Did you know that Google has been personalizing search results for all users since 2009? So, what do I mean by personalizing? When you perform a Google search, the results you see are not the same as the results everyone else sees. In essence, you don’t see what your customers see on Google.
Google’s number one goal is to deliver the information you are looking for as precisely and as quickly as possible. That way you’ll likely never use a different search engine (yes, there others). So, every search you’ve performed since about 2009 and every link you’ve clicked, is in Google’s memory.
It’s likely that you perform searches all the time to see how your business ranks on Google (if you haven’t done this for a while, at the end of this article is a link to a quick visibility analysis). All the searches you’ve performed affect the results that Google delivers. But, how can you see what your customers see?
Here’s a little trick:
1. Sign into a Google account such as Gmail, Google+ Google Analytics, Google Adwords, or YouTube. If you don’t have a Google account, it’s easy to create one. It’s free (see link below).
2. After you’re signed in, head over to the Google home page and choose Search Settings:
3. Once in Search Settings, you’ll see Private Results. Choose this: Do not use private results. And you’re done.
Note: I’ve read some articles that say this only works per search and as soon as you perform another search, you are defaulted back to personalized. But that doesn’t happen for me.
It’s a fun exercise to do some searches with private results on and then off. Do you see a difference?
To get a Google account link here: Link here:
support.google.com/accounts/answer/27441
To get some insight into your company’s Google visibility, link here for a quick worksheet: http://bloggingboomers.polldaddy.com/s/how-visible-are-you
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