Indeed, search engine presence and visibility are precursors to conversions. However, there’s always the age-old two-part question:
“What’s the best search engine to optimize for? Does the search engine matter for my business?”
The short answer to the second question is “yes.” However, the more nuanced answer is that it matters to the extent that you’re targeting a certain demographic. Where you are will also decide the best search engine to optimize for.
In short, while we can agree that the search engine matters, there’s a lot to consider as you plan your search engine optimization (SEO) campaign. To cover the most bases, the safest thing to do would be to optimize for the top search engines.
What are they? Read on to find out which search engines can bring your business the most notoriety in 2023.
1. Google
- The most used search engine in the world with 4.39 billion users
- 91.9% of the total search market share as of January 2022
- Most of the traffic is from mobile devices
Topping the search engine charts is Google. Occupying the lion’s share of the search market at 91.9%, Google is the most well-known and used search engine. Google’s market monopoly makes the search engine the target of many SEO campaigns.
Google also has one of the broadest user demographics of any search engine. User age ranges from 12 to 44 years, with more than half living in cities.
Most of the search engine’s traffic comes from mobile searches. This is an indicator of how crucial mobile-friendly optimizations will be for your site if you want to rank on Google’s results pages.
2. Microsoft Bing
- Rebranded from MSN Search
- Powers Yahoo and AOL
- Enjoys regional popularity in the U.S. and the U.K., according to Search Engine Journal
Google dwarfs Microsoft Bing in terms of its market share. But despite occupying a smaller share of the search market, Microsoft Bing has been growing in user popularity since its rebranding in 2020.
The Microsoft-owned search engine’s share continues to grow as it powers the searches of two other popular search engines — Yahoo and AOL.
3. Yahoo
- A pioneer among search engines
- Powered by Bing
- Has 600 million monthly users
Yahoo may have fallen due to the rise of Google. Nevertheless, a monthly user base of 600 million speaks volumes about Yahoo’s mainstay status in the search engine market.
Though not the most streamlined in UI (User Interface) and UX (User Experience), Yahoo boasts features that match and even outdo those of the search engine behemoth Google. Some of these features are Yahoo Finance, Yahoo Answers, and Flickr.
4. Baidu
- China’s answer to Google
- Occupies the lion’s share of the Chinese search market
- Optimization requires knowledge of Mandarin
Baidu is to China what Google is to the rest of the world. With more than 60% of the Chinese search market, Baidu is the search engine to optimize for when targeting a Chinese audience.
Of course, optimization requires two things:
First, you must be in mainland China to optimize. Second, you need to know Mandarin to perfect your content.
5. Other Search Engines Worth Mentioning and Optimizing for: Youtube and Pinterest
As a subsidiary of Google, Youtube doubles as a search engine and video-sharing platform. Make your content visible on this platform, and you’ll be exposing your business to potentially two billion active subscribers.
Pinterest is a photo-sharing site. But like Youtube, it doubles as a search engine for those seeking visual inspiration in various niches — from fashion to interior design.
Why It’s Important to Optimize a Site for Search Engines
Optimizing for a search engine confers several benefits. But the main advantage of SEO is that it helps your business grow in its visibility.
Traffic to your business site will come from two sources. One is organic or traffic that results from users typing your site’s URL. The other source is where most of your traffic will come from: from the search engine results pages (SERPs).
By being on the SERPs, your website lends itself to more clicks and visits. The more clicks and visits your site gets, the higher your conversions can be.
How to Be in the SERPs (Preferably, the First page)
So how do you end up on the SERPs with SEO? While SEO tactics can differ depending on the search engine you’re optimizing for, here are a few basic tips you can implement now.
Dial in Your Meta Keywords
Keywords related to your business must populate your website’s content. Most importantly, the keywords must be present in your meta title and meta description. With your keywords in the meta title and meta description, search engine bots can crawl your site and determine your site’s relevance to what a user looks for.
Get Backlinks
Backlinks are clickable links from another site that redirects a user to any part of your website. With enough backlinks, Google’s algorithm will see your site as an authority and assign you a better ranking in the SERPs.
To get backlinks, you need excellent site content. You may also get site owners to link to your site via outreach.
Make Your Site Mobile-friendly
Most search engine users (Google, particularly) will be on their phones. Hence, when they come across your site, you want to make your site look and perform well on mobile devices.
Mobile-friendliness makes your site a joy to navigate through and keeps users in. Fail to optimize your site for mobile-friendliness, and your bounce rates will go through the roof as users leave your site.
By the way, search engine algorithms will notice high bounce rates and punish your site with a lower spot on the SERPs.
Optimize Your Site for Google and Beyond
There are other search engines besides Google. The variety of search engines means that there are many moving parts to handling an SEO campaign.
But what if there were a way to optimize for all search engines?
With our SEO service, you can!
Our digital marketing service includes SEO for all search engines you want to optimize for. Contact us today and get a taste of how we make your business visible and profitable online.
Written By: David Carpenter
