Usability advocate Vincent Flanders often wrote, “Google is God; Don’t Upset Her.” The joke is truer now than it was in the late 1990s when Vincent started covering the topic. Because of its undeniable presence, Google is practically synonymous with the internet. Companies and groups that want to succeed online will have to respect and utilize Google’s reach with measures including online SEO classes, routine technical checks (i.e. removing dead links), and frequent analysis of online statistics.
Google’s Market Dominance by the Numbers
Google’s internet presence is so grand that many people commonly refer to the internet – or any network – as Google. The statistics below demonstrate the magnitude of Google’s reach:
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91.9% of web searches use Google. The second-place web search, Bing, has involvement in 2.88% of web searches.
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Google owns almost 80% of online advertising in the U.S.
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Google processes around 63,000 search queries per second, which is over 5.4 billion searches each day.
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Google Chrome has 64.91% of the global market share. Over six out of every ten web surfers use Google Chrome or one of its modified versions. The second-place browser, Safari, has 19.03% of the market share.
Google’s Importance to Online Businesses
Any online business that does not factor Google into every action – including advertising, content creation, and cross-browser compatibility – will guarantee its failure. The very first result of a Google web search gets 55% of click-throughs, with the second result getting only 14%. Companies that consistently land at the top of Google web searches will have more visitors to their websites, which will easily translate to more sales.
The Importance of SEO
SEO – which stands for “search engine optimization” – is a collection of rules and practices with the intent of improving a web page’s ranking in organic search results. Multiple factors contribute to how Google evaluates and ranks websites, including the number of incoming links, keyword phrase usage, and page loading speed. Online SEO classes can help companies and content creators craft their content and maintain their web pages to boost their SEO rankings.
When it comes to online presence, the importance of Google cannot be understated. Any individual, group, or company that wants to establish a firm digital foothold will need to factor Google and its algorithms into their internet strategy if they want to appear among the first ten organic search results. Assistance such as online SEO classes can help any content creator harness Google’s market dominance to receive a higher search result ranking, which will lead to more viewers and more business.
