Learn About the Best Search Engines
In this post, we’ll explore the SEO benefits and drawbacks of the top seven search engines and offer optimization strategies. While we may focus on “google/organic” or “google/cpc” traffic to boost our analytics, we could be overlooking valuable traffic sources.
There are alternative methods to increase traffic and conversion rates that require less effort than relying solely on Google for marketing. Thus, I will introduce you to seven widely-used search engines (apart from Google), provide a quick overview of each, and share some excellent resources on how to leverage them for marketing and monetization.
Google dominates the search engine market with a whopping 86% share, making it hard to overlook. The company was founded as a research project by Larry Page and Sergey Brin in 1996. Interestingly, in 1999, they tried to sell their search engine to Excite for a mere $750,000. Despite this initial setback, Google has emerged as one of the most successful tech companies, even though it was one of my preferred companies to avoid when I compiled a list of poor business decisions.
Currently, Google’s parent company, Alphabet, boasts a market value of $1.012 trillion. Beyond providing search results via its own search engine, Google also serves up results for other search engines like Ask.com.
Pro’s & Con’s
Google’s dominance in the search engine market means that ranking highly on its search results page can result in significant organic traffic, which is highly sought after. However, competition for organic search traffic is intense, and paid search can be more expensive than other search engines.
Some criticize Google for potentially leading searchers away from visiting websites and towards fulfilling their needs directly on Google’s search results page, which may feature snippets, fewer organic results on the first page, and more paid search results. As a result, the competition to rank highly on Google can be costly, with less likelihood of significant gains.
YouTube
In 2005, a group of PayPal veterans founded YouTube, which was later acquired by Google, cementing the company’s dominance as the owner of the world’s top two search engines. Today, YouTube is one of the largest video-sharing platforms globally, delivering more than 1 billion hours of video content to users daily. Additionally, it has over two billion logged-in users per month, according to the website’s official statistics.
The first video uploaded to YouTube, which features co-founder Jawed Karim at the zoo, has garnered more than 41 million views. Though it didn’t have the same cultural impact as MTV’s “Video Killed The Radio Star,” it accomplished its intended purpose.
Pro’s & Con’s
It’s no surprise that marketers are attracted to YouTube’s enormous traffic potential, but it can also be a double-edged sword. While using YouTube to drive traffic can be highly effective, it can also present a challenge for marketers.
With over 500 hours of video content uploaded to YouTube every minute, standing out among the crowd can be a significant hurdle. However, if you can create compelling ad campaigns, like Geiko or Blendtec, that capture your target audience’s attention, you can receive extensive exposure at a low cost. Though paid opportunities under the Google Ads system can be expensive, it is still possible to compete and succeed in that arena.
Amazon
Amazon, which started as an online bookstore in 1995, quickly expanded its product offerings and became one of the first major corporations to sell products online. Founder Jeff Bezos’ efforts to popularize and make online shopping more accessible to the masses earned him the Time Person of the Year award in 1999.
In recent years, Amazon’s success has been so substantial that almost half of all online shopping searches (49%) began on their website, outpacing Google’s (22%) search engine. With the acquisition of Whole Foods, Amazon gained access to fresh food offerings, further strengthening their position in the online shopping market. It remains to be seen whether customers want to add a Bluetooth adapter to their organic avocado purchase.
Pro’s & Con’s
Some individuals believe that having high-quality and valuable content on Google can help improve search rankings and attract potential customers searching for blue widgets. Google’s primary advantage is its vast scale, which can help businesses reach a broad audience. However, if you’re selling blue widgets and want your products to be visible to potential customers when they’re searching, you need to list them on Amazon; otherwise, you may miss out on sales opportunities.
One of the major drawbacks of selling on Amazon is the intense competition, with pricing and other critical information easily compared to competing products. Running a campaign on Amazon can also be expensive, and it can be challenging to differentiate your product in a highly product-centric environment. Additionally, gaining a competitive edge may be difficult, especially if you lack unique products, as sales and reviews significantly impact search rankings. Established firms with a solid reputation and quality merchandise can maintain their positions in the marketplace more easily.
While it’s still too early to predict how Alexa will impact product searches and sales, it is an area worth monitoring. Product promotions on Amazon can also be based on cost-per-click (CPC), which can be expensive, but it’s an effective way to reach potential customers who are further along in the buying process. The third article mentioned below provides more detailed information on this topic, specifically if Amazon dominates or performs well in the personal assistant market.
