Sometimes you might get the idea that Google doesn't like Search Engine Optimization, is even trying to put SEO companies out of business.

Not so.

Google lead software engineer Matt Cutts recorded a video:

Does Google Consider SEO Spam?

He even promotes hiring SEO companies "one you can trust".

You might call it "Google Loves SEO."

Here's a followup on an article I wrote in June.

IF someone is looking online for a local business, there are several ways they can look:

Search Engines (Google, Bing, Yahoo)

Other Portals (A lot of the good general portals these days are run by periodicals. Here we have the likes of TBO.com and PinellasLife.com).

Local Search (Google Maps, AOL Local).

Internet Yellow Pages

Other (directories like CitySearch)

So what are the numbers? The first two categories add up to 74%. It's too bad these aren't broken down but they confirm the numbers we see working with various clients.

Search is king. All the hype from the Internet Yellow Pages sites is smoke and mirrors. They are a minor element.

In order of importance for local businesses, it is:

Google organic search
Google AdWords (pay-per-click)
Bing/Yahoo organic and paid search
Everything else.

And everything else is down in the weeds, less than 10%.

See the original report: Local Search Evolved

Everything else includes Map (local) listings, other directories, Yellow Pages sites, inbound links (in most cases), social media (Facebook, etc.) most of the time, and anything else that comes along and is supposed to be the greatest invention since sliced bread.

There are cases where social media is important. Sometimes search situations make click ads more important than organic search.

There are cases where certain inbound links can deliver large amounts of valued traffic, but mostly they are valuable for helping your organic search rankings.

Anyone who tells you different is trying to sell you something.

There's a new study that sheds light on HOW people do local searches.

Do they put in a geographical location if they are looking for a plumber? Or do they just search for "plumber"?

And if they DO put in a location, is it the city, zip code, neighborhood, street?

This is a very good article. One reason I say that is because what they are reporting agrees exactly with our experience with various clients, in various localities and various industries. They even get this right: In different areas and in different industries, the search pattern varies.

How Users Search for Local Businesses

No surprise, the most common geographical search terms are the city or town. The biggest surprise to me was how much people use zip codes in their searches. This study found zips used 3/4 as often as city or town name. I would have guessed it was way less than half.

And, just in case you thought this wasn't important, 59% of those surveyed use Google to search for a local business at least monthly.

52% of Google searches result in a click-through to a listing on the page.

Bing's percentage is only half of that, 26%:

Bing vs Google Home Page Numbers

Another recent study says it all:

Monthly searches on Bing for "Google": 110 million.

Monthly searches on Google for "Bing": 5 million.

There is a lot of talk going on now, about how Google is not only monopolistic but anti-competitive.

Even Google admits that it is "monopolistic" - meaning it dominates the search engine business, big-time. Actually over the last year or two, thanks mainly to a big advertising push by Microsoft, Google's share has dropped a bit, running right around 65% of US searches currently.

There has also been a big push by Microsoft, other search engines, directories and the like, and various governments, to claim that Google uses their monopoly position to give themselves an advantage with their other products (news, YouTube, etc.).

Bull-pucky.

These competitors formed an organization Fair Search that produced a lengthy white paper. It's full of misleading, false and distorted information. This article by Danny Sullivan makes it real clear:

Does The FairSearch White Paper On Google Being Anticompetitive Hold Up?.

The Japanese have a saying "Business is War" and Google definitely has its enemies. I don't blame them for trying.

But It doesn't make me love or want to use them.

If Microsoft wants to beat out Google, they should get smarter. It worked for Google back when they had 5 staff and were dealing with the likes of Alta Vista and Yahoo and AOL dominating the Internet.

Google has created a new YouTube Channel,

justanswersofficial

This goes along with a new microsite,

Google Answers

This is promotional material on the virtues of running Google AdWords (paid, click ads). But it is all informative and can help take the mystery out of a very complex subject.

Recommended.