Whatever your product or service offering the bottom line is that you need to be found by someone who is either starting broad research or ready to buy what your company has to offer. The more that your business is listed in the search results page the better the probability that you will get the sale. Therefore, most businesses need to do three things to optimize the chance of being found in search.
1. Fill out a Google Business Profile with comprehensive information about products, services, images, videos, reviews, etc.
2. Make certain that the business website and social media pages contain images, videos and content that are captioned and headed with the primary keyword phrases that consumers might use during their search process.
3. Do a search of those keywords. If your business is not appearing organically for primary products and services then a small paid search campaign should be implemented.
The following is an explanation of why.
Search Engine Results and How They Work:
Search engine results are web pages served to users when they search for something online using a search engine, such as Google. The user enters their search query using specific terms and phrases known as keywords, upon which the search engine presents them with results. The result is known as a search engine results page. Every search result page is unique, even for search queries performed on the same search engine using the same keywords or search queries. This is because virtually all search engines customize the experience for their users by presenting results based on a wide range of factors beyond their search terms, such as the user’s physical location, browsing history, and social settings. The methodology to return results programmed by Google and other consumer software service companies like Bing is known as an algorithm.
Organic Results
Search results typically contain two types of content – “organic” results and paid results. Organic results are listings of web pages that appear as a result of the search engine’s algorithm. Some results pages will feature significantly more organic results than others. This is due to the differing intent of various searches.
There are three primary types of Internet Search:
Informational
Navigational
Transactional
Informational searches are those in which the user hopes to find information on a given topic, such as Abraham Lincoln. It wouldn’t make much sense to place ads or other types of paid results on a SERP like this, as the search query “Abraham Lincoln” has very low commercial intent; the vast majority of searchers using this search query are not looking to buy something, and as such only informational results are displayed on the search result page.
Navigational queries are those in which the user hopes to locate a specific website through their search. This may be the case for individuals searching for a specific website, trying to locate a website whose URL they can no longer remember, or another type of navigational objective.
Finally, transactional searches are those in which paid results are most likely to be displayed on the search result page. Transactional searches have high commercial intent, and search queries leading to transactional search results may include keywords such as “buy” and other terms that suggest a strong desire to make a purchase.
The map is also an organic result, shown based on a user’s location, and feature listings for local businesses that have set up their free Google Business Profile. Formerly known as Google My Business, this profile information creates a directory that helps local businesses increase their visibility based on location. This a particularly important feature with mobile devices.
Paid Results
In contrast to organic results, paid results are those that have been paid to be displayed by an advertiser. In the past, paid results were almost exclusively limited to small text that were typically displayed above and to the right of the organic results. Today, however, paid results can take a wide range of forms, and there are dozens of advertising formats that cater to the needs of advertisers.
Generally, the three large text-based ads at the top of the SERP (considered prime positioning for advertisers) are typical paid search ads. Similarly, text ads appear at the bottom of the search results pages along with suggestions for additional search terms.
Unlike SEO, paid search (also known as Search Engine Marketing, SEM, Pay Per Click or PPC) focuses solely on the investment of advertising budget to achieve prominent positioning on search engine results pages. Like SEO, paid search is a complex topic. To start with, just remember that paid search focuses on optimizing ads to be shown in as prominent a position on the search result as possible. It’s not as simple as merely throwing more money at a campaign – advertisers must think strategically to achieve their goals.
Here is a quick summary of how paid search works. Paid search functions as an auction. Advertisers bid on keywords that are relevant to their business that can trigger the display of their ads when users search for those terms.
A wide range of factors determine where an ad will be shown on the search results page. Some ads might be displayed above the organic search results, whereas others may be shown to the right of the organic results. Some advertisers choose to limit the display of their ads to mobile searches only, whereas others exclude mobile results altogether. Some ads feature extensions, and some do not.
Again, The Best Practice Summary
Whatever your product or service offering the bottom line is that you need to be found by someone who is either starting broad research or ready to buy what your company has to offer. The more that your business is listed in the search results page the better the probability that you will get the sale. Therefore, most businesses need to do three things to optimize the chance of being found in search.
1. Fill out a Google Business Profile with comprehensive information about products, services, images, videos, reviews, etc.
2. Make certain that the business website and social media pages contain images, videos and content that are captioned and headed with the primary keyword phrases that consumers might use during their search process.
3. Do a search of those keywords. If your business is not appearing organically for primary products and services then a small paid search campaign should be implemented.
Contact us for more information, clarification or a consultation.