How search engines affect purchases.

comScore Study Reveals the Impact of Search Engine Usage on Consumer Buying: "The comScore research studied the buying activity of Internet users who conducted a consumer electronics or computer (CE/C) search at one of the top 25 search engines in Q1 2004. Among the other findings, the study revealed that 25 percent of searchers ultimately purchased a CE/C product and that an estimated 92 percent of these purchases occurred offline. Among the 8 percent of post-search purchases that were made online, the vast majority occurred in subsequent user sessions (not directly after a search click-through). "

The study goes on to point out that most (85%) of purchases occurred later than the original search, in other words, the user came back another time before making a purchase!

They also point out that few purchasers utilize product specific search terms (for example, "Sony Plasma KE-42M1”). Their finding emphasizes that marketers have to appeal to their prospects on the basis of more general terms (such as, “plasma TV”). This is consistent with our recommendation that webmasters utilize both general and specific terms on their sites.

In our classes, we have shown how to utilize "down-list" terms, or, those terms that appear in your site statistics further down the list of keywords that have brought visitors to your site. Previous classes have also covered the concept of the "sales funnel", where prospects enter the funnel on more general search terms and work their way down the funnel to the purchase decision, often by refining their search terms. Capturing traffic on the general terms at the beginning of the funnel is an important element in converting the traffic later in the process!

As the representative of Overture (who sponsored the study) said, “This research supports the theory that all types of terms play an important role in influencing the consumer’s purchase decision.”