Of all that money spent on Internet marketing, a good chunk was allocated toward search engine optimization, which is really a high-tech way of saying that you want to make sure that people who use search engines to find a car can find your particular dealership’s website as easily as possible. This is something of an art, with Internet marketers employing all kinds of tricks, some legitimate, and some bordering on unethical, to create sites that are “search-engine friendly.” Why is this so important to your business? According to some recently released figures, 78% of potential car buyers all start their search for a new car in the same way: by typing a few key words into the field of a search engine. And when it comes to search engines, there are really only two categories: Google, and everyone else.

 

 

By virtually any measurement, Google has become the unquestioned leader in the search engine space. They weren’t necessarily first, but they were the first to really perfect the art of the search, and have become the de-facto leader in the market. According to an industry study by the research firm comScore, released in mid-July, Google accounts for a whopping 61.5% of all Internet searches, about three times that of its nearest competitor.

 

…and tomorrow.

 

While Google has done an excellent job of owning the desktop computer, the company’s dominance promises to continue, as the way we access the web continues to evolve. Consider the smart phone, touted by many experts to be the next iteration of the computer. These phones, which have been optimized to access the web via fast 3G wireless networks, represent the new digital gold rush with nearly every Internet company looking to stake a claim. Not surprisingly, most people who have started “prospecting” have found that Google has already discovered the mother lode. According to Neilson Mobile, during the first quarter of 2008 approximately 61% of searches conducted by mobile device users utilized Google, more than three times the nearest competitor. According to one blog, Google is not just the market leader, they’re the market period.

 

Making sense of Google’s run.

 

What’s behind Google’s market dominance? A big reason is just plain good marketing. The name Google has become synonymous with searching, to the point where “to Google” someone or something is now used interchangeably with searching for something on the Internet. Much like transcendent brands such as Kleenex, Frisbee and Xerox, Google is now part of the lexicon. Another reason is more tactical — Google has made its way onto more and more web browsers, as fewer Internet users rely solely on Microsoft’s Internet Explorer. Browsers such as Apple’s Safari and Mozilla’s Firefox feature integrated Google search fields, making “Googling” a completely mindless action. A great example of this can be found with the introduction of the iPhone, Apple’s “must-have” smart phone that’s had everyone from the tech-savvy to the style conscious drooling for well over a year. About six months after the release of the first iPhone, Google announced that iPhone users were “Googling” at a rate of 50 times greater than other smart phone users, due in large part to the integrated Google search field in the iPhone’s browser. As the iPhone continues to surge in popularity and make inroads into the market shares of devices such as the Blackberry, experts expect this trend to continue as well.

 

Don’t underestimate the Google factor.

 

So what’s the bottom line? First, it’s obvious that Google has done an excellent job of making itself the search engine of choice for a huge majority of Internet users, and appears poised to dominate the market for some time to come. Second, if you’re going to try and do anything that’s search-engine friendly, the best place to start is by making sure your solution passes the Google test. Otherwise, chances are you’re only appealing to a small portion of the marketplace.