Focusing Your Search Engine Efforts

comScore has released the December 2006 market shares in the U.S. of search engines. Google again leads the pack and the rankings are as follows:

• Google = 47.3 percent
• Yahoo = 28.5 percent
• Microsoft = 10.5 percent
• Ask = 5.4 percent
• Time Warner Network(AOL) = 4.9 percent

So what do these numbers mean? For me, it shows that any search engine optimization efforts -- whether organic or paid -- should focus on Google. With majority of Internet users searching in Google, any effort directed towards improving your site's ranking in Google (particularly for pay per click advertising) could bring the most buck for your money.

I'm not saying of course that you need to forget Yahoo or MSN or the other lesser known search engines. But if you have limited resources and small advertising budget, focus first and foremost on Google. The key is to focus on efforts that can bring the biggest return to your time and money.