Recently, Google introduced a series of minor changes that affect the user’s experience. As Google continues to command a domineering search engine market share, those of us at Outrank.com seek to keep you up-to-date with the latest happenings.

Although the term “Autocomplete” has been used formally and informally for some time to refer to Google’s ”Suggest” feature, the change was recently made official. Users will recognize this feature as the box that appears with a few suggested search terms after they start typing a query.

If you have a Google account, adding a date of birth to your profile will now result in a “special treat” on your homepage on said date, according to a recent company announcement. The surprise will be a birthday-themed graphic, in the vein of Google’s tradition of altering its logo on significant dates. It is reported to look like this:

For those of you interested in global search, Google has made a couple of significant changes. First, the “Instant” feature (a hot topic now in its own right) has been brought to users in Australia and New Zealand, Singapore, South Korea and India. Weeks after its initial launch, Google has reported an unspecified increase in the proportion of users taking advantage of Instant. Also, Google has been working to make public information more accessible in Europe. To see how it looks, go here.

Check back for more updates and insights into search marketing from Outrank.com.

In any industry in any city, small business owners all have the same goal–getting potential customers to pick up the phone and call them. There are several types of companies that specialize in attracting more business leads. With this in mind, Outrank.com presents several ways our company outshines the competition:

For small businesses, it is difficult to find an advertising company that will work with a small budget. Even if you find one that will, you are not likely to make any money. It is also easy to get stuck in a binding contract, even if you are not getting results. Outrank.com requires only a small investment and NO long term commitment.

Unlike most popular online advertising and lead generation services, Outrank does not charge per click or per lead. You keep every dollar you make resulting from the business we drive to you. Our average client gets a huge ROI (return on investment).

With other popular services, it is up to you to fine tune where your dollars are spent and how your audience is approached (i.e. pay-per-click ads). With Outrank.com, all you have to do is set up an account and wait for your phone to ring. Call us at 877.332.4321 today to see how we can bring you quality leads and grow your business on a small budget.

This week, Outrank.com brings you some compelling data to prove how effective SEO is for small to medium-sized businesses. The study I’d like to discuss today was put together by Bain & Company (one of the world’s most prestigious consulting firms), in collaboration with the Interactive Advertising Bureau (whose members account for over 85% of online advertising).

The findings of this study (located here) reinforce the power of advertising on the internet for businesses interested in closing sales as quickly as possible. The figure below illustrates this potential:

In this chart, we can see five “brand objectives”–in other words, the effects that TV, magazine, newspaper and internet ads have on potential consumers. Clearly, most small business owners (including everyday contractors, photographers, insurance agents, landscapers, etc.) are more interested in using their hard-earned advertising dollars to drive actual sales. When comparing internet advertising (most notably, SEO) against these other mediums, we see that the internet is the most effective way to turn your advertising dollars into “purchase intent”, A.K.A. profit.

The chart also indicates that, in 2008, companies spent over $35 million on TV ads that were only successful in “Creating Awareness”. Only a minute amount of TV ad spending was shown to result in actual sales. Think about it from the consumer’s perspective. We are all aware of the commercials we’re subjected to when we are watching our favorite shows, but that doesn’t mean we have any intention of buying their products.

With an extremely low cost and access to a large number of customers that are actually looking to buy products and services, SEO empowers the little guy more than any other advertising method. Call Outrank.com at (877) 332-4321 to learn more.