What are you getting Grandma for Christmas?

It happens every year.

I get to the first or second week of December (sometimes later) and my wife, Rayanne, reminds me that I have to find a gift for my grandparents.

And here are my thoughts:

• I’m not a creative gift giver (it’s not my love language).
• What do I give grandparents that have everything (I think) they need?
• I don’t want to leave my couch (especially this year).

So, of course, I turn to Google, where as an SEO-nerd, I realize I am not alone:

A Lesson in “Idea-Based” Searches

I actually went on this search journey recently and, there’s a lot you can learn about search engines by paying attention to your own search journey.

Let’s say you run a business where you think your product/service might indeed be a good gift for grandma.

What can you do to get people’s attention on the search engine results page?

I’ll break it down from top-to-bottom of that page (click that link or image below to see the results page)

1. Ads – Of course, with a word like “gifts” people will want to put their product in front of you and they can with a list of products or links to their website.
2. Organic Results – Not surprising me here, I see “listicle” articles like “40 Best Gifts for Grandma” or “120 Unique Gifts for Grandma.” With loose language like “gifts” Google realizes you don’t know what kind of gift you want to give grandma.
3. People Also Ask – A small set of questions that people typically ask in relation to the search term. Again, this will ideally help you find what you’re looking for faster.
4. Local Pack – A map of 3 local businesses that might have good gifts for grandma. In fact, Google states on one listing that “Their website mentions grandmother gifts”
5. More Organic Results – Etsy has a couple of organic links on this page, understandably because they have a marketplace where thousands have likely tagged their gifts as being for grandma.

Key Takeaways From My Hunt For A Grandma Gift

When someone is gathering ideas with the help of search engines, there is something for everyone:

• Local businesses can get in front of buyers.
• Affiliate sites that earn commissions on referrals (the listicle sites).
• Businesses can buy their way to the top.
• Marketplaces like Etsy can get provide more exposure to their creators.

And yes, I did find my grandma a gift on Etsy: a custom cutting board for their cottage where I recalled that they don’t have a quality cutting board.