As a prospective entrepreneur, operating either one web site or several websites, the primary motivation is probably commerce, regardless of product or services rendered. The reality is that while a customer needs a product, they're almost certain to utilize Google as the tool to locate and buy products from the hopeful eCommerce entrepreneur. According to the real time statistical source, Worldometers.net, Google searches average well over 840,000,000 per day. How does one structure a web site, fulfill customer expectations and reap the rewards? This is the key issue facing small business.
Google is a Moving Target
Despite the efforts of Microsoft's Bing search engine, Google is still the most powerful single force on the net today. In an article written for the web by Sherrylynne Starkie in
Why Search is More Important Than Ever, she stated
, "According to recent statistics, although Google retains nearly two-thirds of the U.S. search market, it did drop a fraction from 65.7% in Dec 2009." Even with their phenomenal success, Google continues to modify and improve its search engine technology as other search engines challenge their worldwide dominance.
This make SEO a veritable nightmare for companies involved in this technology segment . Accordingly, the web site owner is at the other end of the SEO Google whip trying to budget ever higher marketing expenses. In a previous article, the author had urged web site owners to embrace social networks such as Twitter, Facebook and Linkedin as part of the new reality of online business. While true, the ever changing and evolving face of Google continually adds more depth to the dimension of the problem. Google will always be the not so invisible 900 lb. gorilla in the room.
Learning the SEO Google Jungle
In the good old days, say the mid nineties, it was possible to buy inexpensive search engine optimization software and literally crank out an optimization for a web page. This allowed a web designer to load multiple versions of a single page appealing to the various search engines that were active. Now with Google's dominance, SEO is a bit more simplistic, but somewhat more intense. With the rise of social networking as real business venues, Twitter, Facebook, YouTube and LinkedIn, may also be optimized for Google, as well. For instance, every time a posting is made on Twitter, etc., the SEO professional should also be posting the URL and any locations on the social networks with the Fan pages and group locations connected with the respective URLs. While this sounds like techno-drivel to the typical web site owner, it is relatively easy to accomplish... even for business owners with limited web capabilities.
How to Monetize Using Google, et al
Obviously, an intelligent business strategy in today's internet world now means SEO, Social Networks, Blogs and paid advertising, particularly Google Adwords. All of these venues are almost like a funnel...a Google induced funnel that should have sources from the supporting social and blogging networks. Once the potential client arrives, the landing page must efficiently deliver the appropriate content to accomplish what it was designed to accomplish: product sales, information, e-mail address capture, etc. If the web site visitor quickly clicks away, then all of the planning, time and advertising dollars invested was wasted. Therefore, various landing pages will need to be tested and improved. The landing page will need to be compelling enough for the visitor to take whatever action the web designer sought.
In summary, web designers and web owners will likely depend upon Google to be the horse carrying visitors from social networks, from blogs and from the judicious use of Adwords and optimized web pages to making that ever important decision. That decision to buy, pay or supply information is the measurement of web success. Web pages must continually adapt to that which what Google searches for, as Google adapts.
