What is DuckDuckGo Search Engine?

What is DuckDuckGo Search Engine?

DuckDuckGo is a search engine platform that has named itself as a Google search rival, with its main difference being that it has pledged itself to not releasing or using any of your private information. We have all had an instance of using Google, or any other search engine, to search something and then for the next few days, all we see in the advertisements are similar products to the one that was researched! While this is an online tracking system is a marketers dream and a sure-fire way to gain more customers, the lack of privacy and the fact that Google uses your private data for advertising purposes does not sit well with most people. 

DuckDuckGo has pledged itself to block tracking systems and avoid users data being used by advertisement platforms. It is a search engine that prides itself on anonymity and makes sure that users who search on this search engine are not tracked or targeted with advertisements after having researched something. This does not mean that there are no advertisements, it just means that the adverts you see are not as a result of your search history but rather just an accumulation of standard promotional advertisements. 

How Does DuckDuckGo Work?

The DuckDuckGo app works like any other kind of search engine and the DuckDuckGo homepage actually looks extremely similar to any other kind of search engine! The difference between these platforms is that DuckDuckGo works by not tracking any searches that are made through both the mobile and desktop DuckDuckGo extensions. Search engines like Chrome do have features that allow for users to remain incognito, but to access this, you have to use a different version of the search engine. With DuckDuckGo, you never have to worry about any issues relating to this and this search engine never tracks your data to start with, so no separate versions are needed! Along with not tracking their own searches, the DuckDuckGo web browser also works to block external trackers and actively monitors and makes sure that your information remains safe! With this search engine not tracking you through their own extensions and actively blocking trackers from gaining access to your information and data, you can be certain that you are safe when searching on DuckDuckGo!

What is The Difference between Google and DuckDuckGo?

One of the main differences between DuckDuckGo and Google is that while Google is actively monitoring your searches and using targeted advertisements that are based solely on your search history, DuckDuckGo is taking the opposite approach and is doing everything it can to avoid this. Google is always actively monitoring your location and even your search history and it uses this data to target specific advertisements on your page. This is why when we research something, it seems like the product we researched, or something similar to the specific product, are constantly being advertised on your Google account. Not even putting your computer and account in incognito mode can save you from this data accumulating and this is why DuckDuckGo has created a search engine whereby this does not happen. DuckDuckGo does not store your information or browser history and it is a search engine that actively blocks trackers that may try to gain access to your information. 

Why Do People Use The DuckDuckGo Search Engine?

The DuckDuckGo browser is a search engine that prides itself on privacy and security, with trackers being blocked and information like location and browser history not being used for advertising purposes. DuckDuckGo is safe to use and offers a private space where users can feel comfortable that their pertinent information will not be replicated and used across a search engine and for advertising purposes. People use the DuckDuckGo search engine to feel safe and this is a large reason why it is slowly becoming a more preferred browser to use. 

When it comes to privacy, search engines like Google have been saying that they are going to do away with targeted advertisements that are based on users data for years but the practice is still very much a part of many of the different search engines systems. People use the DuckDuckGo search engine service to avoid their important information being drawn out and stored without their permission. While some may not even be aware that this is a common practice, many are slowly starting to gauge just how much information a search engine has access to. Many started using the DuckDuckGo search engine as a way to avoid these different systems being able to get hold of private information and DuckDuckGo is seeing a huge amount of growth over the last few months as more and more information comes out about the lack of privacy that many search engines abide by. 

What Are The Advantages of Using DuckDuckGo?

There are many advantages and reasons why DuckDuckGo is a preferred search engine compared to others like Google. DuckDuckGo history and DuckDuckGo reviews ensure that this search engine is fully capable of providing users with many different search results, without compromising one’s privacy. The following are just a few of the reasons why DuckDuckGo is seen as one of the top search engines to use. 

• DuckDuckGo browser Privacy: One of the most prominent and well-known advantages of using DuckDuckGo is that it offers users the chance to enjoy a search engine that is not capturing, storing and using the data you place on the search engine. things like location and search results are not stored and you are therefore offered a far more private experience compared to other search engines. 

• You get the same search results: Along with targeting people with advertisements, the information that search engines collect can also be used to change what you see in your search results. This difference in search results thanks to the profiling and targeting features that many search engines use means that what you search and what a customer searches may not be the same, and this could alter your ability to monitor your own pages SEO and your competition. Having streamlined and exact search results offer a far better understanding for those who are looking to improve on their SEO strategy. 

