleting suggestions contribute a lot to the improvement of SEO. This may sound bizarre but that’s the fact. Improving SEO is considered a primary job when you are running a website. Paying attention to this brings the site higher on SERPs, making it more visible to the online audience.
Now, the question is – how can you use Google autocomplete suggestions to improve your SEO? Experts make use of a popular Google autocomplete tool to perform the job with perfection.
Here in this section, we will take care of the necessary steps that can lead you to boost your website SEO through autocomplete predictions.
1. Perform intense keyword research for more traffic
Google autocomplete can be considered as a useful keyword research tool. If you notice it carefully, in a keyword-research tool you are allowed to find a list of suitable keywords based on your business niche and user intent. Right? That’s what Google autocomplete suggestions are.
The list of suggestions or predictions made by Google is nothing but keywords used by the users while searching for their relevant query. The only difference is here you get the chance to make a list of long-tail keywords instead of short ones that you can obtain from other tools.
Even if an SEO expert uses keyword-research tools, it prefers using Google autocomplete tools to find long-tail keywords of a search query. You can use all these keywords in your SEO content and optimize your website for more traffic and quality leads.
2. Get ideas for new content topics
The feature “Google autocomplete SEO” is a wonderful concept to acquire new ideas for your SEO content. The moment you start typing on Google, it automatically displays a few topics as keywords, exciting you to use them as new ideas.
To get new ideas and new content topics, you have to create your search query in a proper way. Below you can find a few suggestions –
- Use question words in your search query – The moment you choose WH-words like How, What, Why, When, Where, etc. Google will suggest multiple new topics and ideas based on your search query. Just wait and get inspired.
- Use action verbs – Action verbs or “ing” verbs bring a long list of ideas related to the search query. For example, you type “Reverse SEO”. Google will suggest reverse SEO techniques, reverse SEO tools, reverse SEO cost, reverse SEO services, reverse SEO methods, reverse SEO software, and so on.
- Use “and” with another term – Suppose you use “and” with your key term, Google will bring suggestions based on what people frequently look for. This generally happens with respect to social media, trends, and so on.
Getting new ideas through Google autocomplete is too effective. However, it’s a different issue that Google removes autocomplete suggestions when it finds something absurd.
3. Helps in managing your online reputation
Google autocomplete can manage the online reputation of your brand. Isn’t this surprising? It shows results about your brand that are related to your company, business executive, and product names. By displaying the branded suggestions, it highlights the real image of the business to the audience.
However, in some cases, Google autocomplete gives a serious threat to the business by presenting a search term that is inappropriate with the brand terms. Such problems often suppress the business reputation.
To ensure better results and to remove Google autocomplete suggestions on this, you have two prominent options.
- Addressing the problem: Try to fix the problem that is responsible for the bad reputation of the brand. The moment you eliminate the problem, people will stop searching for it. This will bring down the search volume on that particular search term and simultaneously enhance the brand image, removing the search term from the prediction list.
- Creating a positive brand image: It is your duty to create a positive brand image and help people forget about the negative publicity. For example, planning for a giveaway, introducing offers, running events, etc. By doing so, you can improve your brand visibility to the right audience and engage more loyal customers.
Google autocomplete SEO can be thus the most beautiful feature to improve your brand reputation online.
What are the different Google autocomplete tools?
Google’s autocompleting suggestions are nothing but keywords used to search for queries. If you have noticed Google’s suggestions, you will find they are basically the detailed and long-tail keywords that appear immediately before the user completes his typing. As we discussed above, the suggestions are based on real searches and depend on some specific factors.
However, to see more Google suggestions and in a proper way, it is necessary to make use of a Google autocomplete tool that can ease out the work. Just like you need a keyword research tool to find the best keywords for your business niche, you need a Google suggest tool that can determine long-tail keywords for the users.
Some popular and mostly used Google suggest tools are listed below.
- Keyword Tool
- Answer The Public
- Keyword.io
- SEO Scout
- Keyword Tool Dominator
Now, a simple question – which Google autocomplete tool is the best among the ones listed above?
All the tools mentioned above are simple and effective in their own way. You can try out any one of them and get more suggestions for your Google queries. Don’t worry, they are absolutely free of cost. You can choose any of them without thinking about your budget.
How to use a Google suggest tool?
Suppose you are choosing “Keyword Tool Dominator” as a Google autocomplete tool. Whenever you type a search term on Google, Google showcases the list of predictions. Right? Keyword Tool Dominator smartly saves all the predictions or suggestions made by Google displays them to you in a report form.
