Yesterday the search engine giant Google launched a redesign of its search results. The new design is still very simple, which is their signature. Google has always been focused on ease of use and the new design doesn’t change that. In fact, they have tried to make the home page even less distracting with a redesign of their logo that removes the drop shadow.

The changes to Google go beyond the look. They have made several changes to the functionality in which Google hopes will make it even easier for their users to find what they are looking for. Some of the upgrades include:

Dynamic Left Hand Navigation

The new design features a dynamic left hand navigation that shows different forms of content based on the search query. For example, if you search for “dry cleaners”, by default you will be shown the “everything” results. If you want to drill down for specific information the left hand navigation shows Maps, News, Video, and Images. Google’s left hand navigation changes based on the search. In our dry cleaners example, Maps is listed second in the navigation after the default everything category. This makes sense since most people searching “dry cleaners” will be looking for a physical location.

If you search a different topic such as “NFL Draft,” the left hand navigation shows news and then blogs after the everything results. Again this makes sense since the NFL Draft is more of a news story and has plenty of bloggers giving their opinion on how each team performed.

Additional Tools

The dynamic left hand navigation allows you to filter your search results using search tools. You have the option to see your results on a timeline. You can also request to only see content that was recently posted, posted in the last 24 hours, week, month, year, or create a custom timeline. Some of the other tools that are available are the options to see related searches and page previews.

What Can we Learn From Google?

The real significance of the changes aren’t in functionality (although there are some key changes in that area) it is in a continued focus on the end user experience. Google has built an empire around a great end user experience. Give your visitors what they want as quickly as possible and the business will take off. Every website owner should notice what Google is doing and apply it to their website.

My take on the changes made by Google is they are another leap forward. Google has better integrated their other services into their core business of search while improving the end user experience. They have given me even more reasons to keep them my search engine of choice.

What do you think of the Google’s new look? Let us know by posting a comment below.