Searcher Behavior Research

Yahoo Search Marketing Study Findings

• 63% first began searching (2.8 sources used)
  
• 57% Narrowing down options (2.7 sources)
  
• 82% Deciding where to buy (2.8 sources)
  
• 51% Making final decision (2.5 sources)

Buying model is NOT FUNNEL based (Yahoo Search study)

-Starting a type of conversation w/ the customer is key
-Average number of brands considered for searchers is 2.5, compared to 1.5 for offline users
-JD Power research found that most searchers are looking for knowledge over bargains, 2/3 are self-considered bargain shoppers (same ratio as offline buyers)
-Searchers spend more time than offline buyers researching brands and info, hit more sources of info (several sites, family and friends opinions)
-Searchers more likely to investigate info on the site
-Searchers more often buy the item they were already intending (63% vs. 40%) according to Yahoo Study in several store locations. Searchers are unlikely to change their minds when going to an offline location after online study. Non-searcher buyers are more likely to be swayed by in-store promos and personnel.
-Implement ways to control the conversation between your business and the client.

Yahoo Search Capabilities
-Buyer surveys
-Click analysis
-Landing page is responsible for perception of the company
-Searchers that find you through a search listing spend more time on your site


InQuiro Research Findings and Projects

Pre-Mapping
-Before even launching a search searchers know where to look in the listings for their favored info
-Can organic and paid terms fight against each other
-Don’t need to buy own brand name if ranking well organically
-Current theories with pre-mapping
-Searchers more likely to head to organic links when investigating
-Ready to buy searchers are heading to the sponsored listings first

Study:80 people in two groups, group 1 instructed to research Belagio hotel, group 2 instructed to purchase a room at same hotel

-Both groups looked right to top-left hand side of search listing initially (.5 seconds in)
-Both groups lingered on the top left side of search results (sponsored)
-No real difference between researchers or buyers with eye tracking
-Top sponsors #1, #2, #3, and then bottom sponsored spot on Google (Yahoo in order or top to bottom)
-MSN’s sponsors are commonly being skipped while Google’s are being lingered on
-Google’s unbranded searches are still strong in the sponsored list
-MSN’s unbranded sponsored listings do better than the branded ones with MSN



360i Research and Projects

-Non-brand systems aren’t getting as much attention vs. branded ones
-Conversion rate nearly identical for searchers that began with non-brand search and finished with a brand compared with those that started with a brand search
-Searchers that click on an ad more than once are much more likely to convert

-Based on only searchers that converted
-44.6% conversions came from paid search, 55.4% came from natural searches (converted only—not all searches)
-Paid searches on average visited 1.8 paid ads, 3.9 clicks for organic searchers
-Multiple clicks made up 66% of clicks, 37% transacted
-Only 46% of users that started w/ paid non-brand term converted w/ non-brand keyword
-Over 40% of users starting w/ paid non-brand term converted on a natural listing and 12% on a paid listing
-Shows that paid non-brand words have significant influence over natural search conversions
-5% start w/ natural and end with paid


iProspect Research and Projects
(January 2006 study of 4 years of trends)

-62% will only click on a listing on the first page of results, 90% only on the first 3 pages
-Optimization is becoming more important—need to be on first 3 pages or buy ranks
-36% believe that the top listing is the top of their field
-41% of change their search term if they don’t find what they want on the first page (up from 28% in 2002)
-88% change engine or query if they don’t find what they want in the first 3 pages
-82% re-launch on unsuccessful search using the same engine they used but add more keywords—shows that searchers show confidence in specific engines, don’t like to try other engines out
-From 2002-2005 multiple keyword terms grew 12%--must optimize for longer terms as well as short ones