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Over the last year, Google has been on trial as the US Justice Department worked to decide whether or not the company has illegally monopolized web search.
Well, in August 2024, the judge officially ruled against Google and decided that the search engine giant has violated antitrust laws.
Now, is this the end of Google? No. Google is going to have to make some changes, and the company is expected to appeal the trial. That said, it’s important to understand that this isn’t just some courtroom drama or a news headline. This trial affects small businesses. In fact, this ruling could very much affect how your business gets found online and influence your SEO strategy moving forward.
We still aren’t sure of what all the repercussions for Google, Google users, advertisers, or businesses will look like. But, this ruling could very much affect SEO as we know it. As a result, it’s important to get ahead of these changes so you can set your business up for success across multiple search platforms.
With this in mind, in this episode of Priority Pursuit, we break down the major points of the Google antitrust trial, what the Google antitrust trial means for small businesses, how it might affect your business, and what you can do to help your business get found and succeed on other search engines.
What is the Google antitrust trial?
The US Justice Department filed a lawsuit against Google arguing that the company was using unfair practices to dominate the web search market. These practices included deals with and paying companies like Apple more than $20 billion to make Google the default search engine on their browsers.
As of 2024, Google retains just under 82% of the search market share; however, over the last decade, they’ve had as much as 90%.
Google argues that people choose their search engine because it’s the best, but the court disagreed.
What is the verdict of the Google antitrust trial?
The judge deemed Google a monopoly and ruled against the tech giant—arguing that Google had used deals and other actions to prevent its competitors from seeing significant growth.
Now, we still aren’t sure what this will mean for Google exactly. In past major tech trials, companies have had to divide up into smaller companies, change their practices, pay fines, etc.
Whatever changes Google is forced to make will be in an attempt to open doors for other search engines, such as Bing, DuckDuckGo, and other or even new search engines.
Again, we have no idea how long the appeals process will take or what specific changes might be enforced. But, we do know that this ruling has the potential to change how people search, and this would affect how businesses—like yours—get found online.
What does the Google antitrust trial mean for small businesses?
Basically, as a small business owner, it’s important to understand that this verdict means that search engine use could become more diverse. In other words, Google might not remain the leader that it has been over the last 25 years.
Google is still the most used search engine, and most marketers would be shocked if that actually changes. However, this ruling will likely encourage more users to explore other search engines, resulting in those search engines gaining more market share.
As a result, as a small business owner, it’s time to diversify your SEO efforts and prioritize your search engine rankings on more than just Google.
How can you set your small business up for success on every search engine?
Now, the good news is that if you’re already ranking well on Google, chances are, you’re already ranking well on other search engines. Essentially, Google sets the gold standards for search engine practices you should be following.
That said, while other search engines use algorithms that are similar to Google’s, the algorithms aren’t exactly the same. For example, while Google values keywords, Bing actually prioritizes the use of keywords even more.
Honestly, it isn’t necessary for you to understand every little difference between search engines and their algorithms. But, there are things you can do to set your small business up for success across all search engines.
1. Make E-E-A-T a top priority.
Search engines exist to provide their users with the information they need. And, any good search engine is going to strive to provide its users with the most helpful, accurate, and credible search results that it can. So, in order for your website and content to rank well, you essentially have to prove to search engines that you’re a credible source. In other words, you need to prioritize and improve your “E-E-A-T.”
“E-E-A-T” is a ranking factor that stands for “experience, expertise, authoritativeness, and trustworthiness.”
All search engines prioritize E-E-A-T, which means that it should be one of—if not the—top SEO priorities for your business.
To improve your E-E-A-T, you can do things like:
- Create quality content
- Earn backlinks
- Make sure your about page highlights your business’s history and expertise by displaying things like relevant education, licenses, certifications, and awards
- Earn more online reviews and feature reviews and testimonials on your website
- Cite credible sources in your content
Again, all search engines prioritize E-E-A-T. So, by making yours a top SEO priority, you can strengthen your search rankings across all platforms. Plus, you can also help prospects see you, your business, and your brand as a credible, trustworthy source, which will make prospects more likely to do business with you.
As you do this, though, remember not to make yourself the hero of the story. Yes, you want to show your authority. But, you don’t want to come across as braggy.
Tune in to “Episode 083: The First Step in Marketing: Writing Your Marketing Guiding Statements” of Priority Pursuit or check out Building a StoryBrand by Donald Miller to learn more about how to establish your ideal client as the hero and your business as the guide in your marketing story.
2. Provide quality content.
It’s important to remember that at the end of the day, search engines exist to help their users find the content they need. As a result, one of the most effective things you do to improve your SEO across all platforms is to publish quality content that helps search engine users accomplish their search goals.
On that note, it’s also important to remember that people don’t search for things on a whim. Whether they want to solve a problem, get an answer to a question, or find specific information, they search with a goal or an intention.
As a result, search engines prioritize the content that helps users accomplish their search goals.
So, as you develop content—whether that be blog posts, videos, or whatever other kind of content you publish to your website—ask yourself:
- “Does this content help my audience solve their problem?”
- “Does this content answer my ideal client’s question?”
- “Does this blog post include the information my audience needs to [INSERT GOAL]?”
If you can answer yes to at least one of these questions, chances are, you have great content that will help you rank well on any search engine.
3. Use strategic keywords.
Now, something else that all search engines prioritize—although at varying extents—is keywords. Basically, if you want your website and content to rank well, you need to make sure that you’re choosing strategic keywords and using them correctly.
Keywords are the ideas and topics that define what your content is about. In terms of SEO, they are the words and phrases that searchers enter into search engines.