• No targeted advertisements: When using DuckDuckGo, gone are the days of seeing the same advertisement over and over again offering the same pair of shoes that you researched last week! These often annoying advertisements are based on what you research and they use your own personal data to try and get you to make a purchase or drive you to a webpage. While these may be helpful at first, the barrage of the same advertisement over and over again does soon start to get old! 

• Can be added as a DuckDuckGo windows extension: If you are wondering whether to use DuckDuckGo or chrome, why not be able to use the best of both? There is a DuckDuckGo download for a chrome extension that can be used to ensure that your chrome account is more private! This DuckDuckgo app can be used to secure your chrome account and it will ensure that trackers and the chrome browser are unable to track your information and data. This DuckDuckGo browser download can help to ensure that you are able to still use your favourite search engine and not have to worry about your important information being replicated and used for advertisement purposes. This means one can use DuckDuckGo for Safari or any other search engine! 

• DuckDuckGo bangs: One of the advantages that come with using DuckDuckGo is that you are able to use bangs. These special search terms allow for you to move straight from the search bar to your desired webpage and you can easily request this transfer when using an exclamation point. This easy and efficient way of moving through the search engine ensures that users are able to quickly just from the search bar to their desired page. This is especially effective for users who know exactly where they are wanting to go and are not looking to browse through the different options offered. 

What Are The Advantages And Disadvantages Of DuckDuckGo SEO?

DuckDuckGo is a search engine that generally functions like any other search engine, especially when it comes to SEO. Like any other search engine, DuckDuckGo has hundreds of different factors that are taken into account and these factors are used to arrange the search engine results page for each and every query that is searched on the search engine. These factors are incredibly similar to other search engines and involve sustaining credible backlinks, using keywords and other standard SEO practices. While search engines like Google focus on target advertisements, DuckDuckGo ensures that their own extensions as well as other tracking systems are not allowed to monitor and store any information, from your personal information to your searches. This is one of the main advantages when it comes to DuckDuckGo and you do not have to change much when trying to adjust your SEO to match the ranking factors used by this search engine. 

While the gist of the SEO is similar and there are a number of similar ranking features compared to other search engines, the SEO is impacted by the privacy that is seen as such a big perk. If you are purchasing advertisements space from google, you are far more likely to more hits and receive more traffic due to the fact that the searches are targeted. When it comes to DuckDuckGo and their advertising, they do still offer advertising space but it is more of a random system as opposed to Googles more target approach. Sitting on the other side of the privacy sense can lead to a decrease in webpage traffic and overall a decrease in sales. It is, therefore, more important than ever that organic tactics and organic SEO tactics be used when using a search engine like DuckDuckGo. 

Is DuckDuckGo Safe To Use?

DuckDuckGo is considered to be one of the safer search engines thanks to its commitment to privacy. Due to the fact that this search engine does not monitor your searches, location or any other information, you cannot be tracked or analysed through the search page. This is extremely important in today’s age as technology becomes and less and less concerned with privacy. There have been a number of scandals in recent years that have been bought to light where the users’ important personal information is used for the benefit of the search engine and often at times even sold to the highest bidder. Along with this, personal information is used to target certain advertisements to certain customers, which is ultimately done without permission. With so many different elements of privacy being disrupted on different search engines, using DuckDuckGo offers a safer and more private way to search.  

How is DuckDuckGo’s Market Share?

When it comes to market share, DuckDuckGo news has reported a boom in the number of searches completed on the platform, with a 57% increase noted at the end of 2020! Today, DuckDuckGo is still growing and the amount of users is increasing nearly every day! In saying this, it is important to note that the growth has not yet managed to mark much of a dent in larger search engines like Google, which still retains much of the market share across the globe. When it comes to having access to the most widely used platform, Google is still unreachable with its market share being so large it seems almost impossible to reach. Smaller search engines like DuckDuckGo should however not be counted out just yet, and with impressive DuckDuckGo privacy essentials and features that rival even the best search engines, DuckDuckGo should still be considered a rival to search engines like Google. 

What Is The Difference Between DuckDuckGo SEO and Google SEO?

What Makes DuckDuckGo SEO Different?

