Google is the largest search engine in the world and puts a huge amount of effort in to providing the best experience to users. They consider all kinds of details to make sure they maintain their position as the market leader, an essential tool for users and a source of great advertising opportunities for businesses.
It is incredible to look at how much work goes into getting all of the small details correct on Google’s search engine. One thing that they have become well known for is the blue colour of the results titles when people enter a search. Many people would think they just chose a colour but in fact it took a great deal of testing and trailing to settle on it.
When the decision was select the current shade Google narrowed the choice down to two different shades but couldn’t decide which to go with. The choices were one that was slightly greener and another which had more hints of purple. To find the right one they took 41 shades between these two and tried each one with around 1% of users. The A/B tests found that the purple option was favoured and it was ultimately chosen. The hard work paid off because it resulted in approximately $200 million of extra revenue for the company.
Focusing closely on little details can yield surprising results.
At the start of May Google began trialling black link titles to replace the blue ones that they worked so hard to choose the colour for. This was the very first time they have not used some shade of blue outside of China (links are red there). The move drew a lot of interesting responses from users who have seen the change, with many of them responding negatively. The responses led the company to suggest that the black would not be sticking around.
The choice of something so simple as a colour gives you a huge insight into how much effort Google puts in to getting the smallest details right to ensure that users have the right experience. Other businesses can learn a great deal from this attention to detail, especially when it comes to online operations. Clearly visuals remain highly important to users and the selection of the right colours can have a big impact on user satisfaction.
If you are planning a digital marketing campaign or are taking a look at a website to determine its performance you should pay attention to the smallest details and the impression they will make. Large tests like the ones Google do may not be possible but it is still a wise idea to do some work rather than rushing in and making poor choices. The care and attention you put in could put you ahead of competitors and deliver great value.