How Google Can Make or Break A Small Business

securitas writes "USA Today's Jefferson Graham reports on how Google affects small business through its rankings and text ads. The feature describes how the fortunes of small companies turned when their Google ranking rose or dropped, as well as the effects of Google's paid search text advertising model. Search Engine Watch says that Google now performs an estimated 80% of the searches (200 million) on the Internet every day. The result is that Google has become a critical part of any online marketing strategy and has spawned a whole Google-optimization industry where consultants can charge $5,000 per site for tweaking. The feature is light on technical details but the stories of those who prospered and suffered due to Google make a good read."

Comments

Google Adwords

[glinden]

Google's AdWords program is remarkable in that truly anyone can buy ads. Small businesses with tiny marketing budgets can buy ads easily. Individuals can buy ads. The interface is simple and easy to use. Google even has a bunch of small business friendly features like limiting your cost per ad and total daily ad spend.

I've bought a bunch of ads on Google, most recently for my startup, Findory News. Most web advertising is expensive, difficult to set up, and performs poorly. But, because you can pick such specific keywords with Google Adwords and the advertising engine refuses to show ads that don't perform well, you can easily get in front of people that might be interested in them.

Re:Google Adwords

[filesiteguy]

And from the webmaster side, the adwords is fabulous. I have been getting referral emails from companies who have generated actual sales from ads displayed on my sites. The nice thing is that my sites are all niche and usually wouln't see much ad revenue. However, with the targeted ads, we're all winning.

Re:Google Adwords

[zippity8]

Or, alternatively, you could advertise on /. by snagging the first post! =P

Re:Google Adwords

[goalive]

I agree, Google Adwords are an excellent resource for any business whose goal is to sell something. In addition to that however, the Adwords are also useful to Webmasters particularly because they are always context-sensitive when they appear on a web page.

In other words, if your webpage text contains a discussion about "intrusion detection systems" it is highly likely that your Google ad banner will have up to four different companies that sell such devices or software. The advantage is that the Webmaster can offer valid commercial links to his free discussion and often make 25-cents per click; the advantage to the retailer is that they have higher exposure and a greater chance of selling their product. The disadvantage to all of us, unfortunately, is that we're still stuck with banner ads long into the forseeable future.

Regards,

Re:Google Adwords

[captain_craptacular]

But are non-intrusive, relevant banner ads such a bad thing? I hate to say it but I've actually been glad to have my attention snagged by relevant ads a few times. The other 90% of the time I have no trouble absolutely ignoring the banners...

I guess it's a matter of perspective, but I see it as a win for the consumer as well when they are brought together with a merchant who supplies them with something they really wanted or needed. The problem with banner ads in general is that they are usually huge spammy catch alls pimping products that no-one gives a shit about. Googles adwords go a long way towards fixing this problem, at least their ads are somewhat relevant to the subject at hand, whatever that may be....

Re:Google Adwords

[hendridm]

> Small businesses with tiny marketing budgets can buy ads easily.

I've had different results with AdWords. I wanted to test the waters with it so I set a budget of $1.00/day and 5 cents per click. I was quickly disabled for having "too few clicks" so I increased it to 25 cents per click and had the ad re-enabled. Again, it was disabled because of too few clicks. Finally, I tried raising it to $1.00 per click and again had the same results. I'm not sure what you consider cheap, but paying more than $1.00 per click to get decent placement is not my idea of cheap. I can find better click-throughs elswehere for around 35 cents per click and not be charged $5 to re-enable my ad if it does too poorly. For a small business getting started, it's tough to pay than a dollar or two CPM. A thousand impressions with .5% CT rate doesn't add up to much business, and the money for those ads doesn't grow on trees.

I've had better click-throughs with Market Banker or ads on Kuro5hin.

Ah the good ol' feudal days have returned...

[Xpilot]

...to cyberspace. So go ahead businesses, pay tribute to your new Google overlords.

Re:Ah the good ol' feudal days have returned...

[rodgerd]

If your business model is predicated on being a top ranked site on a search engine, fold tents and go home now, before you waste any more money.

It's almost as crappy a model as the one based on having a domain name you think everyone will type in.

No...

[Anonymous Coward]

Why blame google when you can blame yourself? If you can't compete, start looking for other jobs.

Re:No...

[nial-in-a-box]

This AC raises a good point, as it is not really Google that is impacting businesses but rather individuals' choices. Google might increase or decrease your exposure, but it's just one of many advertising options (even though it is rather unique in this sense), and that's just one part of what makes a business successful. Google has become quite powerful as a tool because it can find most anything, however, it is not without its flaws. Ads create a small bias in the system, but that's how Google makes money. In any event, I'd take Google over anything else out there simply because it looks and works the best. And if anybody thinks anything is questionable about Google, just look at the others.

$5,000 per site

[thedillybar]

This isn't that expensive. If someone could move my site to #1 for relevant searches, I could easily generate much more than $5,000 in revenue as a result.

Go Google!

Re:$5,000 per site

[dtfinch]

Always be cautious when hiring an "expert" to optimize your site. A lot of "experts" recommend tactics that used to work but can now get you banned on Google.

