Zero-Click Marketing and What It Means for SEO
My 6-year-old son constantly peppers me with the most random questions
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- What do kiwis (the animal) sound like?
- Has there ever been a hurricane in Washington State?
- Why do football refs wear black and white stripes?
- Why do I dream?
Most of the time I’m stumped and my response is “I don’t know, ask Google.” And he runs off to the Google Home in the kitchen to ask.
Over winter break I marveled at how quickly he can get answers to all of his questions and realized that most of the time he doesn’t even need to type up his questions into a browser. He simply speaks and has the answer read back to him. This is a prime example of zero-click marketing in action.
Another example is the amount of questions I had during the summer olympics and how frequently I grabbed my phone to search for
- How much does an Olympic hammer weigh?
- How fast did Usain Bolt run the 100m?
- What is a scrum in rugby?
- Who even is Ilona Maher?
The best part was immediately finding answers in Google — through a knowledge panel or AI-generated result — right at the top of the results page, and then returning back to the Olympic coverage within seconds.
These are just a few of the reasons why more than two-thirds of Google searches end without a click (SparkToro, 2021). Here’s another visual example of how search engine result pages (SERP) make it easier to find information without having to click into a website.
On the page, you see images, quick info, news stories, a knowledge panel, Instagram posts, and videos. The first organic search result doesn’t appear until more than halfway down the page. Zero-clicks happen because Google wants to keep users on their platform by providing nearly all the answers upfront.
The Rise of Zero-Click Features
According to Ahref’s keyword explorer, 99% of keywords trigger at least one organic SERP feature. Here’s how Google is displaying results that keep you on their page:
- AI Overviews
- Knowledge card
- Knowledge panel
- People Also Ask
- People Also Search for
- Ads (appear at top and bottom of page)
- Featured Snippets
- Image Pack
- Local Pack (Map)
- Shopping results
- News / Top Stories
- Video Carousel
- Result Listings
And it’s not just Google. Social media platforms also encourage users to stay on their apps by limiting external links. TikTok and Instagram even offer in-app shopping, eliminating the need to click out to purchase items. For marketers, this makes tracking traffic from social platforms challenging.
The Impact on Marketers
Where does this leave us? Organic traffic metrics are likely skewed since users may find answers without clicking. Social media traffic is also hard to track accurately. The metrics we rely on to report ROI to stakeholders often fall short. What’s measurable isn’t always meaningful, and what’s meaningful isn’t always measurable.
After some existential dread, I’ve realized this isn’t the end of SEO, digital marketing, or social media. Instead, we must adapt and focus on what we can control. Here’s how:
Adapting to Zero-Click Trends
- Create meaningful, valuable content. If you’re familiar with SiteCrafting, you’ve heard this before: create content people care about. Then, reimagine it as a bite, snack, or meal to share across all platforms. Don’t be afraid to update and repost content to keep it relevant.
- Know Your Audience. Understand your audience deeply — where they are, what messages resonate, and how they want to engage with your brand.
- Build a Solid Foundation. SEO or social media alone won’t drive success. Create a cohesive digital strategy where all channels work together, ensuring your audience can find and engage with your business no matter where they start.
- Look Beyond the Numbers. Metrics are valuable but shouldn’t dictate every decision. Use data as a guide while considering intangible factors like word-of-mouth impact.
- Trust Your Expertise. As digital marketers, we understand our audiences and what they find valuable. Trust your instincts to create impactful content and experiment with new approaches to see what resonates.
The Silver Lining
The good news? These strategies also align with SEO best practices. At SiteCrafting, our digital marketing team is rethinking how we approach SEO, ad campaigns and content marketing. We’re digging deeper into client goals, aligning all channels and crafting reports that go beyond traditional metrics.
