The Google Doodle

We are all familiar with the Google doodle, the Google emblem on the company main page that rotates with the days, seasons and sometimes just because. It originated back in 1998 to let the world know that the Google founders were at the Burning Man Festival in Nevada. And frequently, it is the last thing we see before doing an online search.

Internet marketing is as evolving as it is essential. Over 70 million consumers do their shopping using a mobile device like a cell phone or a tablet, as of 2012. Mobile internet usage will likely surpass desktop computer usage by 2014. This means that search engines need to be set up properly for both mobile internet users and traditional computers.

Larry Page, co founder of Google, inspired the name for the PageRank algorithm. And in turn, the PageRank algorithm sets the tone for what shows up when using search engines. This algorithm considers what people using search engines are looking for, phrases people use when searching a term, and which search engines are used for various target audiences. Search engine optimization, or SEO, is a marketing strategy for the internet that focuses on making a website visible. When considering all the pieces making search engines work, optimized websites will appear before others. With search engines, SEO generated leads have a 14.6 percent close rate compared with a 1.7 percent close rate of outbound leads.

That is why SEO is a growing field and a valuable commodity in the market today, because it makes individual websites visible on search engines. Some companies create their own SEO in house but more and more companies are outsourcing their SEO needs to secondary companies who have the expertise, focus and time to make individual website more attractive to search engines. And thus, more visible to consumers.