Searcher Behavior Research Update

"If you're not ranking well for your desired search terms, brand names and other important key words and phrases, you're missing out on significant, highly qualified traffic."

A new study from iProspect provides insight to searcher behavior that is of interest to web masters. The full study is available for download.

While the major point is highlighted above, the findings show that searcher behavior has changed in the four years since the last study in 2002. The numbers reveal something of the strategies that searchers are using to find what they are looking for in the dramatically increasing amount of information available on the web. Understanding these strategies is important to making your site work more effectively in attracting the traffic that is going to boost your business.

One of the really interesting observations in the report says, "Apparently there is still a segment of end-users who think 'industry leadership' is a component of what search engines use to rank search results, and both online and traditional marketers can use this perception to their advantage." To paraphrase this observation, if you rank high, you are an industry leader! Think about what that can mean for your business!!

While there are no easy answers (it still takes hard, persistent work to be successful), our weekly Internet Marketing clinic at the University of Houston Small Business Development Center will help you to understand what you need to do to master this constantly changing game.