PreferredSeat.com Blog

Google is constantly changing the way search results are displayed which is referred to as the Google algorithm and the recent update called Google Panda appears to have put some of the big brands at the top of the search results and the small businesses further down the page.  The intent is to get rid of the websites loaded with poor information that are supplied by companies that churn out articles to boost the ranking of their customers.

But in the process Google is rewarding the large corporate sites that already spend huge sums in pay-per-click advertising and have the ability to outspend small business. Google seems to believe big business is better for the consumer but when they leave out the small businesses they eliminate competition. And quite often it’s the small business that is offering the better prices with lower overhead and without stockholders to appease.

PreferredSeat.com has been one of the sites hit by the Google update along with some notable sites as well including consumeraffairs.com, bettermedicine.com, today.com. I doesn’t look like these sites are putting out poor content and they followed Google’s rules up to this point to get their positions, but they still got slapped by Google even though they do provide an obvious benefit for consumers.

So when you search for tickets through Google just remember that the top search listings don’t always give the best result your looking for, such as better prices and service. You may want to stroll down past some of the big box stores whose names you may recognize because a better ticket deal may be just a few more clicks away.

If you’re a small or medium sized  business like Preferred Seating tickets, getting one of the coveted top positions in a Google search is just what you’re looking for but almost impossible to attain. The first problem is the price it costs to get into one of the first three positions on a Google search page. The second problem is trying to get one of the remaining 10 free listings on the rest of the first page of search results.

And many times it’s the smaller businesses that have the best prices but if consumers can’t find them then everybody loses. And websites such as PreferredSeat.com provide real value to consumers who are looking for the cheapest ticket prices and reliable service.

Most people who use Google to find tickets for concerts, sports and theater don’t realize the costs that companies pay to get one of those first three paid positions on Google. And they pay dearly. A small local or medium sized business must pay the same price that any large national company pays for the same spot in the top three positions. The company that’s willing to pay the most for each click gets the top spot followed by the next two highest.

Most small and medium sized businesses cannot compete with the large national companies with huge advertising budgets. Large companies can bid several dollars per click and combined with click fraud it drives up the cost so most companies cannot afford it.  And since most people don’t look any further than the first three advertising spots on Google, most small businesses don’t stand a chance of being found by local customers on Google.

To get a position on the next 10 listings on the first page of a Google search you will notice that you have a much better chance if you are one of the ones paying big bucks in the first three search positions. It may not be that Google rewards them for paying for the first three positions; it may be more likely because Google just likes big companies at the top of their search results, regardless if there are better choices out there.

And as much as Google says it doesn’t give sites stuffed with keywords the top positions, many of the top sites in Google search results have dozens of the same keywords throughout the page Google gives top ranking to.

In the old days companies could run an ad in a local newspaper and expect to get results. Not any more. Most consumers turn to the internet to find what they are looking for today and Google is the top choice. 

For 2011 we hope that Google finds a way to help small and medium businesses that cannot afford to compete with large corporations to be found in the Google search results, for themselves as well as their customers wallets.

Google is going to release the beta version of their new web application called Google Wave tomorrow to about 10,000 testers and it looks to be a very cool tool for both business and personal use. The Wave was developed by the Rasmussen brothers of Australia, who developed Google Maps.

Google Wave

The Wave is a communication application that allows multiple users to communicate in real time and see what each person is typing. The users can edit documents from the same screen and others can see the changes simultaneously providing a much more efficient communication tool for business and personal use.

Another interesting use of the Wave application is to embed it in a web site, as Google says, “dropping in a Wave”. There are bugs to be worked out but it looks like a fantastic application that will give email a run for its money.