Search user research
Search Engine User Attitudes: "Over the past few weeks, search engine marketing firm iProspect has released a series of reports studying search behavior. That survey, Search Engine Users Attitudes, involved 1,649 people surveyed at the end of March 2004...Covers attitudes to:
Usage
Loyalty
Tool bars
Search Failure
Relevancy: Paid Versus Free
Enquiro has also been busy.Inside the Searcher's Mind: It's a Jungle in Here!: "Inside the Searcher's Mind: It's a Jungle in Here!" Similar to iPropsect, it has recently released results from a survey of hundreds of people about how they interact with search, as well as a focus group look"
a strong tendency to skip past the sponsored listings and go directly to the organic results. Less that 20 percent of the participants were confused about what was a sponsored link and what was an organic link.
Google users were the least confused about what was sponsored and what wasn't on the results page. The greatest confusion was found amongst MSN users.
the majority of users (19 out of 24, representing almost 80 percent of the group) tend to skip over sponsored results and go first to the top organic results. If the users find something relevant in these results, they may never return to the sponsored listings.
Outlines Four Types Of Searchers
Concludes:
users are much more likely to use a search engine during the research phase of the buying funnel. Usage of search engines drops off as the user draws closer to the actual purchase transaction.
This was echoed in the focus group, where 68 percent of participants indicated they would use a search engine to help research a purchase, but only 41 percent indicated that they would purchase an item online, and only 28 percent indicated they would use a search engine to help them make this purchase.
It's important for marketers to understand where in the buying funnel their customers are most likely to use a search engine to help in their purchase.
If it is primarily in the research phase, than searchers are looking for distinctly different things than they would be if they were using a search engine to make a purchase. The marketer may be trying to capture a click through by promoting free shipping or discounted prices, while the consumer is looking for information on product features, consumer reviews and competitive comparisons.
posted by Jen @ 8:25 AM
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