We hear alot about “Getting found on Google”, and for good reason. Just about every online marketing plan should include plans to optimize your web site and Google rankings. Why? According to a recent study by ComScore (see below), Google accounts for about 65% of all U.S. online searches.
As you can see, Yahoo, MSN and the others are distant runners-up. That doesn’t mean they are insignificant, but it does mean that by optimizing for Google, you will likely receive the highest ROI on your optimizing efforts.
So, where do you rank on Google? For what keywords? (the terms people type into the search engine) Do you know if these are the right keywords? And just how do you achieve high rankings in Google anyways?
These are all questions that we can help you answer.
Simplified, “Getting found on Google” aka “Search Engine Optimization” (or SEO) boils down to two main things;
1. Setting up your site so it has Google friendly structure and content.
2. Setting up beneficial, good-quality links both internally on your site and externally from other popular web sites pointing back to yours.
While this is an over simplified-view, it does give you the big picture of what it takes. Actually acomplishing high Google rankings, however, can be a difficult and time consuming task. How difficult it is to achieve success will depend on a number of factors including keyword competition, search volume, age of competing sites, links (and link structure) for competing sites, and much more.
Now with all of that said, it is also important to realize that “Search” is just one leg of your online marketing stool. In other words, you should NOT depend on search rankings alone to build traffic.
For example, looking at recent statistics from one of my client’s sites, we can see that a little more than 50% of traffic comes from search engines. The rest is coming from links from other sites and direct traffic – meaning someone typed in their domain name directly into the browser.
This will vary of course from site to site, but it re-enforces the fact that we also need to focus on optimizing other areas of driving traffic to your web site.
I wrote another article on online traffic building strategies that will provide further insight in this area.
Bottom line: There is a lot you can do to get found on Google and drive traffic to your website. We suggest you use a professional who knows that they are doing so you can maximize your ROI.
If you’d like to sit down over a cup of coffee or talk on the phone to explore your options, give us a call at 503.581.4554.
