SeoBlackhat.co.uk

Research from a company called Enquiro found that there is a significant amount of confusion with Internet users over the difference between sponsored links and natural (organic) search results. The results of the study are as follows:

• 77% of the participants when asked to conduct product research chose an organic (natural) search result listing over a paid result
• When switching to purchase mode 67% of participants chose a natural listing over the paid listings
• Google users: 85% chose a natural result
• Google users have the lowest rate of confusion and tended to be more internet savvy
• 42% of non-Google results (Yahoo! and MSN) chose a sponsored link over an organic result
• Conversion ratios are 25% higher than paid search results according to a study released by Marketing Sherpa
• According to the Nielsen/Net Ratings in March 2005: Google – 47%; Yahoo! – 20.9%; MSN – 13.6%
• If you only focus on Google you are missing out on 53% of the market
• 58% of Google users also do cross-searching on Yahoo! or MSN
• What happens if a potential customer sees your site on Google but youre are not listed with Yahoo! or MSN when they search there? What if they see your paid listing in Google, but view it as less than relevant? If you are found across multiple engines, your credibility and relevancy immediately receives a boost.
• Males are more likely to be loyal to one search engine (Google) than females (Google, Yahoo!, MSN)
• Males prefer Google
• Females prefer MSN
• A trusted site with UNBIASED information with the natural search was the strongest preference across all users
• The more educated the user, the higher percentage of use of Google
• Target Google with technology/high end products

What This Means To You

Both paid and Organic campaigns are vital to your project. You cant ignore one, you must do both to get solid coverage. If you have a client who only wants to do paid search and not invest in an organic search campaign, this information should show them why they need organic search as they are missing on 70% of the clicks.