By now, Google is probably your best friend. And really, it should be. It only makes sense when you think about it. If you are a business, Google opens up your avenues to being discovered by millions of users. If you are just a user, Google provides you with all the answers and information you go online to seek. No matter what you use it for, here are five facts about Google you might have missed.
1. Google is a giant.
Everyone knows that, but how big is this super search engine, really? According to the latest data, Google received about 70 percent of the entire online search engine market share. Yeah, that much. In order to get discovered online, you have to make Google your best friend, plain and simple.
2. Gotta go mobile.
Information from 2012 shows that now more than 70 million users go shopping via a mobile device. It is imperative for any company to begin focusing a bulk of their efforts to create a highly mobile-friendly website design. This not only allows for a better user experience on the go, but also allows users to find the site more quickly on their tablets or smartphones in a quick search.
3. Optimize your search marketing.
By now, you have undoubtedly heard of SEO, or search engine optimization. SEO marketing, along with strong social media engagement is one of the most vital tools of any successful online marketing campaign. An SEO campaign creates relevant, high-quality content that can be easily found by a user high in the Google rankings. In short, SEO helps you climb to the top of the pile, and it would not exist at all without Google.
4. New readers, new clients.
SEO is great for generating traffic, but businesses also need it for generating client leads, as well. In fact, statistics show that SEO-generated leads have a 14.6 percent close rate, compared with the puny 1.7 percent average close rate of outbound leads. Also, about 57 percent of business-to-business marketers report that SEO is the single greatest influencer of lead generation.
5. Tablets and smartphones and mobile computing, oh my.
By 2014, Internet usage on mobile devices is expected to overtake traditional usage on desktops. This is a huge factor of our increasingly more on-to-go culture. Users need access and answers and they need them now. Using Google on a smartphone is a much different experience than using it via a regular computer, so you need to optimize your web design and marketing strategies to ensure you can be found both ways.