You can follow the steps mentioned below to improve your website SEO. It is very simple.
- Open Keyword Tool Dominator and enter the search term or a keyword. Hit the search option.
- Based on Google’s search algorithm, the tool listed down the predictions in the “Keyword Results” panel.
- Choose the long-tail keywords that you want to use in your keyword list.
- Add the long-tail keywords to the “Your Keyword List” by clicking on the “Add Selected To Your Keyword List” button.
- You can simply download the .csv file and use it in your website content.
- You can even import the keywords into any other tool for the further marketing process. For example, you can import the tools to Keyword Planner and gain insights into search volume.
Steps on How to Remove Google Search Suggestions
Implementing Google search suggestions for obtaining benefits is quite common. Everyone wants to take the leverage and improve their business SEO through autocompleted suggestions on Google. However, in some cases, it becomes necessary to remove Google autocomplete predictions and get the risk of unwanted risks. We will talk about this in the next section.
Here we will give limelight to the steps that can help you to remove Google autocomplete predictions in a simple way.
- Visit your Google Chrome and open the page for which you want to delete the suggestion.
- Tap on the form element for which Google wants to show predictions.
- Now start typing so that Google can display the suggestions.
- Choose the suggestions that you want to delete or remove using the arrow keys of your keyboard.
- Use the Shift+Del key from your keyboard to remove Google autocomplete suggestions.
This is the simplest yet effective way in which you can remove Google autocomplete predictions. Additionally, you can use the same method to remove the predictions from other browsers like Opera, Yandex, Vivaldi, etc.
Note: Do you know, even Google removes autocomplete predictions for a better user experience? We will get back into this in the upcoming section.
Guys, there is another way out to remove all stored suggestions and other data submitted on different forms. But for this, you need to fill up a form manually with the suggestions you want to eliminate.
Learn the steps on how to remove Google search suggestions in a complete manner.
- From your Google Chrome, open the “Settings” page.
- Click the “Advanced” icon to change the advanced settings of your browser.
- Under this tab, locate “Privacy and Security”.
- Within the “Privacy and Security” option, click on the “Clear Browsing Data”.
- A new pop-up will appear that will ask you to perform certain actions.
- Switch to the “Advanced” tab and turn on the “Autofill form data” by clicking on it.
- Finally, tap the “Clear Data” button.
Note: You can easily disable this autofill form feature completely by navigating to People – Addresses – Autofill forms. Once you disable it, Google won’t remember anything you type in the forms.
Why Google removes autocomplete search suggestions?
In the above section, you have got an insight into how to remove Google search suggestions manually. But do you know even Google can remove search suggestions when it wants to? Let us dive into this for a detailed analysis.
Predictions made by Google are quite helpful for the users as it reduces typing time and delivers a handful of new ideas to the users. People often wait to see more Google suggestions. However, in some cases, it becomes necessary for Google to remove search suggestions from the list.
Google removes autocomplete suggestions whenever it finds the results are against the autocomplete policies. These contents include –
- Sexually explicit or vulgar content in videos, photos, and textual format. that has nothing to do with medical, scientific, or sex education topics.
- Race, disability, age, nationality, sexual orientation, gender, or religion-based predictions made against a particular group or individual.
- Violent predictions or something associated with terror.
- Predictions in harmful activity.
Google automatically removes predictions the moment it determines the content is spam or harmful, and is associated with piracy or illegal acts. Google makes its best attempt to prevent inappropriate predictions. Even the users are allowed to report a prediction if they find it improper or inappropriate. How?
To report an inappropriate prediction on Google, you just need to press on the prediction for a long time and a new window showing “which predictions were inappropriate” appears. You can easily select the unwanted predictions and send a report to Google, finally eliminating them from autocomplete suggestions.
More about Google Autocomplete suggestions
Google is neither the first nor the only one to deliver predictions or suggestions on searches so as to ease out the search experience. However, being the most used search engine, its feature has gained a lot of popularity to date. Its suggestions cause people to look at the list before typing the keyword for their search queries. But you also can’t skip the truth of how Google removes autocomplete predictions when it finds the content against autocomplete policies.
Above all, the benefits of Google autocomplete SEO are known to everyone. As a consequence, the feature is highly recommended when it comes to building and improving SEO. However, in a few cases, it becomes necessary to remove Google autocomplete suggestions for privacy reasons.