In other words, keywords are the words or phrases that people type into search bars. As a small business, you want to include relevant keywords on your web pages and in your blog posts so that you can get your website in front of potential customers who are specifically looking for products, services, or content like yours.
In the 1990s and early 2000s, search engines scanned web pages and articles specifically looking for keywords. As a result, copywriters would “keyword stuff,” meaning they would put their keyword on a page as many times as possible so search engines would display their web page first.
Today, search engines strive to rank content based on relevancy, quality, and authority. They try to rank the most helpful, relevant, reliable content first—regardless of how many times a keyword is included. Basically, if you want your content to rank well, think quality of content—not quantity of keywords.
However, this does not mean that keywords don’t matter. With most search engine’s current algorithms, keywords are what link a user’s search to your website or content, and they help search engines determine what kinds of searches you can help their users with.
If you’d like to learn more about how to choose keywords and where to put them on your website, check out our guide “How to Use Keywords to Improve Your Small Business’s SEO.” This guide walks you through exactly how to choose and use keywords according to your business goals.
Want to learn how to choose & use strategic keywords? Download our FREE guide: “How to Use Keywords to Improve Your Small Business’s SEO.”
4. Optimize your website for user experience.
Nobody wants to use a slow, glitchy website. As a result, mobile-friendly, fast-loading, easy-to-navigate websites are likely always going to rank better than poorly built sites.
With this in mind, make sure that your website performs well. Focus on page speed, usability, and mobile optimization. Basically, make sure that your ideal customers actually enjoy using your website.
5. Submit your sitemap to search engines other than Google.
Your sitemap is simply a list of your website’s pages and files. Chances are, your web builder automatically puts a sitemap together for you. Submitting this list helps search engines better understand and index your site, which makes your website and content more likely to rank well.
Many businesses submit their sitemaps to Google Search Console. However, few take the time to submit their sitemaps to other platforms, such as Bing Webmaster Tools or Yandex Webmaster.
As a result, taking the time to submit your sitemap to search engines outside of Google is a great way to help ensure your website ranks well across all search engines and can give you a leg up on your competitors.
6. Build a strong backlink profile.
Another great way you can improve your SEO across all platforms is to build a strong backlink profile. Backlinks, which are links to your website from other sites, are especially important in SEO success because they signal to search engines that other websites consider your content valuable and trustworthy.
Essentially, when other websites—preferably reputable sites—link to your website, it boosts your E-E-A-T.
Now, backlinks don’t typically just happen or appear. If you want to build a strong backlink profile, you’re going to have to be intentional. That said, how you earn backlinks is very much going to depend on your industry.
To give you a few ideas, you can earn backlinks by:
- Serving as a guest blogger
- Being featured as a podcast guest
- Having your work published
- Having articles written about you or your business
Again, how you earn backlinks heavily depends upon what makes the most sense within your industry.
However, when search engines see other websites linking to your site and content, your site and content will be much more likely to rank well in search engine results.
7. Don’t let SEO be your only marketing tactic.
SEO should be part of your marketing strategy, but it should not be the only way you’re getting in front of prospects.
With this in mind, make sure your marketing strategy includes diverse tactics. You should, for example, also have a presence on social media, leverage email marketing, and use paid advertising if that makes sense for your business.
A well-rounded strategy ensures that you aren’t completely dependent on one marketing channel.
Want a step-by-step marketing strategy that’s PROVEN to work for small businesses? Download our guide: ”The Most Effective Marketing Strategy for Small Businesses: The Flywheel Marketing Method.”
8. Stay informed & adjust as necessary.
Last but not least, if you want to ensure you rank well across all search engines, stay informed and adjust as necessary. This antitrust ruling could bring even more shifts, so stay up to date on SEO trends and algorithm changes, and watch for announcements that may come from Bing, DuckDuckGo, and others. Regularly assess your strategy and make adjustments as needed to stay competitive.
We know your plate is full, and you probably don’t have time for one more thing. So, with this in mind, please know that we will always provide you with the latest SEO information for small businesses. Follow/subscribe to Priority Pursuit on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you listen to podcasts to stay up to date.
Want to check SEO off your to-do list? Explore our done-for-you SEO service!
As a small business owner, SEO isn’t something you can likely afford to put on the back burner.
After all, 97% of people use search engines when they’re in need of a local product or service. 90% of consumers who search for local businesses make purchases within a week. And, SEO drives 1000%+ more traffic than organic social media.
As a result, if your website and content don’t rank well on search engines, you’re losing money and missing out on business and opportunities simply because your ideal clients can’t find you.
So, don’t wait. Take the Google antitrust trial seriously, and make sure your business is set up for success across all search engines.
Links & Resources Mentioned in This Episode
- “Episode 083: The First Step in Marketing: Writing Your Marketing Guiding Statements”
- Building a StoryBrand by Donald Miller
- “Keyword Guide: How to Use Keywords to Improve Your Small Business’s SEO”
- “Submit Your Sitemap to Search Engines” by Yoast
- ”The Most Effective Marketing Strategy for Small Businesses: The Flywheel Marketing Method”
- Receive 30% Off Your First Year of HoneyBook
- Learn More About Treefrog’s Small Business Marketing Resources & Services
- Join the Priority Pursuit Facebook Community
- Follow or DM Treefrog Marketing on Instagram
- Follow or DM Kelly Rice on Instagram
- Follow or DM Victoria Rayburn on Instagram
The Priority Pursuit Podcast is a podcast dedicated to helping small business owners define, maintain, and pursue both their personal and business priorities so they can build lives and businesses they love.
You can find The Priority Pursuit Podcast on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Amazon Podcasts, Stitcher, and wherever you listen to podcasts.
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