Let’s Start with Three Google Search Facts:
- Google owns over 90% of all global search traffic.
- 63,000 searches a second, 2 trillion a year.
- Over 50% of those searches don’t result in a click.
Hold Up! Less Than 50% clicks?!?
It’s true! Over one-half of any organic or paid search does not result in a website click; and that 50% barrier was broken in 2019. It is higher now.
You may be thinking “Google is one of the biggest companies in the world and has a near-monopoly with internet searches. What are they doing, if not getting people to click on my website link?”
Google Is Answering Questions.
In a general search for information, Google will try to provide the searcher with the answer they are looking for. “How tall is Tom Cruise?” (5’7″). “Who sang the Banana Boat Song? (Harry Belefonte). How can I catch poison ivy? (not person to person).
In an effort to be even more helpful, Google adds extra questions and answers via the People Also Ask section in the results – Can you get poison ivy without touching the plant? How is poison ivy contagious? How do you pull poison ivy? Can I pop poison ivy blisters?
We Can Start By Looking A Little Further Into That Poison Ivy Search
Google takes the answers they give us from legitimate websites; in this example fda.gov, kidshealth.org, medicinenet.com, youtube.com, and teclabsinc.com. Those five websites offer answers on their sites – answers that potential clients and customers need. In exchange for providing this useful information, Google offers a link to those websites when it supplies the answers.
Because these types of searches are usually done by people looking for a one-off answer, none of this information requires a click to an actual website. And statistics won’t reflect that.
So if you are offering products or information, how can you compete?
It’s simple really; OFFER THE ANSWER. Although the content on your website’s primary pages is somewhat “evergreen” and only changed periodically, a weekly or bi-weekly blog can give you the opportunity to present a fresh, timely few paragraphs to answer the questions your potential customers may have. That blog also gives you something to share on your social media – Facebook, Instagram, Twitter – as appropriate.
It doesn’t have to be about poison ivy. Talk about yourself; your business, services, and industry. Two blogs a month becomes 24 a year, in two years you have almost 50 pages of timely answers for your potential clients – spotlighting your expertise with your products and services, and creating goodwill in your neighborhood and region.
BTW – You should NEVER pop poison ivy blisters (thanks, Teclabsinc!)