Top 6 Search Engines Aren’t What You Think They Are

As we move into 2023, a model that we’ve been executing and building upon is still only slightly gaining traction, despite the plethora of industry information saying that this is the future. And it is, but we’re looking at it differently.

See as PR folks we’re all about the storytelling — that compelling news story that will get the attention of media and their audiences; social media scrollers with stop scrolling and someone searching will discover something new they didn’t know was out there.

Search Engine Market Share Q2 2019

This means that it’s really critical that we know our audiences, messages and search engines. Just imagine how things have changed since the diagram was put together. A global pandemic shifted consumer behavior both in buying and searching. It literally gave rise to many other types of nontraditional search engines.

If you’re launching a company in the U.S. or expanding into the market and you don’t have these search engines as primary marketing targets, you may fall flat.

1. Google — yep, they may not have created search but they certainly innovated it for true discoverability and meaning for users. Sure there are other search engines, but this is the Daddy of ’em All and your first focus should be addressing the best practices for search for Google users. (Want these best practices? Send us an email and let us know. We’ve got a killer doc) Trust us, the other search engines will fall in line.
2. Amazon — There’s a reason the company was named after the largest rainforest in the world, although the irony is not left on us in thinking of all the non-rainforesty, environmentally safe things the company sells and its lack of promoting environmental protections in order to grow into one of the largest companies in the world. With that said, Amazon is a powerful search engine. No matter what you’re looking for, you will likely find some searchable connection that will lead you to Amazon.
3. YouTube — Who hasn’t searched a how to video. It makes life so much easier to watch a step-by-step tutorial than read confusing instructions. Simply put, YouTube is the search engine for “how to”…anything. This is important because just about every company can produce some kind of “how to” for their product, service or expertise.
4. Pinterest — Probably the most overlooked search engine of all that has secretly been secretly influencing millions of people is Pinterest. Big brands have caught on and are using it smartly as the ability to amplify content is amazing and it’s advertising affordable. This is one search engine you don’t want to discount.
5. TikTok — If you haven’t heard, Tiktok is now a search engine AND an e-commerce site. That’s right, you can now search videos and link to websites to buy products featured in videos. Video has long been taking over in the content space, but like YouTube, not everyone is creating the high-quality, authentic video content experience that drives a call to action. That’s the secret.
6. LinkedIn — While its best use cases are for B2B that’s a good thing, because it is a platform truly catering to the businesses looking to connect and do business with other businesses. Where B2B is difficult to build community on most other platforms, LinkedIn is uniquely situated to help businesses amplify content, drive messages, build expert positioning, community AND connect with potential customers. As a search engine for business it is powerful and one worth the investment.

For those of you concerned about privacy and the changes coming to search, you can certainly use others for your own purposes, but it is doubtful, at this point in time that many of them will perform better than the Grand Daddy.

Moreover, expect Google to continue to expand. It’s already offering a six page scroll on desktop that opens the concept of “being on the first page” of rankings and they are innovating the way we search by photos and voice. Speaking of voice and accessibility, if you’re not considering how you make your website and content easily searchable by voice, you’re will miss an entire future market reliant on voice activated devices and search.