Consumers won’t search for relevant search results, says new survey
Most online marketers believe intuitively that consumers have no patience for scrolling through search results; that’s why search-engine optimization and pay-for-placement have grown so quickly. Now a survey from iProspect, which helps marketers optimize their pages to show up high in search results, confirms that belief.
Nearly half of web users--48%--expect to find what they’re looking for in the first page of search results; 78% will abandon the search if they don’t find acceptable results in the first three pages. Novice search engine users make a selection after viewing just a few listings on the first page of matches.
The survey also reports that marketers need to make sure they show up in several search engines; 52% of web users have a favorite engine that they use for all online searching while 35% alternate among a number of favorite search properties.
“These survey results indicate that not only do web site owners need to be found in the major search properties, they need to be focusing on the first and second page of listings across all of the search engines, not just a few,” said Amanda Watlington, director of research at iProspect.
The survey also showed that 68% of web users modify unsuccessful queries by inserting extra words, while 27% switch to a different search engine, yet enter the same keywords as the original search. “These users seem to view an unsuccessful query as the result of a failure of the search technology and not their query formation,” iProspect says. “Before implementing an online marketing strategy, business owners must understand not only who their audience is, but how different users within that universe utilize language to form queries.”
“One of the most surprising findings is that many search engine users believe that top listings equal top brands,” said iProspect CEO Fredrick Marckini. “Beyond augmenting lead generation and driving increased qualified search traffic to their web sites, online marketers need to take steps to garner top rankings in search results in order for their products or services to be perceived as top brands within their industry.”
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