Being so focused on Google as their primary search engine, people tend to forget that others can also be useful. But who are Google’s competitors and what makes them different from Google?

The Ruler – Google

We use Google as our primary choice without much thinking. Even though this search engine is undeniably most used, you need to know the facts about it in order to make a comparison to others. 

The company was founded in 1998 and has held the title of the number one search engine for decades. 

Web traffic data firm Alexa ranked Google as the most popular website in the world as of October 2019.

The primary source of profit for this company is selling online advertisements. 

It is the first choice of marketers because it leads with a worldwide market share of 92.25% with over 3.5 billion searches per day. 

Some of Google’s search statistics that prove its success are:

• Google handles over 75,000 queries per second.
• Google’s share of mobile search traffic is over 85% globally.
• Local searches account for 46% of all searches on Google.
• Moving up one spot in Google’s search results can increase CTRs by up to 30.8%.
• Users are 4 times more likely to click on a paid search ad on Google compared to any of its competitors.

Okay, so we must agree that Google is pretty amazing. But is there something we can gain by using other search engines? Let’s find out.

The Competitors

The search engines that are mostly used and most often mentioned besides Google are Yahoo, Bing, and Baidu. They all have their benefits that work in favor of marketers or website owners who want to explore other options and improve their website traffic. 

1. Bing

One of the ways that Bing and Google differ is that they value keywords differently. Google uses context to determine which search results are the best for which users. Bing, on the other hand, is still ranking websites based on targeted keywords. Those who use targeted keywords have a better chance to improve their ranking on Bing. 

Google has made an open statement that they do not use meta keywords as a ranking parameter while Bing still takes them into consideration. 

When it comes to backlinking, Google puts the emphasis on quality. Aiming at quantity can only hurt your results. Bing has a different approach. It especially prefers when the backlinks come from domains such as .edu, .org and .gov.

Bing and Google differ in the target group section as well. Google prefers younger Internet users, between the ages of 18 and 44.

Users who use Bing for their search mostly fall into the 45–64 years bracket. However, users between the ages of 25 and 34 still use Bing as their choice, even if they prefer Google. 

Bing also prefers diversity when it comes to content. This search engine values images and videos that you have on your website. With Google, you should just keep your focus on text because the more engaging and high-quality it is, the better your results will be. 

2. Yahoo

While Google and Yahoo differ in many aspects, Yahoo has similarities with Bing since Yahoo has been powered by Bing since 2011. 

Yahoo favors authenticity. For that reason, it prefers older websites that maintained their popularity with original content. This is important because if you have a new website, you shouldn’t expect that it will show up on Yahoo, regardless of your SEO efforts. Google looks at this differently and focuses on content rather than how old the website is.

Like Bing, Yahoo also values targeted keywords and meta-keywords even though Google doesn’t. 

Unlike Google that is used by younger people (mostly until the age of 44), Yahoo is the favorite choice of older people, especially those who are over 65 years old. These users are least fond of the number one search engine. 

The similar underlying technology in Bing and Yahoo is another important benefit because you can use the same SEO practices to achieve better search results on two search engines rather than just one. 

3. Baidu

Since Google can’t be used in China, Baidu is ranked as the second most used search engine. Within China, this search engine powers 3.3 billion searches per day. 

When it comes to adding your website to the search engines, the time you need differs on Google and Baidu. Google completes the addition process much faster because Baidu’s algorithm is very detail-oriented and it checks whether the content respects the rules of their country. 

Like Bing and Yahoo, Baidu also values the number of backlinks for a website. Only Google focuses more on quality, while its competitors all consider the number of backlinks as well.

Baidu prefers websites that have vibrant and interesting content. Meaning that the website with images, videos, music, etc. has some advantage. This differs from Google, which values engaging and informative content above all else. 

The aspect in which Baidu has the upper hand compared to Google is recognizing SEO changes. Baidu does this much faster. This is great for new websites that have optimized content because their page can get a good ranking position quickly. 

Conclusion

The volume of consumers that Google has explains why marketers and website owners use this search engine. The vast amount of information, search result accuracy, and speed are why people love Google. However, Google’s competitors have a different audience that you can also reach out to if you think outside the box. The only trick that you need to remember and use is to adapt the optimization to the search engine you use and these differences can help you out with your SEO strategy.

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Mobile SEO Trends and Tactics You Should Consider in 2019

1. Pay attention to mobile-first index

Since Google introduced the mobile-first index, a lot of business owners started to wonder whether their website is mobile friendly and whether they should do something about it. According to Google’s statement, they will check a website’s mobile version to understand how data is structured and decide how high they will rank that website on search results. Therefore, Google recommends the following for business owners who want to be listed on top of search results and optimize their website for the mobile version:

• If you have a responsive website for both desktop and mobile, then you won’t have to make any changes. As long as you keep the same primary content on both versions, there’s nothing to worry about;

• If your website has verified content only for the desktop version, then you should seriously think about verifying your content for the mobile version as well; 

• If you have different content on your mobile version than the desktop version of your website, then you should work with your marketing team to align the two versions. 

2. Understand what your customer wants

It has been important in 2018, and it will be important in 2019 as well. You need to know your audience very well and understand what their intent is. Social media will play a significant role in creating the user’s experience. Therefore, your social media content should complement your website content. What is more, you should also keep in mind that your website users will not only check the content, but they will also take a look at the layout and design. Therefore, even though your website may look perfect on a desktop, if it doesn’t respond to the user’s needs on mobile devices, then your efforts are in vain. You can use various Google tools to test how mobile-friendly your website is as well as the usability of your website and how quickly it responds. 

3. Prioritize questions above keywords

SEO means choosing the right keywords to improve your brand’s visibility. However, the way people are looking for information has changed a lot over the past years. In 2019 you should focus on questions. Your customers use questions to find the answers to their problems. This means that when you build the content for your mobile website, you should think of all the answers your users expect to receive from your side. What does this mean? You should prioritize customer research and thoroughly understand your target audience’s profile. As long as you come to know their buying behavior, their product preferences, most stringent needs, and budget, you will be able to create the right questions and answers for your customers. 

4. Optimize your content 

Even though content will always be king, customers nowadays don’t have the patience to read only text. They scan content and extract the main ideas instead of reading the entire document. As a result, word count as well as structure, play an essential role on your mobile website. For instance, a text between 700 and 1000 words is ideal when you want to optimize your content for mobile devices. Be sure not to overload your writing with keywords. People are starting to use voice search more often, and that trend will continue to grow in 2019. So when you optimize your content, you should keep voice search in mind. Finally, the way you structure your data will also make a difference. You should take into account that mobile device screens are narrower, which means that you should adapt your content structure accordingly. 

2019 is going to be an exciting year for search engine optimization. As search engines become more intelligent each year and people shift more to mobile devices, you need to be prepared and adapt your website from a mobile perspective. With the number of voice searches increasing every month, content optimization becomes a serious challenge. To meet this challenge, you should learn your customers’ intent and build your website in such a way that responds to their expectations. Add data structure and user experience to your list, and you will successfully achieve your goals in the year to come.

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