Earlier this year, Google previewed a “Swipe to Visit” feature for Google Image searches. As the name implies, the feature lets people on Google Images immediately go to the site where the images were initially posted by swiping up on the image.
The new feature takes advantages of AMP’s prerender capability to show a preview of the page displayed at the bottom of the screen. By swiping on the preview, the web page is displayed instantly, and the publisher receives a pageview. This system is beneficial for consumers and business owners. Because it will be fast and easy to visit the publisher’s site without disrupting the browsing session, the Swipe to Visit feature should encourage more image searchers to visit the original posters page.
This speed and ease of use addresses a problem that acts as a barrier to website visits. Visiting a site from Google Image search can stop the flow of browsing the images, so some searchers don’t visit other websites while on Google Images.
As Google explained in their announcement for the new feature, “An important element of visual search is the ability for users to scan many ideas before coming to a decision, whether it’s purchasing a product, learning more about a stylish room, or finding instructions for a DIY project. Often this involves loading many web pages, which can slow down a search considerably and prevent users from completing a task.”
The Swipe to Visit requires a website to use an AMP HTML markup for the page. In order for pages to benefit from this update, they need to be coded in AMP HTML. As was mentioned in media reports about the feature, this is necessary because the feature relies on AMP to load an instant preview of a web page.
If a company’s website already supports AMP, there’s nothing more to do to optimize the website’s pages for Swipe to Visit. There is also a bonus for SEO marketers who want to see how the new feature affects traffic. According to reports, traffic data from AMP in Google Images will be available in Search Console soon.
With this new feature making images a more integral part of a content marketing strategy, business owners should invest in creating imagery that can help potential customers find their brand while searching Google Images.
For more recent news about updates and changes to Google, read this article about a test Google is performing that places social sharing links on Search Engine Results Pages.