Inside the Searcher's Mind: It's a Jungle in Here!

"For those doing research, the following items were mentioned and listed in order of importance to the user, in getting them to clickthrough:

The exact query in the title and description
Product information: features, comparisons, reviews, prices
Trusted sources of information, i.e. Consumer Reports
Trusted brand names and vendors
Trusted URLs

For a purchaser, some of the items are the same, but different factors are also introduced. Again, these are listed in order of importance:

The exact query in the title and description
Offer product information: features, comparisons, reviews, prices
Trusted brand names and vendors
Promises of added value: discounts, free shipping, etc
Ability to buy online
Trusted URLs

"

Here is a research article that says that 80% of searchers skip past sponsored results to go straight to "organic" listings. It also emphasizes that searchers go from the "general to the specific" in their searches.

The quote describes the important factors, in order, to searchers in considering how to respond to search results. It says that searchers are primarily looking for information when searching, in other words, researching their interests, and those web sites that provide information to the searchers will get the most click-throughs.

Based on this research, a good site should give the users information about the product or service first, then take steps later to entice them to commit to the product or service. Offering discounts or incentives to purchase too early in the process is a wasted endeavor.