Google Perspectives Feature

Google has rolled out a few new features this year. One we haven’t yet discussed is Google Perspectives.

I spent some time exploring this feature. Think of Google Perspectives as a search, but for social, it focuses on perspectives from content creators rather than traditional websites.

What is Google Perspectives?

Perspectives is a filter showing notable voices and sources of information on a topic so you get different perspectives.

As Google stated in their Blog post, Perspectives aims “to connect you to the people and perspectives that will help you understand what’s best for you” through videos, images, forum posts, reviews, etc.

Why Perspectives Matter

Here, I will break it down into three audiences so you have a more apparent vantage point:

• For users, Perspectives provides a more holistic understanding of a topic by offering how people think and feel about it. It helps find further information sources beyond top search results.  
• For experts, Perspectives creates opportunities to showcase non-web content like social media posts, videos, forum discussions, etc. It rewards original, unique perspectives rather than just optimising authoritative content.
• For SEOs, ranking on Perspectives can propel your content onto Google’s first page, sidestepping the traditional SEO grind.  

I guess by now, you must be feeling intrigued.

How to Use Google Perspectives

You might be a long-time Google user but don’t know about the latest features and search trends. So here are the steps to get you started: 

Detailed Steps 

• Step 1: Search for something that interests you. 
• Step 2: Tap the “Perspectives” filter below the search bar when viewing the results.  
• Step 3: Scroll and click the content you want to explore, or you can see more in the “more search results” section.

Note: Perspectives is currently only available on mobile devices. But Google plans to introduce it on desktops soon as well.

What types of content show up in Perspectives

This is precisely what makes this feature unique. 

Unlike standard SERPs, the Perspectives provides users a different way to gather necessary information, as mentioned earlier.  

It’s not just websites but a combination of all the following:

• Videos: Perspectives displays videos, both long-form and short-form, like YouTube videos, TikTok videos, etc.   
• Podcasts: Perspectives displays podcasts from Spotify, Apple Podcasts, etc.
• Social media platforms: Perspectives display posts from Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, Reddit, etc.  
• Forums: Perspectives displays posts from platforms like Quora, Reddit, Stack Exchange, etc.
• Blogs: Perspectives displays blog posts from platforms like Medium, WordPress, Blogger, etc.

But to help you understand the difference from typical search methods, let me provide you with a specific example. 

Examples of Perspectives Results

If you search for “best phones 2023”, you will see standard search results like:

• Listicles of products
• Comparison articles  

But if you tap Perspectives, you will see much more content like: 

• Unboxing and first impression videos  
• Forum posts of people asking and answering 2023 phone questions
• Reviews from people who bought and used the phones

Such content types help you better understand the topic since you can see how people perceive and interact differently with the products.

What Can Perspectives Be Used For?

Perspectives can be used for many purposes, depending on the user’s goals and preferences. But here are some expected benefits and use cases of Perspectives:

Gain Deeper Topic Understanding  

As a feature created to “connect you to the people.”  

Perspectives help users better understand a topic by showing them how differently people think and feel about that topic, including popular, controversial and contrarian perspectives rather than just top search results.

This gives you a broader and deeper knowledge of the issue and its implications.

Discover New Information Sources  

Thanks to Google’s decision to change how information is ranked.

For this reason, Perspectives can help users uncover new information sources they may have never seen because it wasn’t highly rated in typical Google searches, such as relevant niche platforms, personal accounts, blogs, etc., related to their queries and preferences.

So rest assured, you will always have something to explore.

Find Social Proof and Personal Suggestions  

In addition to the above two, this is another massive benefit of Perspectives, as It focuses on showcasing people’s personal experiences and viewpoints.  

This results in Perspectives being able to help users find social proof and personal suggestions from other users who have shared their opinions and experiences on a topic.  

From there, you can make informed decisions or substantiate your arguments.

How Perspectives Impacts SEO  

Perspectives is not just a new search feature for users but can also considerably impact SEO. This will also create new opportunities and challenges for SEO experts, creators and anyone who cares about optimising their web presence on Google search. Some ways Perspectives impacts SEO include:

Creating opportunities for non-web content.  

Until now, websites have always been Google’s priority, but Perspectives has come and changed this situation when it allows non-web content like social media posts, videos, audio, and user-generated communities to appear prominently in Google search results.

This is how Perspective displays:

This poses enormous opportunities for those interested in SEO to get creative and leverage all they can as part of their content strategy.  

Rewards for Original and Unique Content

Perspectives rewards genuinely original and unique content that provides value. Nothing new here.

Do you think this personal story Reddit post is keyword-optimised? Even this post is from 11 years ago.

Perspectives prioritise content that provides different types of information, such as opinions, advice, suggestions and personal stories that you won’t find anywhere else.  

User-generated content can be a new SEO opportunity.  

Perspectives also focus primarily on user-generated content (UGC) sources, such as social media posts, forum posts, and blog posts, to enrich and expand search results rather than just content produced by big brands.

Shifts from keyword-focused to user-focused content strategies  

As you can see, keywords don’t have much influence on Perspective. So, shifting content strategy from keyword-focused to user-focused is the most essential thing SEO experts must do now. Not just with Google Perspectives but in all areas of your content marketing strategy.

Optimising for Perspectives  

Perspective is a new feature. So, algorithms will also change over time. Therefore, capitalising on this opportunity and optimising for perspectives requires you to experiment, monitor, and optimise continually.   

However, a few core methods are unlikely to change, I’ll also suggest some specific actions to take for better results:

Create Valuable Content with Unique Perspectives.  

The first and most crucial method is creating content that delivers value to the audience and genuinely novel experiences to connect with users.  

Because Google wants to reward content that users won’t find anywhere else rather than just stuffing keywords and repeating generic and mundane information.  

Some specific actions:  

• Share successful experiences and stories.
• Curate honest user suggestions.
• Conduct interviews with different perspectives.
• Provide personal perspectives on products or topics.

However, your content must also demonstrate sufficient E-E-A-T (Experience, Expertise, Authoritativeness and Trustworthiness) and align with the site’s current user trends and preferences.

Incorporate User-Generated Content Into Your Website.

The second method is incorporating user-generated content into your website.   

The reason is that user-generated content makes up much of the content in the Perspectives feature.  

It would be best if you found ways to incorporate relevant UGC to make your content more likely to appear and seem credible on your website. While also filling gaps and needs your content may need to address.

Some specific actions:  

• Reuse customer testimonials, images, videos, and stories  
• Create rankings and review sections 
• Provide a place for people to discuss  
• Encourage feedback and testimonials  
• Make sending UGC easy across platforms

However, content moderation and governance are needed to ensure quality and relevance.

Avoid biases and provide an inclusive viewpoint.

Google designed Perspectives to highlight diverse perspectives, including different demographic groups and communities.

So, the third method is avoiding bias and providing balanced perspectives on your topic. You have to respect and appreciate audience diversity and differences.

At the same time, you should create inclusive and accessible content to meet the needs and preferences of different users, such as foreign languages, locations, devices and other behaviours.

Some specific actions:

• Ensure diversity in sourcing and interviews 
• Minimise biases in content governance  
• Acknowledge limitations and gaps in your perspectives.   

But also ensure your information is accurate and ethical and avoids misinformation.  

Track Perspectives Results.

The fourth method is tracking Perspectives results to see if your content appears and monitoring performance while measuring and improving your website’s presence and content accordingly.   

You need to track traffic, clicks and other metrics from the Perspectives listing. This can prove ROI and impact further optimisation  

Some specific actions:

• Use tracking tools like Google Search Console and Google Analytics.  
• Conduct surveys asking for feedback, preferences and satisfaction levels from users.  
• A/B tests and benchmarks different content and platforms.  

However, you must continually monitor results. It is vital as the feature is still developing, and ranking algorithms may change over time.

Will Google Perspectives become part of SGE?

Perspectives and SGE are two separate features launched by Google with different purposes.

Perspectives aims to provide multiple viewpoints and voices on a topic to help users make informed decisions. SGE generates snippets of text to help users get direct answers to queries.

No official announcements from Google indicate that Perspectives will be integrated into SGE. Most coverage treats them as distinct capabilities.

Perspectives relies more on surfacing existing third-party content, while SGE generates new text. Integrating them may require significant technical work.

Google will likely develop them as independent features before considering any integration.

Conclusion

In summary, Google’s Perspectives feature provides an exciting new way to engage audiences. It significantly impacts SEO in both opportunities and challenges, requiring a shift from keyword-focused to user-focused content strategies.   

However, with a thoughtful and creative SEO strategy, businesses can still capitalise on this new capability and enhance their website’s presence and performance.  

Get a Free Proposal and Strategy at Contactora if you need help figuring out if Google Perspectives is for your business.