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SEO and the ROI Debacle

Consumer Online Search Behavior

Google may not be the best source of traffic in all cases, but it's enormously popular. In October 2006, there were 6.8 billion searches in North America with Google grabbing 44% of the market, according to comScore qSearch.

Search at Work
In the seventh annual "Web@Work" 2006 study by Harris Interactive for Websense, 61% say they surf non-work-related websites (about 3 hours a week).

What kind of sites do they visit? Typically, it's a work-related website (93%). But travel (56%) and shopping (48%) are popular Internet destinations.

Search Engine Fans
Internet users have a high comfort level with search engines. The Pew Internet & American Life Project sized up their attitude in this 2005 "Search Engine Users" report:

"Search engines are highly popular among internet users. Searching the internet is one of the earliest activities people try when they first start using the internet, and most users quickly feel comfortable with the act of searching. Users paint a very rosy picture of their online search experiences. They feel in control as searchers; nearly all express confidence in their searching skills. They are happy with the results they find; again, nearly all report that they are usually successful in finding what they're looking for. And searchers are very trusting of search engines, the vast majority declaring that search engines are a fair and unbiased source of information."

Other trends from Pew Internet & American Life Project - 2005/2006

73% of American adults (age 18+) go online to use the internet or email.
91% have used a search engine to find information
67% buy a product
78% research a product
66% or 97 million use Internet daily

Holiday and Online Sales
Holiday shopping is expected to be a big hit on the Internet again this year, according to new survey conducted for the National Retail Federation by BIGresearch. Shoppers could spend $791.10 each this year on holiday merchandise with one-fourth (28.9%) of purchases made on the Internet.

In fact, nearly half of consumers intend to buy at least one item online (47% compared to 36% three years ago). Most consumers (88.7%) regularly or occasionally look at products online before eventually buying at a store.

Local Search
Increasingly, savvy Internet searchers are making the effort to find local businesses when they use search engines.

For example, the frequency of search engine use to learn about local companies increased from 47% to 55% (a 17% increase) between 2003 and 2005, according to The Kelsey Group.

The Kelsey Group's annual forecast predicts global local search and online classified advertising revenues will grow from $15.7 billion in 2005 to $31.1 billion in 2010. The local search segment will grow from $3.4 billion in 2005 to $13 billion in 2010, with online classifieds growing from $12.3 billion to $18.1 billion during the same period. Global local search includes Internet Yellow Pages, local Internet search and wireless directory-based search.

"We expect numerous local search start-ups to challenge the predictable revenue flows that the large established marketplaces for automobiles, real estate and other key segments have enjoyed for decades," Matt Booth, vice president and program director, interactive local media, said in a news release. "At the heart of these profound changes is the phenomenal growth in local search traffic as more and more global consumers turn to the Internet for researching, comparing, shopping and transacting very small and very large purchases."

Heavy Internet Users
Universal McCann and InsightExpress in 2006 found that 84% of heavy Internet users - those accessing the Internet 11 times within seven days - have researched a future purchase on the Internet. Similarly, 84% purchased a product. Both led a list of the most popular online activities (other popular activities included entering sweepstakes, playing games and listening to Internet radio).

More than half of U.S. online adults use search engines most or every time they're online, according to "How America Searches," a 2005 Harris Interactive study for iCrossing.

Top Categories for Search
Hitwise, which monitors more than 10 million U.S. Internet users, found that 20% of all traffic from 20 categories came from search engines in September 2006. Health/medical led the way with 43.19% from search.

According to the Pew Internet Project, "Online Health Search 2006," 66% of health seekers began their last online health inquiry at a search engine. In fact, 80% percent of American Internet users, (about 113 million adults), have searched on one or more of 17 health topics.

Search Influence on All Purchases
ROI Research has made some great headway in quantifying the influence search has on purchases - online and offline alike. The agency offers some interesting data as well about how Internet users who search more often also tend to spend more as well no matter where they ultimately shop. For example, ROI Research found that search accounts for 49% of online purchases and 42% of retail purchases.

When and How They Buy
With any potential customer, you need to keep in mind some key factors. Just because someone comes to your website doesn't mean they're ready to buy what you sell. Maybe they're in a different stage:

Simply looking around
Beginning research
Narrowing their choices

Some studies suggest that B2C searchers are inclined to buy more quickly than B2B customers. Although that may be true in some cases, it's not always the way searches play out.

In it's "Search Before the Purchase" report, comScore Networks looked at these product categories: travel, apparel, computer hardware and sports/fitness.

With travel, for example, about 75% of purchasers made a travel search at some point in the 12 week before they actually bought a travel service. In fact, people averaged six searches before a purchase.

More than 60% of purchases related to search actually happen offline in retail stores, according to comScore's "The Role of Search in Consumer Buying" study that tracked 83 million consumers during the 2005 holiday shopping season.

Overall, online retail spending surpassed $81.6 billion in 2005, up 24% from $65.8 billion in 2004, according to comScore.

More than 70% of potential buyers keep abandoning online shopping carts before they complete their transactions, according to Web Surveyor Corp. Shipping costs, limited time and comparison shopping were among the leading factors.

Keep in mind that some customers look for one product or service you offer and then decide to buy something else you sell. In other words, the search term Internet users start with doesn't always match the ultimate transaction.

Men and Women
Online shopping is among the popular Internet activities for men (68%) and women (66%), according to "How Women and Men Use the Internet," a 2005 report from the Pew Internet & American Life Project. In fact, online shopping increased 40% for men and 43% for women between 2000 and 2005.

How Many Results Internet Users Tolerate
In 2006, the "iProspect Search Engine User Behavior Study" by JupiterResearch found that 62% of search engine users typically stick with the first page of results. That's not too surprising, except that combined data shows that 90% say they'll check out one to three pages (although only 9% actually will look at all the three pages). Back in 2002, 48% limited their search to the first page and only 81% were willing to look a one to three pages.

Read excerpts from this SEO study online: