Google’s Wonder Wheel Tool

Google introduced the “Wonder Wheel” feature in May of 2009 and as SEOs we are seeing some great application in terms of search.  The wonder wheel allows people to visually see search phrases related to their query in a graph-like wheel.  The idea, as stated by Google’s software engineer Adam (last name unknown), is to make “query exploration fun and easy.” Here are some visuals to show how this great tool works:

Google's wonder wheel

Using the Google Wonder Wheel

As you can see, you type in search terms as you normally would in the search box.  Then, on the left navigation side bar, select “more search tools” then select “Wonder wheel.” Your original query will show up in the center (pantheon in this example), surrounded by related queries.  If you click on one of those, you see related topics to your original search or can find something moderately related.  Every time you click a new topic, the search results also change to reflect that topic.   You can also jump back to any point in your path as well.

The tool acts as kind of a mind mapper which goal is to filter out the most relevant results of searches in a well-organized and fun manner.  In our pantheon example, we can see such related searches such as the colosseum and partheon, as well as other related searches that can take us in a different direction such as the pantheon books topic.  Let’s look at the cycle when we click the colosseum, one of my favorite pieces of historical architecture in Rome:

Google Wonder Wheel 2nd Tier

The feature works nicely, detailing great links to common searches in the wonder wheel and other searches in the search results.

Let’s try another more generic search, “internet marketing.” Have a look below:

No Ads With Wonder Wheel!

The same, except using the traditional search method:

Traditional search has ads!

Notice that the Wonder Wheel results contain no ads for the same search query! For SEOs and businesses that put their marketing efforts into organic search we are finally finding a place where we aren’t inundated with poor and misleading paid ad campaigns.  All we are left with in the SERP (on the right) are results that are related to our search and some results in the Wonder Wheel that help us consider other topics in a fun and easy to use way.

What is great about this feature is the ease of use and the inherent ability for this feature to provide brain-storming like abilities for the user.  As far as SEO goes, using this tool to dissect and navigate useful information is great because it allows us to research like a timeline and get relevant search results without all the extra clutter.

Let’s go back to the pantheon search and see where it takes us.  Pantheon –> Colosseum –> Colosseum facts –> Gladiators facts –> Gladiators history –> American gladiators’ history –> etc.

This was awesome!  What started with a bit of Roman architecture has brought us to one of the most entertaining shows of the 90’s hosted by Hulk Hogan.  So not only have we found exciting ways to dig deeper into our searches but we have also have a tool that helps searchers who may not have an idea of exactly what they are searching for find relevant results.  For example typing in gladiators and navigating to a section about the colosseum would prove useful for someone who had an idea but wanted to understand other facets to it.  The tool helps to sort out the results and locate words related to the main phrase you started with which can lead you to the phrase and results you really want.

Ways to Utilize Wonder Wheel

As Internet marketers we are always trying to uncover searches that are relevant to our client’s niches.  To utilize the power of the Wonder Wheel start by typing in one of your main keywords into the search box.  Use the Wonder Wheel to locate more phrases related to your search, and use these phrases in your content to get more traffic.  The same can go for keyword research, Google will tell you the keywords that are relevant and you can come up with creative ways to utilize them based on their relevancy.