On February 26, 2009, Google tweeted for the first time. To most of us it looked like gibberish, but if your familiar with binary code, it read “I’m feeling lucky.” It seems like a particularly appropriate quote for what has become the dominant search engine in most peoples lives. If the internet is the information super highway, then search engines are the map, and Google makes the most popular one.
92% of adults in the U.S. complete at least on search throughout the day. Anything from directions to a local store, to how Google mows the lawns at headquarters (rented goats would be the answer, believe it or not). Beyond that staggering statistic, 42% of those click on the first ranked organic result. This means very few people bother to see even the second page of results. So how do websites reach that all important first page? In short, they have the right keywords.
Search engine rankings will depend on what is searched for and how the engine compares those words to ones found on any site. This is where seo, or search engine optimization, becomes important. To move up the search engine rankings, a site must have those keywords that will cause Google to deem it the best suggestion for someone searching. Seo’s attempt to optimize said site in order to move up the rankings, and maybe even hit that golden first page that so many people don’t move past. The other route taken by companies to reach the first search results page is Pay-Per-Click, or essentially paid results. However, it was found that organic clicks have significantly higher conversion rates by about 25%. Clearly the future is bright for search engine optimization.
