What happened to the good old days when people wrote code in notepad and typed URL’s in the address bar? Thanks to Google’s simple-to-use tools, they have managed to complete alter the habits of today’s web users and define their perception of the internet itself.
Instead of using the address bar in their browsers, many people now type in the domain name or a specific keyword in Google to get to the website they want. This saves plenty of time by not having to type the painful “HTTP://” before and .COM/.ORG/.GOV (you name it) at the end. Even though users know particular names of websites they want to get to, they will use Google instead. If they get the spelling wrong Google will offer to repeat a query with a corrected spelling mistake.
In browsers like Firefox, the address bar serves as Google’s “I’m Feeling Lucky” search, but still many find it handier to go directly to Google and use it solely as their address bar. For instance, let’s say that I have an email account on Yahoo and I want to check my email. Now I can just type “Yahoo mail” in my Google homepage, and Google gives me mail.yahoo.com for a reference. Wonderful!
No wonder people who don’t have any background in IT perceive Google as The Internet itself! For some, the internet is the IE or Mozilla browser icons on their desktops. What Google does for millions of people is to simplify the technology so that it is on par with the average user’s level of experience. Simplicity pays—and the evidence is apparent in every new gadget that Google releases from Gmail to Google notebook. By anticipating the average user’s needs, Google makes it really hard for its competitors to jump in and win their market space.
What can we learn from this? Speaking the language of your customers is essential if you ever want to become widely accepted and wildly successful.
Google could have easily made elitist products just for computer and internet geeks. But instead, Google fills in the gaps in general populace’s perceptions about the web and information technology in general.
Set the standard for experience in your industry
Users perceive Google’s experience as the way that the technology is meant to be instead of identifying Google as a bunch of IT people working for a company called Google. Millions of people do not think they’re using the Google search engine — they think they are using the internet. Seriously, is there an internet outside of Google? And if so, what would anyone do with it? Google has managed to embed itself into the very concept of the internet itself.
Create a win-win-win situation for everyone involved
Google isn’t only great for information searchers; it has been insanely profitable for businesses as well. It has been driving the search industry for years now by providing a niche for many businesses worldwide to profit from the web. The only people that really don’t like Google are those that can’t seem to get into the top ranking spots. And that leads us to my last observation.
Give people something to talk about
Those that have a business online and aren’t in the top ranking spots are talking about it to people over lunch, they’re blogging about it, they’re posting questions on message boards. SEO’s love to spend large amounts of money to congregate at conventions with other SEO’s and talk about search engine algorithms, statistical measurements, and other geeky (and incredibly interesting) topics. Every time Google buys up a new company, news is buzzing—and the more they pay, the more coverage they receive (remember You Tube?!). Point blank, people are talking about Google for all kinds of reasons. Like this very post for example!
