What this means for Search Engine Optimization (SEO) and your internet search results

Millions of people use the internet everyday to do research, find products or services to buy, or look for something local.  Approximately 80% of consumers research a product or service online before choosing to make a purchase offline from a local business and 84% of all internet traffic is referred through search engines.  We type the keywords we are looking for into a search engine, like Google, and select websites from the list given.  Why some sites are displayed before others is merely an afterthought to many web users.  For internet marketers, search engine optimization is a service provided to their business customers who want to increase internet presence and turn site traffic into sales.  In 2009, Google will change the way we search by personalizing results for each person based on their location and search history.

Google’s search results are based on continuously changing algorithms that rank sites based on keywords and link building.  The new personalized search results will be different- they will be based on the behavior and the intent of the individual web user.  Each person will end up with different search results based on their prior search history and their physical location.  Google gets your information through cookies left on your computer after visiting a site and from your local IP address.  The information allows Google to make assumptions about your search.

At PubCon 2008, the Webmaster’s World Search and Internet Marketing Conference held in Las Vegas November 11-14, industry experts spoke about the future of Google and search engine optimization (SEO).  Matt Cutts, a software engineer for Google, spoke about the future of search engine optimization and personalization of search results in 2009.  When he was asked if site ranking is dead, Cutts said, “I’m not sure I would say ranking is dead but it’s not as important as it used to be.  The fact is the smart SEOs are not just necessarily looking at the rankings.  They are looking at conversion, they are looking at their server log.  It’s great if you’re ranking for a phrase but unless that leads to sales that doesn’t help you very much.  The challenge is not to pay so much attention to ranking, pay attention to traffic, pay attention to conversions and keep building good content and don’t worry about ‘can I show people that I rank number one for my trophy phrase.’ ”

Ranking may not be dead, but it will be considered less important.  The most important way to measure your site’s success will be focusing on site traffic, conversion, and bounce rates rather than where your site shows up in the rankings for specific keywords.  Search personalization will make site traffic more qualified, and although your overall site traffic may decrease, overall sales will increase.  Rich media content will be vital and websites with compelling content and relevant keywords, images, voice, video, and other interactive functions will succeed. 

So what does this mean for internet marketers, business owners, and individual search experience in general?  For internet marketers, this may mean a change in the way success is measured for customers.  It will require better definitions of the ideal website visitor- based on quality, rich media content, and a specific call-to-action to keep visitors on your site and coming back.  The internet is constantly changing and internet marketers have to be prepared to adapt to the changing technology to stay competitive. 

For business owners, this means more qualified site visitors with an improved ratio between traffic and conversion to sales.  The local impact of search personalization will help drive sales to local businesses that otherwise would not have been able to compete with national companies and spammer sites that dominated the rankings for industry keywords. 

The overall search engine experience will improve because we will no longer need to sift through countless websites until we find what we are actually looking for.  Overall website quality will improve as companies will enhance their websites to include more media content and interactive functions to improve visitor experience. 

Google’s personalization should motivate us all to evaluate our existing web sites and make sure:

• content provides the information that the target customer is looking for and is up-to-date.
• the site offers interactive features and different types of media that customers would find interesting.
• the site is easy to navigate and has a call-to-action to turn visitors into sales. 

Taking these steps now will ensure that you are prepared for the new era of information search.

Where is most of your site’s traffic coming from and why?

Mostly Direct Traffic: This means that your traffic is coming from your print advertising, word of mouth, and existing customers.

Direct Traffic is the one kind of traffic that refers to real-world sources. Potential customers who get your web address from your brochures/signage or heard of you from other people/businesses are typing your address in their browser to directly access your site. Depending on the percentage of your marketing you have reserved for print advertising or how long you company has been using print advertising, this number may overshadow other traffic sources. If your company has a website that isn’t very popular, but your company has been around for a while (including pre-internet), you may have a very large base of print advertising patrons and a lot of word of mouth. Including your web address on this print media and mentioning that you have a website causes more customers to actually go directly to your site for more information.

Existing customers can be tricky. Depending on your site’s setup, tools, and deployment on the web, your existing customers may be coming to your site to get information like a phone number, product pictures and data, or get caught up on your business’s up-to-date company info. The distinction between existing customers is whether they are coming again and again or just once to get contact information. Either way, they know your web address and do a b-line to your site. 

Mostly Referring Sites: This means that links to your site from other sites (whether you know about them or not) are directing customers to your site.

Referring sites are actually one of the main ranking philosophies behind search engines today. The more links on other sites to your site can help boost your rankings on search engines. However, if this is your biggest source for customers, you should be looking into where those links are coming from. Links to your site from sites that are part of your industry, refer to news about your company, or are on very trusted/popular sites, will provide you with customers and better search engine optimization. If links to your site are on spammer sites, unrelated industry sites, or use misleading text to link, the wrong customers are coming to your site and jumping back out (bounce rate) and your search engine optimization based on linking from other sites can sag.

Referring sites leave a lot out of your hands. The buying potential for anybody who comes to your site this way can vary greatly. Be sure to see where your links end up and what you can do to get your link on good sites and avoid linking with bad sites. Analyzing your bounce rate compared to your referring site percentage can help you understand who ended up at your site by accident and who is actually looking for your business.

Mostly Search Engines: This means that customers are coming to your site by search engine ranked links. This usually denotes good standing in search engines.

Most customers (approximately 84%) start their browsing at a search engine. Customers who have never heard of your business can find you based on keyword searching. New customers from around the world and regionally can find you through this traffic source. However, search engines hold all of the cards here and can change their search algorithms overnight, destroying your rankings.

To understand customers coming from search engines to your site, you must be aware of the keyword phrases they are using that lead them to your site. If they are using your company’s name to find you, then that search engine traffic is no different than direct traffic. If they are using keywords and find you, this is true search engine traffic.

Where should your site’s traffic be coming from and why?

Older (well-known) businesses: Usually, your business will have a strong base of print media from the pre-internet period. Adding your web address to that print media connects your print media customers to your website through direct traffic.

Newer (unknown) businesses: Newer businesses need all the exposure they can get. Using business connections, practical industry information, and popular social aspects of the web, your business should rack up referring site links – which will subsequently increase your site’s search engine rankings.

Service-based (regional) businesses: This type of business usually requires that its customers remain relatively local or regional. Using local business connections to create word of mouth and possibly links from their local sites can create direct and referral traffic.

Product-based (worldwide) businesses: As shipping has become easier and cheaper, products can effortlessly be shipped around the world. Getting more traffic from worldwide search engines is your best bet to get your business’s products out to your neighbor or a customer in Asia.

Information-based (n/a location) businesses: Information is only as good as its source. To become the best source for information, you need to be seen as reliable. The best way to do this is getting articles and information out into the web creating referral traffic. More referral traffic means that more people trust your information and that can build upon itself.