Is Google at war with small business, or does it deliver what its customers want. This triggers a second question, who are those customers? We are learning the hard way that those customers are not the millions of small businesses in Canada. They are the 8.062 billion potential shoppers that Google wants to catch in its net.
Is Small Business Less Important to Google?
Those 8.062 billion potential shoppers come to Google for ‘authority information’ they can trust, to guide their decisions. And those decisions have a good chance of being something about what they should do with their money.
Google is the world’s most popular search engine by far. It is making loads of money, which attracts competition for the hearts and minds of the 8.062 billion potential shoppers. Google stays on top, by delivering authority information those shoppers can trust.
Now Google, let’s be honest, is a super computer, that relies on artificial intelligence to track down ‘authority sites’ that meet its criteria. So Google roams the internet searching for sites that are internally consistent, visited regularly, and deliver valuable quality information.
This system works for Google’s customers, although the search engine does not give away the nuts and bolts of how exactly it works. Big business has the money to chase this moving target. Small business does not. So, is Google at war with small business, or just not interested in it?
Is There No Way Local Business Can Fight Back?
The big ‘authority sites’ only have to maintain their position on the first page of search results. They also have the funds to finance paid advertising. Fortunately, there are several ways small business can fight back, although this has to become a way of life:
- Develop an SEO strategy, and align website content to it. Publish really interesting blogs with information customers can use.
- Create a presence on major social media sites. Republish the blogs on own pages. Repeat them on third party pages.
- Sharpen the focus on local residents with Google Maps and Google Business. Polish your Google Business Page so it attracts people.
Google assesses everything we do on the internet, with the beady eye of artificial intelligence. If a bot does not like what it sees, it can come down hard on the ‘offending’ small business. This is a minefield, because it is almost impossible to speak to a real Google person.
So is Google at war with small business, would it like to see us leave the internet? No not at all, because we are part of the overall picture. Perhaps it is more a question of Google not being on our side, and having to invest more in becoming an ‘authority site’.
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