When we think about search engines, Facebook isn’t typically the first platform that comes to mind. However, between 2004 and 2006, it was exclusively accessible to students, and since then, it has opened up to the public. Facebook handles over 2 billion daily searches, but it still lags behind Microsoft Bing.
In terms of advantages and disadvantages, Facebook’s user base is one of its most significant benefits, as is typical with most platforms. However, the cost of advertising can be high, with some clicks costing several dollars, making it more affordable than Google Ads but still pricey. There is some debate about whether Facebook’s traffic is as targeted as other platforms.
While relevancy may be lost, Facebook advertising is an effective way to reach people who may not be searching for you. A significant benefit is the platform’s ability to target audiences based on demographic information such as job titles, locations, and interests, rather than on search queries, which is more relevant to Google Ads. It’s an excellent way to target a specific group, like SEO professionals, with a new ebook, even if they are not actively searching for it.
Despite a significant drop in organic reach, Facebook can still be a source of unpaid traffic. To rank organically, companies must maintain brand loyalty, consistently produce high-quality content, and engage with their audience regularly.
Microsoft Bing
Bing was introduced as Microsoft’s primary competitor to Google in 2009, taking over from MSN Search. While it initially only had an 8.4% share of the search market, it quickly grew and reached 10% in the same year as a deal with Yahoo pushed its search traffic share to 28.1%. In 2016, Bing merged with AOL to provide search results across their platforms.
Bing has made significant strides in advertising to catch up with Google, and market share across all Microsoft products and properties has grown to 25.7%. In October 2020, Bing rebranded as Microsoft Bing, and Bing Ads has been adding more features to align its system with Google’s, while also making it easier for users to import data and manage their accounts.
Pro’s & Con’s
When it comes to advantages and disadvantages, Bing is not as well-known as Google, but it is well-ranked in several markets, including the U.S. and U.K. Bing has been investing heavily in AI technology, although its algorithms are less sophisticated than Google’s, making it easier to comprehend, predict, and optimize for. However, this situation may not last for long.
In terms of advertising, Bing’s system is less complex than Google’s, with fewer SEO experts competing for the top 10 spots, making it easier to achieve a good ROI. Additionally, the site has fewer users, leading to significantly lower CPCs. While Bing’s understanding of close variants has been problematic in the past, it can still produce higher ROI, even though conversions are lower.
It’s important to manage each search engine individually, with CPC and demographic targeting varying across each platform, leading to different conversion rates. While copying campaigns from Google Ads to Microsoft Ads can speed up the process, it’s not recommended to manage them entirely in the same way.
Baidu
Baidu was founded in 2000 and is China’s dominant search engine with a 69.55% market share, while Google has a 3.76% share. Baidu processes 3.3 billion daily searches in China and is investing heavily in AI technology while expanding its services, similar to Google. Baidu is also using a self-driving car computer.
Pro’s & Con’s
There are both advantages and disadvantages to using Baidu. The upside is that it provides access to a vast market, while the downside is that it only offers access to one market. It’s crucial to note that accessing the Chinese market is not as straightforward as accessing other markets, especially with international SEO. The language, customs, and images used are different from those of other markets, and Google Translate won’t help attract customers. Baidu’s influence is limited to China, so businesses outside of China won’t benefit from using this platform.
Although Baidu’s organic algorithms are less complicated than Google’s, it may be challenging to set up without living in China. Having someone on your team who studied Mandarin in high school may not be enough to access the Chinese market via Baidu. You need someone who can speak the language and understand Chinese marketing to succeed on the platform.
Yandex
Arkadia was formed in 1990 to help categorize patents, and Yandex was established as “Yet Another iNDEXer” in 1993. Yandex.ru was launched in 1997, and the company went public on the New York Stock Exchange in 2011, raising $1.3 billion, which was second only to Google.
Yandex dominates the Russian search engine market, accounting for 42.35% of all searches in the country.
When it comes to advantages and disadvantages, Yandex provides a less crowded market with less competition, making it easier to compete organically and through paid advertising. Yandex’s algorithms are also easier to analyze, making optimization more accessible than Google’s. However, Yandex’s algorithms are less sophisticated than Google’s, leading to a higher geolocation weighting.
Compared to Google, Facebook, and Microsoft Bing, Yandex is less expensive per click and offers more flexibility. For example, ranking #1 for ‘casino’ would cost over $55 in the U.S., while it would only cost $0.82 on Yandex. Even in Russia, the word ‘казино’ would only cost $1.54 on Yandex.
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