Total searches from Google, Bing and Yahoo combined are poised to reach a staggering 212 billion by the end of this year. The Internet and search engines have come a long way from their humble beginnings. In 1998, Google’s first year, there were a paltry 3.6 million searches or an average of 9800 per day. That quickly grew to 637 million a year, or an average 1.75 million a day, ten years later in 2008. Today, there are 5 billion pages indexed across all search engines. What does all this mean? You have to work harder than ever to be found and search engine optimization is more important than ever before.

The way people search the internet has not changed significantly. Google’s market share has been slipping slightly as Bing and Yahoo gain ground. But, they remain the dominant search engine with approximately 70% of the market by search volume.

What has been changing significantly is where the searches are taking place. The explosion of mobile in recent years has created a shift away from desktop search. In fact, Microsoft Tag expects mobile internet use to overtake desktop this year. And, according to a 2012 BIA/Kelsey report, by 2016 (just two years from now) mobile search is expected to generate nearly 30 billion more queries than desktop search.

But we don’t appear to be abandoning our desktop. There is a hybrid usage model forming. Consumers are searching for information on their mobile devices and then often returning home to continue their search on a desktop device. This introduces a whole new thought into the process. How do your mobile and desktop experiences complement each other? Or do they? The next wave may just be different types of information served up in a mobile environment than what you present in a desktop environment rather than simply making your desktop site mobile ready.

One thing is certain, search engine optimization is critical and becoming more difficult. Now may be the time to reach out and ask for help from an SEO expert.