Written by: Vickie Sullivan | October 29, 2024
Google Search in 2025: Time to Rethink Longstanding Tactics
The relationship between Google search and driving traffic to the open web (where our websites live) is getting complicated, according to a recent study by software company SparkToro.
In the good old days, a first-page position in Google search results led to a big bump in new visitors. Not anymore. In the United States, for every 1,000 Google searches, only 360 clicks go to the open web (41%). That means 59% are zero-click searches.
Of the 41% of people who do click, 70.5% go to unpaid organic search results, 28.5% go to YouTube, Google Maps, Google News, or another Google property, and 1% go to a paid ad.
This shift from open web clicks to zero clicks or clicks within Planet Google isn’t going away.
My point: Popular tactics don’t always produce results. When outcomes aren’t met, the default assumption is that we must do better. The alternative—to just give up—is unacceptable, especially after all the time and investment we put into getting on the first page of Google search results.
The Hazard of Not Changing Tactics
This is when the “sunk cost theory” raises its ugly head. Our culture celebrates perseverance, not quitting in the face of adversity. Few people discuss the flip side: staying too long and getting caught in the slow downhill slide.
Sometimes, the environment changes, which is beyond our control. When it does, it’s okay to stop, reassess the data, and decide to do something else.
The holidays are fast approaching. During this time, most of us reflect on the past year and strategize for the year ahead. This year, instead of assuming you need to do better with what you are currently doing, ask yourself if something is happening that you want to take advantage of. How has your marketplace changed? If things have changed, what works best for 2025? Those answers will help you change before the damage is irreparable.
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