Navboost: How to Use This for your SEO

Understanding how search engines function can be quite complex, but that’s part of what makes SEO so fascinating. Navboost, one of Google’s key ranking systems, is equally intriguing. Recently, it has garnered significant attention in the media and among the public, partly due to the DOJ antitrust case and its mention in a recent Google data leak. In this post, we will explore what we know about Navboost so far and provide tips on how to optimize for it to gain an SEO edge.

Disclaimer: Note that there is no official Google documentation about Navboost. The information we have about this system comes primarily from Pandu Nayak’s testimony during the 2023 Google antitrust hearing in the U.S. We also pulled information from Google API docs and the 2004 Google patent (US8595225B1).

Key Takeaways

• Navboost is a crucial Google ranking system that enhances search results based on users’ navigational behaviors.
• Navboost collaborates with Glue, which handles rich SERP features, while Navboost focuses on traditional web results (blue links).
• It takes into account factors like location and device type to create different data “slices,” prioritizing local results.
• Navboost likely analyzes various types of clicks, such as good clicks, bad clicks, and longest-lasting clicks.
• It underscores the need for creating high-quality, relevant content that engages users in search results and on your webpage.

How to Optimize for Navboost

• Try targeting more specific queries first
• Optimize titles and meta descriptions
• Aim for rich snippets and featured snippets
• Improve brand awareness
• Avoid manipulation tactics as they can lead to penalties

What is Google Navboost?

Navboost is one of Google’s strongest ranking signals. It is used to refine search results for queries based on navigational interactions. It is also referred to as a system that uses memorized click data on SERPs over the past 13 months. This ensures the most relevant and accurate results. What you’re seeing here are excerpts taken from Pandu Nayak’s testimony.

To present the best results, Navboost goes beyond user engagement data. It can create different datasets, or “slices,” based on factors such as the user’s location. It also creates datasets based on the device users are using (mobile or desktop). Since location matters for both desktop and mobile searches, Google has a special Navboost for mobile. When discussing the initial filtering of local documents, Google presents nearby businesses to users so they can interact with the results and create Navboost data. As Nayak stated, “Remember, you get Navboost only after they’re retrieved in the first place.”

This means that Navboost is a ranking signal that can only influence a search result after users have clicked on it.

Navboost’s primary task is to narrow down the search results from tens of thousands to a few hundred for Google’s machine learning systems. But as Nayak said: “Navboost is not the only factor because there might be lots of documents that don’t have clicks”.

We can conclude that Navboost helps Google learn what users want and if the search results satisfy their needs.

Note Navboost’s partner, Glue. It analyzes interactions with rich features on SERPs. This helps you understand which ones should show up and how they rank.

Why Navboost Matters for SEO

Navboost matters for SEO because it shows how important it is to optimize for user search intent, both in content and across the entire user experience. The goal is to make a user interact with your page and to make your page the ultimate answer for a user’s search. If you can do that, the user won’t need to hit the back button and look for other options. This indicates that the user is satisfied with what you provide.

Navboost makes it clear: satisfied users lead to higher search rankings.

How does Navboost Work?

From our analysis of the documents, the mechanics of Navboost can be summarized as follows:

The Navboost algorithm actively learns from user interactions within search results and possibly on the page itself, which we will discuss later. This includes clicks, scrolls, mouse hovers, swipes, and potentially more subtle interactions. Additional evidence supports this hypothesis, such as the Google presentation “Life of a Click” shown during the DOJ vs. Google trial, which reaffirms the types of user interactions Google monitors.

Navboost observes how users behave and tracks user engagement patterns. It uses this data later to refine search results.

Combining this new data with information collected over the past 13 months offers valuable insights into which results are most relevant, user-friendly, and helpful. This leads to more refined search results. Navboost sends a ranking signal to Google for future search result assembly. Pages with high relevance indicators may receive a ranking boost, while those that do not satisfy users may drop. The Navboost algorithm appears to be based on a 2004 Google patent (US8595225B1), as its publication timing coincides with Navboost’s launch in 2005, as reaffirmed by Nayak.

Navboost vs. Glue

As mentioned earlier, in addition to Navboost, there is another related system called Glue, which is a variation of Navboost but for search features. Glue focuses on diverse user engagement signals, such as clicks, hovers, scrolls, and swipes, particularly for SERP features beyond traditional web results. It learns from these interactions to determine which content best satisfies users. For instance, if users engage more with shopping carousels when searching for a product, Glue is likely to prioritize this feature for similar searches.

• How Navboost and Glue differ: Navboost focuses on traditional search results (so-called blue links), while Glue pays attention to how users interact with rich features on SERPs, like image carousels, map boxes, etc.
• What they have in common: Both share a common goal, to understand user intent and behavior. Each uses this knowledge to continually refine and improve the search experience.

Conclusion

Although the exact workings of Google’s Navboost and Glue systems are unclear, understanding them can enhance your SEO strategy. Prioritize user experience and engagement, as these are likely valued by both systems. Ultimately, benefiting your users will benefit your SEO. Use this insight to refine your content and tactics to improve your search performance.