Within the digital marketing realm, it is common knowledge that Google has a firm grip on controlling search engine traffic and a large amount of online advertising. However, with that power “comes great responsibility.” Google, of course, has the slogan “don’t be evil,” which can help us have the utmost confidence in all of their actions – I say this with evident and apparent sarcasm.
Google’s Design, Intentions, & Impact
Google was started with the intention of helping people to navigate the internet more effectively. Without well-made or designed search engines, navigating the internet and websites would be extremely difficult. Websites would only be accessed through forums, word of mouth, or visiting a brick-and-mortar store that gave you their web address on their business card.
Google developed a search engine to solve this problem. Upon solving the issue, they have continued to develop and improve Google search with a few exceptions. Google is, first and foremost, a business. To operate effectively as a business, they need to monetize their business. This is primarily done through advertising.
Once Google’s algorithm became the top search engine, large businesses invested in optimizing their website and started paying for Google ads. Because Google ads are the primary form of profit for Google, how can they increase the number of businesses using pay-per-click (PPC) advertising? This can be accomplished through localizing Google searches and making it beneficial for all businesses to rank and utilize Google through search engine optimization, local SEO, and localized PPC.
If a local business can grow the same way a large business can grow on Google, then a small business owner will be inclined to purchase Google ads. What Google has been developing through algorithm updates is a continuous focus on local search.
How Google Is Helping Small Businesses
There are occasions when Google does something for the good of others and the good of small businesses. With a few Google updates, we have seen a revolution in small businesses. Before June 2014, there were not many ways for Google to associate an address with a business’s website. That is why Google My Business (now called Google Business Profile) was created. Google needed help determining your business, where your business was located, and where it provided services. Google My Business was just the first step in localized Google Searches. Your Google Business Profile is where a lot of local SEO optimization is performed.
During Google’s 2017 and 2018 algorithm updates, there was a lot of buzz around Google prioritizing mobile searches. While many internet marketers started focusing on optimizing their websites to appear in a mobile format more effectively, another large factor was more important at this timeframe. Most mobile searches are localized. So with this 2017 mobile search update, Google also integrated more localized searches. View Google’s algorithm update history.
Suddenly small businesses ‘ websites that could not compete with large companies were surging to the top of the local search results. Small businesses that had their Google My Business set up. Local SEO surged, and with the increase of online leads for business, there was also an increase focused on PPC marketing. Google started making a greater profit because more businesses were using PPC advertising.
Google Continuous Updates To Google My Business
Since 2014 Google My Business changed from simply a listing with your business address and hours to a Google website and a well-developed listing of your services. If you have not optimized your Google My Business, this is more important than setting up a Facebook or Instagram. Continually review your Google My Business and improve your page just as Google continues to add ways you can improve your GMB listing.
Google’s 2021 Algorithm Update’s Impact
Recently in the summer of 2021, Google had a series of updates. The 2021 Google updates have impacted businesses in a variety of ways. With the businesses I manage, I have seen the following impacts:
- Small businesses increased in traffic again.
- Large businesses saw a drop in traffic unless they had focused location pages or strategic link building.
- Websites that feature Google ads jumped in traffic and search results.
While I am still theorizing and going off of what I have found in the collection of websites I manage, it seems there are a few clear items that Google has prioritized in its most recent algorithm update.
Google has improved its algorithm’s capabilities to take local into the linking of a website. While Google has always used links to help indicate a website’s rankings, the level of the impact of the link seems to revolve around whether the links going to your website are also local. As a result, local search ranking factors remain consistent but are simply increasing in their value for a local business.
Google is planning on showing more ads. The websites that display Google ads saw an increase in rankings. Knowing that shows Google’s purpose. As they try to localize and grow the number of businesses using google ads, they will also need more websites to display those ads. What will this lead to? More local news sites will have opportunities as well as local travel or tourism sites.
The End Results Of Google’s Growth Of PPC Advertising
Google will take what they have created on a large scale and continue to localize it. This will lead to a historical return of local businesses and a growth in local businesses. It is interesting and ironic that the very focus of Google is to direct online search traffic that was designed originally to connect people from a variety of locations to being used to connect people in a local and small location set up.
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