Google's 71% Monopoly Too Big for Small Businesses to Ignore

If you're wondering just how much your website marketing strategy should revolve around Google, here's the answer:

It matters more than ever.

Experian Hitwise, a (Internet intelligence company) released findings that show Google increased its wide monopoly in the search-engine industry, facilitating 71 percent of all U.S. Internet searches.

Google's closest competitor, Yahoo!, took on 15 percent of U.S. Search traffic and Bing took on 9 percent. Ask.com, No. 4, took on 2.6 percent.

And, while the last several months may have been a bumpy ride for some search engines, it doesn't mean fewer people are using them to get where they want online.

In fact, it's the other way around, according to Experian.

“Search engines continue to be the primary way Internet users navigate to key industry categories,” Experian said in a Dec. 9 press release. “Comparing November 2009 with November 2008, Automotive, Business and Finance, Entertainment, News and Media, and Sports categories showed double-digit increases in their share of traffic coming directly from search engines.”

Small businesses that want visibility online are still going to have to gear their websites to be noticed by Google and other search engines. Additionally, they are going to have to evolve with the technology that brings people online, gearing their websites for an increasing amount of mobile device users and building their social media presence.