DuckDuckGo is different due to the fact that the platform does not allow for private information to be used as a way to target potential customers. platforms like Google use this targeted information to direct certain advertisements towards certain people who have researched certain things. For example, if you had to Google ‘Where to buy watches near me’, Google is liable to use this information and direct advertisements for watches to your account. Without this element, DuckDuckGo relies heavily on organic SEO practices to ensure that your page gets noticed and ranked highly. This form of SEO is different, however, it is still an effective way to increase your standing on SERPs and the amount of traffic that makes its way to your page. 

Though DuckDuckGo does not allow for target advertisements thanks to its commitment to privacy, it does still allow for paid advertisements to be placed across the search engine. These types of advertisements may not be as effective as on other search engines due to the fact that they are not targeted or directed towards people who have searched for similar things. These types of advertisements can still however be valuable as they may direct a new target market your way. 

How To Approach SEO For DuckDuckGo?

While the DuckDuckGo search engine functions differently from other search engines, it is still imperative that web pages use SEO tactics to increase organic search traffic. How high or low a web page ranks will determine how many visitors make their way to a web page and the different technical elements determine whether or not a user will stay on the page. it is therefore very important that web pages approach their SEO just as they would with any other search engine. The following are just a few tips on how to approach SEO for DuckDuckGo. 

Update Your Site With Modern SEO Practices

Just because DuckDuckGo focuses on privacy does not mean that it is not focused on creating an impactful and informative space for its users. Having a web page that has modern SEO elements will go a long way to ensuring that the webpage crawlers that make their way through your page find your information easy to read and your SEO practices impactful. By sustaining good SEO practices, one can ensure that their web page will rank highly and that organic traffic to a page will increase significantly. 

Use Local Search Terms

Local search terms refer to phrases or words that contain information with regards to the location of a brand or business. Using these kinds of words or phrases helps to drive potential customers within your area to your web page. While DuckDuckGo does not allow for the location and data of users to be shared and used for marketing purposes, having this kind of information on your page will drive potential customers in the area to you as opposed to the other way round. It is therefore still critical to ensure that these kinds of local search terms are repeated throughout a web pages content. 

Choose Keywords With Care

Organic search tactics and SEO are extremely important when it comes to DuckDuckGo. It is extremely important that keywords are used throughout the content, but not so much so that a specific piece of work does not make sense. Be sure to add keywords to headings and titles in a way that looks and reads well, without overdoing the number of times a word is used. This is impactful not just on the SEO but also on the overall user experience, which is extremely important to not just DuckDuckGo, but all major search engines. 

Use Semantic Search Techniques

Understanding user intent and monitoring why people are researching certain things is an integral part of SEO. Semantic search techniques focus on aiming to attract searches that are not just using certain words or phrases, but certain rather intentions. These semantic search techniques are all about understanding context and following on with wording that would generally be used in searches. This is an important technique to consider using as it increases the number of hits a page will get and the ranking that a page receives from the search engine. For those who are hoping to increase their organic search results, using semantic search techniques is a sure-fire way to get ahead of the competition. 

Get High-Quality Backlinks on Your Site

Like with any other search engine, DuckDuckGo crawlers make their way through pages to identify good elements on a page and if these elements are all healthy, a page will rank highly. An SEO element that should always be noted is the quality of the backlinks on a webpage. Having links to web pages that are relevant and from healthy and well-intentioned websites will go a long way in improving your SEO rank.  Having high-quality links will go a long way in maintaining that your page is useful for users and will ensure that search engine crawlers rank a page highly, so be sure to cultivate relationships with other webpages and website owners and build valuable links between your own web page and theirs. 

Improve Your Website’s User Experience

The whole idea behind DuckDuckGo is that they are looking to improve on how safe a user feels when using a search engine and the type of experiences that a user has. It is therefore assumed that web pages with a good layout and ones that load quickly would rank highly on this search engine. Improving your user experience is always a good idea and this ranking factor is a prominent one used over many different search engines. It is also pertinent that the user has a good experience if you are hoping that they will return or recommend your website to others.

If You Are A Local Business, Enter Your Address Correctly

Due to the fact that DuckDuckGo does not track and monitor your location as Google does, it is extremely important that your information is placed on the webpage correctly. Things like your location, contact details and address are often typed in incorrectly which could result in confusion for potential customers. It is therefore important to take care and triple check when putting this pertinent information on your webpage and on the search engine. Along with making sure that you have the correct address and location, try and be as clear as possible when using DuckDuckGo maps, with your exact location as opposed to a generalised area. This could also lead to issues and confusion if potential customers are not sure where you are located. Remember that it is important to make sure that clients have an easy time accessing and finding out more about you!