There are a number of search engines available for your use. All are free, and all of them seek to serve the same purpose. There’s Yahoo. Bing. Baidu. DuckDuckGo. Does anyone else remember AskJeeves?
And of course, there’s Google. In 2018, Hubspot reported that Google accounts for over 70% of all search traffic on the internet. Over the past decade or two, Google has integrated dozens of features into their site which have caused more and more users to choose them over their competitors. Things like maps, quick answers, email accounts, online storage, language translation, and directions are just a short list of many more items that Google offers for free to its users. They’ve successfully marketed themselves as the go-to for those services online as well; most people choose Google to do those things without a second thought.
In addition to their features, and maybe more importantly, Google utilizes countless online robots and web crawlers to scour the web for sites that will deliver its users the best possible content. Because of these web crawlers, you’ve probably been conditioned to expect that Google will always provide you with instantaneous, accurate answers to all of your searches at a simple touch of your screen. If you’ve got a question, as my father would always quip “Google it.” Almost certainly, you’ll find the answer you’re looking for.
This has brought about major changes to the way people search for businesses, products, and services. When someone’s sink breaks, if they don’t know of a repair service already, they’re most likely type in on Google something along the lines of ‘sink repair near me’. As you’ve seen thousands of times before, Google then produces a list of its suggested best results. Joe Blow’s Plumbing Service might pop up at the top of Google’s suggestions. Why? Joe has had his site optimized to increase the likelihood that Google will promote his business first, ahead of his competitors. You might have heard of this referred to before as SEO (Search Engine Optimization). More and more businesses are doing it because of the potential having a top presence on Google affords them locally. New leads, brand awareness, and increased web traffic to your site are benefits that many of these businesses enjoy.
SEO is a long term, ever evolving process that requires a lot of time and know how to do effectively in most cases. Google’s web crawlers assess your site based on a number of factors not limited to security, quality and quantity of content, layout, performance, backlinks, traffic, keyword volume, and proper coding. In a nutshell, if Google feels your site offers a positive experience to its users, it will promote it above your competitors. The team of experts at Mid-West Family have proven success in enhancing sites on Google. If you have any questions on where your website stands, click for a free web assessment and we’re happy to help.
Or….Google it.
