SEO eggs in one search engine

When carrying out SEO on websites there can sometimes be a tendency to focus on pleasing Google’s Page Rank algorithms, occasionally to the exclusion of considerations pertaining to other search engines.

Sure, Google holds the largest market share for user generated searches by a long shot, but will it always be this way? Probably not.

Despite Google’s ongoing dominance in many parts of the world, it should always be remembered that the Internet is an incredibly fluid marketplace. This is evidenced by new figures released by web analysis company Experian Hitwise.

In the firm’s UK Search Engine and Social Analysis report for March, it was revealed that Microsoft’s Bing was the fastest growing search engine in the UK, with its share of searches increasing by 0.28% since February, compared to a drop for Google of 0.66%. Year on year results are even more telling, showing Bing grabbing an additional 1.43% of the market share, and Google losing 0.61%.

True, Google still holds just over 90% of the UK market share for all searches, but for how long? An algorithm change here, a bad news headline there, and things could shift rapidly.

Experian Hitwise’s US statistics were more dramatic. For the month of March, Bing.com’s share of searches grew by 6%, while ‘Bing-powered search’ also grew 5%. Google experienced a drop of 3%.

In the US, Google’s dominance is still strong, but less assured. As of March, its share of the search marketplace stood at 64.42%, while Bing-powered search has just broken the 30% mark. Bing.com and Yahoo meanwhile hold roughly 15% each.

In terms of success rates for searches, in which a search results in a website visit, the story is somewhat different. Of the big three, Google are way down with 66%, while searches on Bing and Yahoo! both yielded success rates over 80%.

For the moment it seems that Google will hold onto its search crown, but these statistics reveal that it is rapidly losing its grip on the market share. And once the competition hots up for real, the days of working out an SEO strategy based purely on what the big G is doing may well be over.

Make sure your SEO Agency has an online marketing strategy mapped out for you that will deliver results in all major search engines to ensure your website attains maximum exposure and your SEO campaign delivers a sound return on investment.