How the Expiring Apple-Google Deal Can Affect Your Website Traffic

The rumor is that Apple’s search deal with Google will be expiring soon.  Whether they will strike another deal, Apple will choose a new default search engine, or even power search themselves is anyone’s guess.  The result can potentially impact your web traffic.  If you solely focused on your Google rankings and an AdWords campaign, you might want to re-think your strategy.  According to StatCounter.com, desktop and mobile Safari serve as the source for about 26% of internet traffic in the United States.  A shift from Google to another search engine could pose a real hit on your visitor numbers.  Bing already powers Siri searches on mobile devices as well as Spotlight Search on Apple desktops.  So if a deal with Google was not reached, Bing seems like the likely choice.  Yahoo would also like to make a grab – they just became the default browser for Firefox.

Now is the time to take a look at your Bing and Yahoo visibility. How are you ranking?  Remember, don’t rely on simple searches.  Personalized search will artificially rank a site higher for you if you visit it often.  Make sure you use a rank checking program.  A search engine optimization professional can assist you with this.  If your rankings are not where you need them to be, now is the time to make some tweaks.