Complete Guide to SEO on Duck Duck Go

DuckDuckGo was founded by Gabriel Weinberg on February 29, 2008, in Valley Forge, Pennsylvania. The search engine newcomer has been able to gain some name recognition over the recent years because DuckDuckGo does not track users around the internet, integrate with social platforms, or sell data to any third parties.

This security, in a day in age where privacy is the primary source of confusion and stress on the internet, is a big deal to a lot of people and may even be enough to finally switch. Even Apple is taking notice as you can now opt to have DuckDuckGo be your primary search engine on your iPhone.

Competition will always deliver a better product to the consumer and as SEO experts we quite frankly embrace competitors. Having all your eggs in one basket is never a good business strategy and we hope to see DuckDuckGo and other privacy focused search engines expand their reach soon.

Who Uses DuckDuckGo?

Because DuckDuckGo is so privacy focused, we don’t know this answer and either does DuckDuckGo. DDG only tracks the number of queries and the search terms used in those queries therefore the latest data shows DDG bringing in around 82 million daily searches which is dwarfed by 3.5 billion daily searches by Google.

DuckDuckGo users are typically security conscious and interested in tech, news, & software. They tend to spend an average of 9.5 minutes on sites and are more likely to spend quality time on a site.

This means that DDG has very valuable traffic. Figuring out how to get in front of that traffic can get a little ambiguous.

How Can I Rank on DuckDuckGo?

DuckDuckGo relies on over 400 sources across the internet (Google isn’t one of them) to help deliver results to searchers. These sources gather information from other niche search engines like Tripadvisor, Yelp, and more.

Essentially, if you focus on these SEO tenants you (in order of importance) you will begin to see traffic flowing to your site from DDG:

• Backlinks - DuckDuckGo is all about privacy and authority. They have no interest in showing you a site for the purpose of a sale or an ad. They just want to deliver relevant information. Because of this security focus the biggest factor that will get you ranked is a high-quality backlink profile. Focus heavily on getting relevant and authoritative links and you will begin to rank.
• Site Quality - If your site loads fast, is easy to move through, and has proper tagging you will be at an advantage over slower, clunkier sites when a search takes place on DDG. One tip you can implement is to not have a pop up or lightbox on your homepage as search engines can interpret this as spammy activity.
• Content - Create content that is easy to digest. Lists, slide shows, PDFs, and infographics are all a great place to start.

Ultimately, DuckDuckGo doesn’t have a Google Search Console-like platform where you can submit links for indexing so you will need to send strong signals in these areas to get your site ranked and shown often.

The Most Important Factor to Rank on DDG? Location.

One of the biggest differences between a typical search engine like Google and DuckDuckGo is that DDG never tracks where a user is searching from. This means that you have to give extra attention to ensuring that you are mentioning your service location as often as possible in applicable locations (without keyword spamming). 

Including hyperlocal keywords in your blog content and on your site is critical for DuckDuckGo. This means you should be mentioning neighborhoods in cities you serve and even major street names here and there. You are going to want to make sure you have at least a couple location specific pages on your site to increase your DDG visibility.

Conclusion

Search Engine Optimization is never a simple answer and DuckDuckGo is no different. You need a balance of quality backlinks, sufficient content, and site speed to rank on any search engine. The best way to compete on DuckDuckGo is to do a backlink and site comparison between your site and the website that is being served in the #1 position for your service or keywords.

You can contact us here at Mad Mango Marketing and we can provide you with a complete backlink profile of a leading competitor as well as a list of website improvements we recommend.

If you want to rank well in Connecticut and beyond, reach out to the DuckDuckGo SEO Experts today!