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How Search Modifiers Influence Your Organic Ranking

The 4 Different Types Of Search Modifiers And What They Mean

What’s the difference between restaurants, restaurants near me and restaurants in Charlotte? Let’s find out as we discuss search modifiers.

A search modifier is a little piece of descriptive text that accompanies your search query.

For instance, when we look at restaurants in Charlotte or restaurants near me, in Charlotte and near me are the search modifiers. There are many different types of search modifiers. Here are a few examples:

1. Location Modifiers

Some examples of location modifiers would be near me, in Charlotte, in 28210, around Charlotte, near uptown.

A potential search query may be: Restaurants near uptown Charlotte.

2. Price Modifiers

Some examples of price modifiers are cheap, expensive, affordable, low price, high price.

A potential search query may be: Cheap Chinese food.

3. Quantity Modifiers

Quality modifiers are designated by a number.

A potential search query may be: 16 piece set of flatware.

4. Quality Modifiers

Examples of quality modifiers are best, worst, good, bad, premium, entry level, or professional.

A potential search query may be: Best Chinese food.

These are a few examples of modifiers, but these aren’t the only modifiers we see. Other modifiers can be used if you are looking for something very specific such as a vegan restaurant. The word “vegan” would be your modifier, but is not a modifier that would fall into any of the categories listed above. These aren’t as common, but they are still modifiers that help focus on specific intent of what someone is searching for.

Modifiers can also be grouped together to help the user narrow down what results are shown. For example, you may search for “Cheap vegan restaurant near me”. This has three modifiers in the search query. You have a price modifier of “cheap”, a specific modifier of “vegan” and a location modifier of “near me”.

Why is this important? We often have clients ask us why they show up for certain search terms but not others, or why they show up on one device (such as their mobile phone) but not on another (like a desktop computer). There are a lot of factors that impact how search results are served up, but modifiers are a big one to keep in mind.

An Example Of Search Modifiers

Let’s use your mobile phone in this scenario. Your cell phone usually stays on you, and you move around throughout your day—therefore your location changes. So, when you’re using location modifiers in your searches, your search results will change in conjunction with your changing location.

If I search for “restaurants near me” while I’m at work, I’ll get different results compared to the same search while I’m at home. Depending on where you are, and the device you are on, you will get different search results for the same search query.

Modifiers are great tools that can help a user find exactly what they are looking for without having to dig deep in the search results. However, sometimes we see situations where companies are getting traffic to their site but it’s not the right quality of traffic. If you are showing up under the wrong modifiers, users will not convert at a very high rate on your website. Outside of search modifiers, there are also many other factors that impact the quality of traffic that is being sent to your site.

Wondering What’s Preventing Users From Reaching Your Site? Contact Us

Here at Pinckney Marketing, we can take a look at your traffic and help you understand what’s going on with the users. If you are questioning the quality of your traffic, reach out to us and we will be happy to provide you with a free assessment.

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