Is search becoming more important than ever?

I just came across an interesting study conducted by Jupiter Research and sponsored by iProspect, a search engine marketing firm. The “iProspect Search Engine User Behavior Study” for 2006 contains some interesting insights and trending data from similar studies conducted in 2002, and 2004. The study reports on the following:

• The number of users that click on a link on first results page vs. the third page
• The percentage of users that modify their search query if not finding adequate results
• The percentage of users that add keywords to a search
• The percentage of users that believe high ranking in SERPs (search engine result pages) means a company is a market leader.

While the study may only serve as confirmation of what merchants deeply involved in search engine optimization and marketing already know <understatement> search is pretty important</understatement>, for new merchants it can underscore the importance of proper optimization in driving traffic through natural search results. So where do you go to find keywords that are already bringing buyers to your site? Rob Snell talked about where to find converting keywords in a recent post. I talked specifically about the Referrer field included with order data.

If you are a new merchant just getting started and you do not have sufficient traffic or orders to mine converting keywords, then you can use keyword suggestion tools that will show related keywords along with their popularity:

• Yahoo! Search Marketing Keyword Selector (formerly Overture)
• Digital Point Keyword Suggestion Tool
• Google Keywords Tool

And remember that the goal of identifying keywords is not about stuffing keywords or keyphrases into your meta tags, but rather, about identifying the keywords and phrases around which to build unique, compelling, relevant content that sells your products to buyers after selling the relevancy of that content for those keywords to search engines.

Paul Boisvert
Yahoo! Small Business