Re:$5,000 per site

[dubiousmike]

As someone who subscribes to quite a few web marketing/desing/PR/SEO (search engine optimization) newsletters, I have NEVER heard so much bitching as I do from those who are weathering "Florida" which is the nickname they are giving to Google's recent re-ranking.

Frankly, these small companies who are putting all of their eggs in one basket by relying so heavily upon Google are destined to fail.

Google did the re-ranking to encourage folks to both pay for Adwords AND to make a push for Froogle (which is free as in you don't have to pay for listings!!)

Its amazing how people who are getting something for nothing can bitch when that something turns into what they generally have to put into it - nothing.

SEO isn't rocket science and those who would pay $5000 for it have too much money in their budget. I have achieved #1 rankings without implementing half of what I could to boost them otherwise....

It's simple

[Anonymous Coward]

If you rely on another business so much that it can make or break you, it's time to find a new business model. It's not Google's responsibility to send traffic to your site, and I'm sick of people complaining about Google being unfair as if there's some magic entitlement to good rankings.

it really works!

[digitalsushi]

it's true and i can prove it -- we dont use google adwords, and we're going absolutely horrible! XD

Reassess your business strategy

[Narcissus]

I'm sure it'll be said here more than once this discussion but the fact of the matter is that if the life of your business depends on your Google ranking I would say "Don't be annoyed when it drops and breaks you: be thankful that it was up there in the first place, giving a chance to a business that obviously has no other hope".

Re:Reassess your business strategy

[Dark Paladin]

And if you were "on top" and find yourself lower, that's an indication that maybe you should pay for the ads rather than trusting to luck - they're not that expensive anyway.

Google Alert

[airjrdn]

Helpful Tip:
I use Google Alert for my personal site. I use it to track when other pages link to my site.

Per their About page:

With Google Alert, you can automatically keep track of anything on the web! Google Alert is the web's leading automated search and web intelligence solution. It runs daily Google searches for you and emails you when new results appear. Many people use Google Alert to keep track of what the web is saying about them, their interests or projects they are involved in. You can use Google Alert to keep track of any time someone mentions your name on the web. You can also track mentions of your website, your place of work, or your favorite hobby or celebrity -- the uses are limited only by your imagination. Click here for some great search ideas and some useful tips. The Frequently Asked Questions provide more detailed information about Google Alert. Selected as BBC's Website of the Day and USA Today's Hot Site, the free Google Alert service enables people in over 120 countries to stay up to date with their interests. Users include journalists, marketers, IT professionals, lawyers, doctors, salespeople, educators, researchers, and government employees. Click to start using Google Alert right away - it's easy and free!

Diversification

[zensufi]

Here we have another example of the danger of focusing on one entity to provide a product or service. Microsoft has the same issue. One security hole in IE can create all sorts of problems for the majority of the population.

Similarly, people have focused on Google as a search engine (for similar reasons - it is "user-friendly") and as a a result we are beginning to see the problems inherent in this approach.

Re:Diversification

[savagedome]

You are missing a key point. When MSFT products have a problem (not the social engineering problems like MyDoom), its largely due to defects within their own.

The problem with Google searches comes up because of people intentionally taking a crack at them. Litigious Bastards anyone?.
Even miserable failure still works.

Ironic

[Sir Pallas]

..that the add that came up (for me) on this article was an add for Google AdWords. After what happened to the fractal website recently, maybe this is the start of a war: Slashdot now knows that Google too has the power to slashdot. That would truly be the war of the Two (server) Towers: Google googling Slashdot; Slashdot slashdotting Google. Oh, the humanity!

Google needs to tweak too

[The Bungi]

Lately I've been noticing that the first five or so hits on searches like

"Compaq iPaq battery"

are URLs that look like this:

http://www.suppabiz.ws/search/results/compaq_ipaq_ battery.html

Of course said page contains ads for something else or is just a redirect/popup trap.

Google really needs to use their mad skillz to counteract this. Their algorithm is being screwed by the same type of people who brought us BonziBuddy and all that other worthless shit on the web.

They came up with the best search engine - I'm sure they can stay on top. But I wonder if they've even noticed, given the massive amount of data they must deal with.

Re:Google needs to tweak too

[Anonymous Coward]

You see that link at the bottom of each search?

"Help us improve"

Click it. Then paste that URL in there (NOT as one that you were looking for, but in the comment box) and mention how it's just irrelevant crap.

PhD's vs. spammers. The spammers aren't be *that* bright, even if they are persistant.

Google doesn't owe you a living...

[weave]

Google is providing a service. If you don't like it, you can buy up adwords. Paying some sleeze bag to trick google into ranking you higher is risky and could fail as Google constantly works to try to make their rankings as fair as possible and defeat these tricks.

If you want to spend money on better placement, send it to the people who are providing the service -- Google -- and buy up ads.

Google does it right

[Dark Paladin]

I've paid for ads on google to try it out, and was pretty damned pleased.

The process was simple - you tell it what words to bring up your ad, how specific like "games" versus "pc games" versus "first person shooter pc games". The more generic, the greather the chance of getting clicked, but the greater the cost. The ad is unobtrusive - just a text link (not a gigantic banner that will offend everybody else).

