Search Marketing Blog
Let’s Be Direct . . .
Posted by Sean McMahon on 06.10.2009
I’m shaking my head.
I just received the June 10, 2009 e-mail blast from Search Engine Guide, the self-proclaimed educational Web site aimed at translating the search marketing world into something that small business owners can understand. This most current edition features at report from WordTracker that identifies the Top 300 search queries within the largest Meta engines (e.g., Metacrawler, Dogpile, etc.) during the past 48 hours.
I am shaking my head, because a quick cursory glance at the first thirty (30) search queries on this list reveals that 22 of these queries (or more than 2/3) are ‘direct’ keywords (i.e., exact keywords that can be entered into your browser to navigate directly to a specific site). For example, the four (4) most popular search queries on this list (1. google, 2. youtube, 3. yahoo, and 4. facebook) could each be typed into a browser directly, rather than be searched-for through a search engine.
This phenomenon, which is not unique to the past 48 hours, leads me to speculate that the majority of today’s Internet users are either: 1. uninformed, or 2. creatures of habit.
There are individuals out there – perhaps, even the majority of individuals – who perceive that the only way to access a Web site is through a search engine. On one hand, this is a testament to the impressive job that Google (and, the other major engines) has done in thrusting itself, and the services it offers, into the everyday lives of individuals. On the other hand, it might just be a testament to the fact that many people (especially, new Internet users) are not aware of the most efficient means of accessing recognized sites.
This seemingly cumbersome means of visiting popular Web sites could also be a result of the fact that most of us adopt a routine for our everyday activities. Think about it. You more than likely performed your required tasks getting ready to go to work today in the exact same order as yesterday, and the day before. Shower. Hair. Teeth. And, so on. I’m confident that a large percentage of Internet users get into the habit of using their favorite search engine to navigate to any and all Web sites.
One important take-away from this report, in terms of effective search engine marketing, is to realize that branded keywords are significant drivers of qualified traffic through search engines. For many campaigns, relevant ‘long tail’ search terms can deliver substantial conversion rates. However, branded keywords can dramatically increase the quantity of individuals arriving at your site.
