When it comes to internet marketing, search engine positioning is your most important concern. And while there are lots of search engines out there, the savvy web marketer knows that Google is the only one that really matters.

The latest numbers from June show Google controlling 63% of the web search market, with about 10 billion searches per month. That means that two out of every three web searches went through Google.

Yahoo! had 19% of the market, and Bing (the Microsoft search engine introduced last year) was in third place with 13% of searches.

Yahoo! has announced that it will soon use Microsoft’s Bing for its own organic search infrastructure, but the transition has not yet taken place. Yahoo! has indicated that the switch could take place as early as next month, or as late as next year.

Organic searches are the search results that come up naturally when a person searches for a keyword or keyword phrase. Paid search results are sponsored links that are part of pay-per-click (PPC) web marketing campaigns. Paid search listings typically are displayed above organic search results in a shaded section, or to the right in a sidebar.

While some dental practices use PPC dental marketing, organic search engine optimization is the real goal of dental website marketing. Your search engine ranking (how high your website ranks) depends on the quality of your website content, your keyword optimization, and incoming links from other websites.

When people talk about “search ranking,” they almost invariably mean Google ranking. The holy grail of SEO is for your website to display on the first page of Google search results (that is, in the the first 10 search results) for your target keyword phrases.

To see how your dental practice website ranks with Google, just enter in your target keyword phrase — for example, “cosmetic dentist Tulsa” or “Van Nuys dentures.” And cross your fingers!

If you’re on the first page, you’re doing well. If you’re in the top 3, your SEO is excellent. But if you don’t see your site on the first page of results, it may be time to review your site’s search engine optimization. Internet Dental Alliance specializes in optimizing the SEO for its dental websites.

Understand that in competitive markets, a search engine optimization company will charge you from $400 to $1,400 a month per website, with no guarantee of results. In fact, any company that claims it can guarantee you placement on the first page of Google is misleading you. In the ever-changing world of internet dental marketing and search engine technology, there can be no guarantees.

A note about Google searches: if you’re logged into Google or Gmail when you conduct your search, your results will NOT be the same as what other people will see. Google tracks information (like your location and interests) to display custom search results that it thinks will be most relevant to you. To see the same search results as potential patients, make sure you’re logged out of Google and use the “Private Browsing” option under the “Tools” section of your Internet browser.