GOOGLE SEO: GETTING TO A TOP SEARCH ENGINE RANKING
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Google™ originally started as another player in a crowded and decreasing field of search engines and directories. But in as little as ten year’s time, it had grown to become the largest search engine in the world, and soon to be the largest advertising company in the world. Today, it is not uncommon to hear people say that they “Googled” something, meaning they searched for something on Google™. Now that is power! Google™ today constitutes (both directly and indirectly) around 75% of all searches conducted in the United States. By indirectly, we mean that other search engines and directories continue to use Google’s search results as their own. As a result, it is common for many companies to not only want to have the top search engine rankings on Google™, but to stay there as well. So what is a top ranking? In short, it means having your company show-up on the first page of the Google™ results page for any targeted search. This is because 90% of people will not look past of the first page of results when doing a search. The first results page of Google™ has in effect become Main Street for most business today and with the advent of Google Maps (Local), it has now become Main Street USA in every town, city, county, borough and state in the United States!
Understanding Google™ Search Results
Most people have seen a Google™ search results page but it is amazing how few really know what they are looking at. Business owners will often misinterpret what they see (or don’t see) on these pages to determine the effectiveness of their websites. This is not uncommon since Google™ continues to change how they display their results, what to display, and how to display them. For example, a business might see their website displayed prominently on the Google maps results for a search and think that their website is optimized. What they might fail to see however is that their website might not show-up anywhere else. As shown to the right, Google™ can display any or all of the following elements on their search results page:
- Sponsored Links (if present) – These are paid ads through Google™ Adwords and typically display in the top three positions below the search box and on the bar on the right hand side of the screen. The top three results have a slightly shaded background and all sponsored links typically receive only 20-30% of the clicks on the page. If there are no sponsored links present, then there are likely no paid advertising for the search you conducted.
- Organic Results - These are the non-paid search results (or natural results) that are displayed below and to the left (if present) of the Sponsored Links (paid advertising) and below the Google Maps search results (if present on a local search). Organic results typically receive around 70-80% off all clicks on the page.
- Local Business Results – These are Google™ Maps results for local searches and are displayed above the organic search results when present. These results are typically triggered by including a geo-specific term such as a city name when conducting a search.
- Misc. Others – Due to the advent of universal search, Google™ will sometimes include such things as images and video results in the organic search results provided. You may also see icons to the right of the results to help customize your results pages by allowing you to move the results around, remove them, and even make comments about them on your own screen.
Using Pay Per Click (Adwords)
If somebody “guarantees” you that they can get to the top of Google™ – they are either making a non-guarantee or more than likely talking about having you use Pay Per Click advertising with Google™ Adwords. As displayed in the previous section, Google™ Adwords are those results displayed on the top three positions and the right-side bar on the search results page. If you do not see Adwords on your results page, then chances are nobody is paying to compete for that search result. The important point to remember about Adwords is that only 20-30% of people will typically click on these ads while 70-80% will not. Google™ eye tracking analysis (or heat map 
) shows that the human eye typically reads web-pages like a book and therefore most eyes tend to scan starting from the upper-left side of the screen. You will also notice above the organic results that the background of the top Adwords results listed are shaded and have a “Sponsored Links” message also listed at the top-right of these results.
In comparison to Pay Per Click, organic search results typically generate around 8-9 clicks for every one click on Adwords. Moreover, 70-80% of users will typically click on the organic results over Adwords. So why do companies pay for Adwords? There are a number reasons for this including:
- Pay Per Click advertising can bring almost immediate results compared to organic SEO strategies that in highly competitive markets can take months and even years to fully optimize. This is particularly true with new websites deployed with a new URL’s that have a lot of competing web pages and few if any links.
- Some advertising is very time-sensitive with a very short shelf-life. Often times breaking news, targeted campaigns, sudden product introductions and unpredictable service offerings can come and go within a matter of days and weeks, often to short a period of time to compete organically. Website spiders that crawl and index your website for this content are on their own schedule, not yours. Conversely, paid advertising can be completed on your schedule and can be up and running within hours and days.
- In most cases, companies will use Pay Per Click advertising simply because they have a poorly performing website on the search engines and do not have an SEO strategy in place to compete. This is typically why Pay Per Click advertising generates billions of dollars each year for search engines. To put this in perspective, around 88% of all search spending goes to paid advertising as opposed to only 10% for organic search optimization!
So what are some of the downsides to paid advertising with Google™ Adwords? Here are a few:
- Costs: Paid advertising is becoming increasingly competitive each year and as a result the costs to compete continue to go up as well. Most companies simply compete for position on these ads and forgot how much they are actually spending and worse, what is the return on this type of advertising. For most businesses, it is simply too much money and they ultimately learn the hard way after a few very expensive months.
- Visibility: If only 20-30% of people will ever click your ad, you are missing 70-80% of your potential traffic. Most people click on organic results because they are more legitimate to the users.
- Management: Most Adwords campaigns are initially setup by somebody within a company and simply left to run – often times out of control. Only after a few months of heavy billing do most companies realize that managing these campaigns is an ongoing effort and not as simple as they seem to the average person, this is where an SEO consultant can help.
For most companies, paid search advertising is expensive, poorly managed, and produces moderate results. It is important for most companies who want to succeed on the search engines to understand that paid advertising should only be used as a complement to an effective organic strategy, not the other way around. The fact that most companies spend 8-9 times on paid search over organic should be a strong indication that your money is likely better spent on organic – especially since this is where most people click anyway!
Understanding the Google™ Algorithm (Search Engine Ranking)
The Google™ algorithm is an esoteric and ever-changing complex formula for how websites rank within Google™. Since Google™ must protect its paid advertising revenues from Pay Per Click Adwords, they constantly change the exact algorithm on an ongoing basis. These changes are so frequent that it is not unusual to see literally hundreds of changes a month – just enough to drive many companies crazy when they are battling for the top of their results. The important point to remember through this is that getting organically to the top of Google™ is an ongoing process - and staying there is never guaranteed. What might be a highly optimized website in the #1 position one day might fall down the page and even off to page one all together without doing anything to the website.
Even though getting and staying to the top of Google™ can be unpredictable and even frustrating at times, the good news is that Google™ still ranks most websites base predominantly on the following five search engine optimization (SEO) areas:
Over time, the Google™ algorithm will continue to change and the key to long-term success is to keep up with the changes and incorporate them into your SEO strategy – this is where a good SEO consultant can help. If you simply become complacent in your efforts, then Google™ and your competition will ultimately get ahead of you and your results online will reflect this.