Impact of Google Removing URLs and Domain Names from Search Results

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Google is testing a new SERP that will end URLs’ appearance in search results. With the removal of domain names and URLs from search results, only the website favicon and breadcrumbs will show the website name. This change is quickly taking place in mobile search results.

You can compare search results with and without URLs in Mobile Search Results.

Google is giving importance to breadcrumbs and showing them in search results instead of URLs. The impact of removing URLs or even domain names in search results can be profound for digital marketers.

How will Google removing URLs in search results impact online business?

If Google decides to remove URLs and Domain names from search results, online websites might see the below impacts.

1. Fluctuations in CTR

Removing URLs or domain from search results might impact the website’s organic clicks. The snippet needs to stand out from other competitors. The website won’t have the advantage of brand recognition through domain name. The breadcrumbs and favicon will play an important part in click-through rates (CTR).

2. Favicons and Breadcrumbs

Online businesses need to revisit their quality of favicon and keywords in breadcrumbs to ensure their website is easily recognized and catches users’ attention. The website that hasn’t yet developed proper breadcrumbs needs to prioritize this task.

3. SSL and Trustworthiness

The HTTPS in URLs signify to users that the website is safe and secure. It increased the perceived trustworthiness of the website. With the removal of URLs in search results, users can’t know whether the business is SSL secured in search results.

4. Phishing and Frauds

Phishing sites can easily impersonate businesses to get sensitive customer information. It is easy to replicate and build a look-a-like website favicon and business name. This increases the potential of online fraud. Genuine businesses need to be extra vigilant about phishing websites impersonating their business.

5. Benefit for new websites

The disappearance of domain names and URLs from search results can be helpful for new business domains. There is a perceived bias towards domain names that sound attractive to users. A great meta title and description can help the genuine business grow in a competitive niche when domain names are gone.

How to gain maximum benefit from the removal of URLs from SERP

There are a number of steps you can take to ensure that your website gains maximum visibility in search results.

1. Increase CTR with Breadcrumbs

Breadcrumb or breadcrumb trail is a navigation scheme that tells the user’s location on a website. Websites need to organize their content in a hierarchical manner which is displayed through the breadcrumbs at the top of the webpage. It helps users see their current position on the website and makes it easier for Google bots to understand the website structure and hierarchy.

The text links of breadcrumbs are horizontally arranged separated by the “greater than” symbol (>)

For example- Home> Children Toys > Best Selling Toys

Google sees Breadcrumbs as enhancement tools that can positively influence your website’s ranking. With the increased importance of breadcrumbs in search results, all pages on the website must be classified into proper categories.

Breadcrumbs have an influence on user browsing behavior and are definitely good for SEO.

Include important keywords as anchor text for each link in Breadcrumbs to increase your CTR in search results and give users a good shopping experience on your websites.  However, keep in mind that the text in breadcrumbs should look natural to the human eye. If it looks spammy to humans, it will look spammy to search engines. Learn Google guidelines for Breadcrumbs.

How to change breadcrumb title text in search results?

Breadcrumb text can be changed through Content Management Systems (CMS) or by plugins like Yoast. If your website is on WordPress with Yoast plugin, first enable the ‘Breadcrumbs’ in Yoast SEO. Then go ‘Advanced’ section of the page whose breadcrumbs title you want to change.  Now you can now change the breadcrumb title.

2. Check the breadcrumbs in Search Console.

Breadcrumbs report is now available at the search console in the Enhancement section. Check for the errors in the breadcrumbs and make the appropriate changes in structured data to resolve the errors.

3. Structured Data for Breadcrumbs

To ensure that the breadcrumbs of the website are properly applied through schema markup, use Google Structured Data Testing Tool or Bing Markup Validator. Fetch the URLs and know the exact errors and missing fields.

4. Favicon and Logo

An eye-catching unique favicon representing your brand can go a long way to enhance your SERP results and build brand identity. Check if your favicon is readable by the search engine and appears as intended in the search results. Website favicon can be similar to a logo to make your brand easily recognizable in search results.

5. Meta Titles and Description

Include your brand terms in the Meta title and description to make it easily recognizable to people looking for your products or services. Enhance your Meta title and description to include offers, call-to-action (CTA), and your unique selling proposition.

What do you think? Let us know in the comment section below.