Google UK

Google dominates within the UK market, by March 2008 Google was leading with 74% market share, which has climbed since last year up from over 65%. Now currently close to almost 80% of the market share within the UK.

That’s a fairly large increase to say the least, especially when looking at numbers of searches done within the UK market.

Google US

Not surprisingly enough, the Google US market share has also increased since last to 69% by March 2008, which wouldn’t surprise me seeing as Google Maps are more widely used within the US than anywhere else, among other little surprises they has released and updated over the past year.

How many searches go past the first page results?

In a post earlier this year from WebProNews, a user patience study completed by Yahoo!, IProspect and JupiterResearch revealed that over 40% of users look no further than the first page of results from a search query, users patience is lessening over the years. We all know first page is the prime real estate for any website, but in the past this has never been the be all and end all for a website. With that in mind, the potential for possible entry points to a website has widened since search engines offered “blended results“, video, images, blogs and news have opened opportunities for websites to grab that much needed traffic. Rankings are of course no the be all and end all for any website, as seen within the screenshot below, the potential for traffic is not solely dependant on a first page results for primary keywords.

“Pages from” versus “World Wide” results

Another interesting bit of information i came across was a small study done on the use of “world wide” or “pages from” within Google UK. Something i have been fairly intrigued to find out about, especially here in the local South African market. How Many people realise they can refine their searches to be country specific? As per the Hitwise study, the UK market shows their trust in the results for any searches done within Google UK (That the best results for their search will be delivered), as seen in the screenshot below, however when comparing this to the South African market the results would be slightly different. Due to the searches defaulting to the “world wide” results option, the increased number of international listings for local SA searches still dominates the results in some cases. For any South African, the use of “pages from” is more widely used than within the UK, as the results would be tailored to specifically SA, removing the tough international competition.

Hitwise ran a study during March 2008 for 4 weeks to find out just that for the UK market and as you would have guessed, the answer is just what you would expect.

Now having a study like the above for the South African market would be great, to officially reference on occasion, although i’m sure some of us know with our local clients and analytics, Google does bring in the highest percentage of traffic monthly, in some of industries even more than 70%.

Golden Triangle for Search

While at the SMX London expo last year, i had the priviledge of sitting in on a Gord Hotchkiss presentation, was an eye opener for me. During 1 of them, he referenced the heatmap we SEO’s so proudly put in front of clients, Gord discussed what he coined the Golden Triangle, while this was not the topic of discussion, it was mentioned to provide insight into why having a first page organic listing and top ad spot in paid search improved conversions by roughly 8%. This is definitely 1 area that every search marketer should be aware of when looking at the SERP landscape. While this has changed how traffic is driven to websites from organic searches, universal search has it’s own “triangle” and search behaviour to some degree.

For search statistics regarding the Job search market share and online job search statistics, i’ve covered that in a related post here Online Job Search Market Statistics. Feedback on these statistics is always appreciated

Search market share facts and figures 2008 is a post from: The Pringle

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Initially just a writer for the company, and listening to my boss in the UK office explaining SEO back then for employment/recruitment industry was rather frustrating at the time, not being able to understand why and how it worked. The goal was to know what he knew, and to then know even more and be a key asset to the company in the future (personally i would be great and possibly a leader in the industry someday). Now it’s only been over 2 years, but the conversation i had made me think of what “newbie’s” to SEM get “thrown” in front of their screens when doing research compared to a few years ago when i was reading and learning.

My questions where more along the lines of “how does Google evaluate content?” / “how do search engines see links and work out the value of them?” “what is good content, what are good links, how should a site be structured, how does Google crawl a site?” etc etc, and the list goes on, basic knowledge looking at those questions now, but how the times have changed from forum questions of “what keyword density should i use?” to “how can i make viral content?”

I find myself in many situations within the day to day working environment making the assumption that team members are fully aware of the basics i have learnt over the years, that they would go through the same steps i did to understand what our market is, and how our service works, but as our company has grown, and we have “Sectioned” off parts of SEM into departments, i notice how link builders do not understand why copy writing for clients becomes time intensive and has so many steps to follow. The writers assuming that the link builders just go to any website and ask for a link, yet, all team members understand the need for each department and make some connection to what the outcome is a result of at the end of the day (it’s actually not as bad as it sounds, just using that as an example). Providing training documentation would be the first thought to anyone, and we supply our members with an arsenal to be reckoned with, but the amount of imformation supplied within the documentation does result in a information overload for “newbies”.

Frustrating at times, it is hard to constantly update documentation as the industry changes, which makes it exciting at first, as where else in any industry do techniques and offerings have to be adapted so often as the rules of the game change, and secondly time intensive. ensuring that everyone in the company is aware of changes, and how these changes effect the company and the clients outcome as well. The common basics that are applied, whereafter the art/creative spin is added makes the SEM industry. We should all know the common basics required to begin SEM for any client, but with all the options, SMO, link bait, universal search including images/news/video and paid search sometimes the basics are forgotten.

I know most of my team members get frustrated with me at times, when requesting them to ensure 300% quality, by checking, rechecking and going back to the start and ensure that nothing during the step they were tasked with has been forgotten. Ensuring that all documentation has been updated to reflect any changes during implementation is 1 area you can say i go a bit overboard with.

Practise, practise and more practise is the only way to learn, to pay attention to how each step is completed, and within the few months to monitor how those steps have come to fruition is something we sometimes miss. Rushing to complete an assignment, and missing a small step, down the line can result in a large problem that becomes exponential, making the adjustments that much harder and time consuming, which could have been avoided by that 10 minute review.

Link teams need to be constantly aware of the changes in search engines, and with the changes in the SERPS, monitoring what sites are indexed, what sites are popular, etc. Going after the holy grail of Toolbar PR can become an obsession for a company and their clients that can very well have no outcome on the results that are expected. Being able to see potential in a partner site, and basic checks can ensure the long term sustainability for any campaign/solution.

Copywriting is integral, without text for search engines/users to understand what the website is and offers a client could very well be lost inside the world wide web. Trying to integrate as many keywords into a page of copy as possible, destroys the copy, does not read well and very well might effect the client’s website performance when vistors arrive.

Looking at local companies still lost in the “dark times”, guaranteeing results, offering the cheapest costs for online promotion, and unforunately within our local SA market, price is always a concern for a client who does not understand the SEM industry. “Smaller” companies that use methods that deliver a result as a tried and tested method, however straddling the fence when it comes to ethical and unethical, could very well start seeing their demise as the daily ever changing industry evolves(not gunning for smaller companies here, we should have the clients best interest in mind). Long term strategy is better than short term gains, both for the client and for the SEM provider. Methods that worked a year ago, without staying in touch with the market changes, might not work within the coming year.

So what is the outcome? Basics are the foundation to everything, without the basics are we not simply building a home in the sand? No matter how extravagant the house may look inside or out, a change in wind or an unexpected wave could destroy everything. Start with the basics and then apply the creative. Our industry is lead by creative leaders, but let’s not forget that they also had to start with the basics.

Training and education in the SEM industry is a post from: The Pringle

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