6 Search Engines (Other Than Google) You Can Use to Grow Your Business in 2018

When you think about search engines, or search engine optimization (SEO), or search engine results, you’re probably thinking about Google.  That’s understandable.  For one thing, Google is by a wide margin the largest search engine in the United States, and in the world, capturing an impressing 73% of all searches globally (that’s 1.6 billion unique monthly visitors).

For another, Google offers some outstanding features, everything from Google Maps to Gmail, Google Images, News, Calendar, Photos and Translate.  Last but not least, Google is at the forefront of conducting smart searches that can respond to highly nuanced search terms and user questions.

The Search World Is More Than Just Google

That means, of course, businesses attempting to capture more of their own markets through organic and paid search would be unwise to ignore this search engine behemoth—but Google’s not the only search engine out there.  And, although a smart Google strategy should be the linchpin of your search strategy, it’s important to know something about the search engines that are capturing the other 27% of searches, each of which offers its own unique benefits.

Here then are 6 others in the order of their popularity (based on figures compiled by Search Engine Watch) in the United States, and some of the features they offer:

Bing

Bing is second to Google, but it’s not a close second, attracting for example about 25% the number of unique monthly visitors (approximately 400 million).  So, why should you use Bing?  For one thing, Bing offers a video search feature arguably more powerful than Google’s, so if it’s video you’re looking for, you might want to opt for Bing.  For another, Bing does a better job with autocomplete (the feature that suggests what it is you might want before you finish typing it.)

Yahoo

Yahoo comes in at #3 with about 300 million unique monthly visitors.  Perhaps the most used and popular feature of Yahoo is its email service, but it’s also great for local searches, weather reports, shopping and finance results.  There’s also the “Yahoo Directory Home Page” (which lists directories).

Ask

known as “Ask Jeeves” in an earlier iteration, Ask comes in at #4.  Unlike the first three, it presents results in a question/answer format.  Answers are provided by other Ask users, and occasionally based on polling results.  Although Ask can’t provide better search results than Google, Bing or Yahoo, Ask does a better job providing results based on user-generated information.

AOL

AOL generates about 125 million unique monthly visitors and includes, in addition to its web browser, it’s much-vaunted instant messenger service and dynamic media player.  Among the advantages of AOL is that it includes search results from other search engines, like Google.  Said differently, using AOL you’re getting search results from a larger section of the web.  On the downside, AOL doesn’t offer some of the features other search engines do—like Google’s cached pages, for example.

Wow

offering about 100 million monthly visitors, Wow’s claim to fame is its strength in generating news results.  For this reason, it’s a first stop for news junkies, including those who want celebrity-related news.  It also makes linking to social media sites quick and easy.

WebCrawler

with 64 million unique monthly visitors, WebCrawler is about 1/20th as popular as Google, so why should you use it?  Perhaps the best reason, for both consumers and marketers, is that WebCrawler makes it a lot easier than the other search engines to tell which results are organic, and which are paid.

Conclusion

Admittedly, that’s a lot of information to digest.  Add to that the fact that the way search engines work (based on algorithm shifts) is continually changing, and you’ll probably agree that creating an effective SEO strategy isn’t a DIY project.  To get the most from Google, and the other search engines listed above, you should seriously consider working with SEO experts who have the knowledge and experience to get the job done right.

To learn more about the ways our search engine optimization, Google Maps optimization, see how your site currently performs,  and website design services can help put your business at the top of Google searches, contact us today.

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