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90 Percent Of Search Engine Users Do Not Click Past Page Three
Editorial Director,
Customer Inter@ction Solutions magazine
If your company does not show up on the first three pages of the search results generated by major search engines, you might as well be doing business on the far side of the moon, according to a new study by Jupiter Research and sponsored by iProspect.
"The iProspect Search Engine User Behavior Study” revealed that 62 percent of search engine users habitually click on a search result within the first page of results, and 90 percent of users click on a result within the first three pages of search results. In other words, if your company shows up beyond page three on the major search engines, you are losing nine out of ten potential customers to the great wilderness that is search results beyond page three. (Perhaps "there be dragons" there?)
It seems that today, Web surfers have lost their patience for long search processes, probably due to the fact that people are savvier today about Internet marketing and how search engines work. In 2002, the figures were 48 percent (surfers clicking on page one) and 81 percent (surfers clicking on page three).
Additionally, over one-third (36 percent) of surfers today indicate they believe that the companies whose Web sites are returned at the top of the search results are the leaders in their field (as opposed to 33 percent in 2002.) The report sponsors emphasize that this indicates the increasing importance search can have on brand lift and perception of market share and company reputation.
Forty-one percent of search engine users who continue their search when they do not initially find what they're looking for will change engines or change their search terms if they don’t find what they seek on the first page of results. (The number was 28 percent in 2002.) Additionally, 88 percent of search engine users who continue to search when not finding what they seek will change engines or change their search term if they don’t find what they seek on the first three pages of search results (78 percent in 2002). Eighty-two percent of searchers today will relaunch an unsuccessful search using the same search engine as they used for their initial search, but will add additional keywords to refine the search (68 percent in 2002).
The report sponsors (and conventional wisdom) say that this emphasizes the increased importance of being found on the first three pages of search results.
“There’s no question about it,” according to Robert Murray, President of iProspect. “This study clearly shows the increased importance of being found in the top search results. With 62 percent of users clicking on a result on the first page, and 90 percent doing so within the first three pages, the message to marketers should be clear, and the implications obvious. After all, 90 percent is a staggering percentage. If your site is not found on the first page – or within the first three pages of search results – you might as well be putting up a billboard in the woods.”
Murray went on to explain, “As search engines efficacy has improved and search has become ubiquitous, users have also become more adept at searching, and their expectations have risen. They know what they want, and they want to find it immediately, and the majority want to find it on page one. And that majority is growing. We’ve witnessed this percentage climb over the last four years, from 48 percent in 2002, to 62 percent today.”
The study also indicates that brand equity is directly affected by where an organization places in a search. “Ostensibly, a percentage of search engine users ascribe industry leadership to those brands within top results, and believe them to be leaders in their fields given their placement in the results,” said Murray. “Cleary, this brand lift is a critical element for brand marketers. It not only reinforces the importance of being found in the top results, but also underscores the need for collaboration amongst online marketers and their colleagues in brand management, as search is clearly no longer just for direct marketers."
For more info, visit www.iprospect.com
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