As search engines become more sophisticated and look to provide a more accurate set of search results for users, the results pages within these search engines are becoming increasingly more complex. Both Google and Bing offer personalised search results and have done for a while. It is not particularly a new thing but as competition within the online search market increases, users expect more from their search engines. There is definitely a place for personalised search and if these search engines can get it right, it could pose as a distinct advantage over competitor sites.

For those who are not too sure as to what personalised search actually is, it is a method used to provide search results that are not only relevant to that specific search, but also relevant to the person as a whole. Before you think that Google has psychic powers, this is not an instant search result. Creating a personalised search takes time and is obviously only possible to users who regularly search from the same computer.

An example of this could be someone who is interested in fencing. If that person was to put fencing related words into a search engine for the first time, the results would probably include a combination of sites where you can learn fencing or buy fencing gear, to sites offering garden and outdoor fencing. Over time however, the search engine will recognise that the majority of sites you are visiting are concerned with fencing as a sport, as opposed to garden fencing. This will in turn teach the search engine to filter the results in such a way that the garden fencing sites are eliminated from the search results, providing the user with a more personalised and accurate search.

It is difficult to determine exactly how personalised search will affect your search engine optimization efforts as it is not particularly easy to understand what criteria Google uses to define such searches. One of the most important things to consider is your page ranking, as what could be an extremely high rank for one user could be ranked on page six of another user, purely because of their previous searching trends.

When measuring the effectiveness of your SEO within personalised searches, focusing more on the quality and conversion rate will give you a more precise result than just page ranking. The theory behind personalised searching is that the relevance is increased greatly, so your page may be ranked on the first page for two thirds the amount of users as it would in a standard search, but the conversion rate of users clicking through to your site and making a purchase should increase, thus making your return on investment actually higher.

The best way of ensuring you maintain a high rank within personalised searches is to polish your basic SEO strategies. Personalised search is all about relevance, so ensure your title and meta tags are up to scratch and any links from other sites are strong and applicable. The more relevant you are, the better your chances.