You can specify how many ads to pay for in advance. So if you only have enough money for 1000 clicks, it stops at 1000 - and you can either renew, or just leave it be.

Overall, it's just simple. The article mentions the bed and breakfast "Honeymoon Haven" or whatever that was worried about the service - I'd tell her not to be worried at all.

And I think that's why Google is doing the best so far: it's simple. No huge Yahoo like directories that make little sense, or extra ads cluttering the way. It gives me what I want, and if I want more, I click on it.

Perfect? No - some sites are optimizing themselvers to annoyance, like entering "'resident evil' walkthrough" and getting in the top 10 links annoying search engines or porn sites adding words and linking to each other to build up their Google score. But for 90% of the time, it's "good enough".

break yourself

[Doc Ruby]

This study documents how Google can make a small business. And obviously a large business needs Google placement, to handle its scale of commerce. But how does a lackluster Google result break a small business? If your bizplan requires high Google placement, given the inherent, unmitigable risk in being ranked by another company. you've got a really risky bizplan. That is what is breaking your small business, not Google itself.

They miss the point, feel Google owes them

[blorg]

I completely agree. I do SEO and AdWords for my company, and we are doing massively well out of Google. But I read far too many people who got good Google rankings, feel like Google owes them, and get very upset if their ranking falls, such as when it changes its algorithm. They forget that Google's business is not to drive visitors to their sites, but to provide the best search experience for the user.

(Ok, technically their business is to sell as many AdWords as possible, but they do this by being the no. 1 search engine, and they are that because they provide the best search experience for the user.)

Who to blame

[CKW]

In the information age with transportation systems as they are, ideally there should be increased "economies of scale" and business should move to those who provide the best value (whatever combination of cheap, service, support, quality and product is optimal), and the huge massive amount of duplication of effort will be eliminated.

Unfortunately that *entirely* rests on consumers making educated choices and migrating to a small subset of "best of breed" service/product providers.

The fact that they aren't, and that Google rankings and adwords has this effect - is entirely due to the fact that consumers are stupid.

Don't blame Google. Blame stupid consumers.

Make your site different!

[orthogonal]

The feature describes how the fortunes of small companies turned when their Google ranking rose or dropped.... [which has] spawned a whole Google-optimization industry where consultants can charge $5,000 per site for tweaking....

Fungible is defined as "[r]eturnable or negotiable in kind or by substitution, as a quantity of grain for an equal amount of the same kind of grain". In other words, it means "interchangeable".

Apparently the information on these web sites is fungible: Google can substitute one business for another, and as far as Google is concerned, the result is the same.

This is not to say that the businesses necessarily offer products that are fungible; but apparently, for certain obvious searches about those products, the sites return essentially the same information. And it's that information -- not the products -- that Google "sells".

So each competing business offers essentially the same information as far as Google is concerned. These businesses then hire consultants to multiply the number of other sites linking to their version of that fungible information, in hopes that Google will see the links and consider their web site the more authoritative and thus higher paged-ranked source for the fungible information.

The problem is that the information is fungible. rather than try to multiply the links to the same old information, differentiate your site by offering different information.

One easy way to offer different information is to offer a different (and presumably but not necessarily lower) price. Or --egads! -- differentiate your site by offering a better product. Or a bundle product.

Or even better, give Google what it wants: diverse information. Write an article about your product or service that addresses a need your customers have. Offer it for free, and attract people to your site. If Ace Hardware offers free e-books on hoe to make home repairs, Google will index it, and I'll, end up there. and maybe I'll stay and buy, rather than go back to Google and find competitor Home depot.

Or give away free instructions for making paper models of your product, like Yamaha does with its motorcycles. That got Yamaha featured on Slashdot -- and for free. Put up a whitepaper -- not the usual crap whitepapers that come down to "the only solution is our product, and by god it's a vague solution" -- but a real whitepaper of real use to professionals in your industry.

Sponsor an open-source project that use or features or facilitates the use of, your product. and then sponsor that project's web space, on your server next to your site.

We could come up with example after example, but the take home point is this: if the information you offer is fungible, expect sooner or later someone else will win the page rank lottery and outrank you. So make sure you offer something unique and uniquely useful.

That'll be $5000.00, please.

Search Engine Watch is Bogus

[billstewart]

There are a few people, including Search Engine Watch, who go ranting about how they don't like Google's policies, and they want the government or somebody to Do Something About Them. Well, this is the Internet - rather than forcing Google to use your Politically Correct Search Order, you can just as well start politically-correct-search.com (or politically-correct-search.gov, more to the point), and if people agree with you, they'll use your site.

For those of you too young to remember the days before Google, there were other search engines, such as Altavista (the first big one) and Yahoo. The reason Google became the most popular is that they do a very good job of ranking the interesting items first, which is important when there are 39000 hits for your query. The Search Engine Promotion business, when it's not just a scam sold by spammers, is mainly about doing artificial things to make Google's robots think your page would be interesting to humans; it's much better to _actually_ make your page interesting to actual humans, and hope Google's robots pick up on that.