Search marketing really does drive sales, and retailers and manufacturers are big fans. Internet Retailer just surveyed 102 Web-only retailers, chain retailers, catalogers and consumer brand manufacturers this month, and they found that search engine marketing is one of Internet retailing’s fundamentals. According to the report, “28% of merchants report more than 25% of their site traffic stems from paid search advertisements, while 51.5% say more than a 1/4 of their traffic comes from natural search.” And of course, Google is leading the way, with 90% of respondents’ search engine traffic coming from the overlord.
Some relevant tidbits for you:
· 44.9% of merchants report that the conversion rate on pay-per-click search advertising went up
· 38.8% say their conversion rate held steady
· 47% report more than 25% of their Web sales stem from search engine marketing
· 44.6% increased their paid search budgets
· 49% say they will increase it in the year ahead
27% report more than 50% of their online sales are attributable to search engine marketing. And more and more are seeing the benefit of adding graphics. “In the survey, 36.4% of retailers say they are working with search engines to incorporate images into paid and natural search results. 40.4% say they are not, but plan to.” 23.5% of retailers using images report a 1-5% increase in click-through rates, but 38.2% report no improvement. However, keep in mind that pictures shouldn’t be thrown on there willy-nilly. They should be well thought-out and serve a purpose that will intrigue the consumer. The survey also recommends ways to improve search results.
- 60.8% are adding more multiple word phrases to keyword inventory
- 58.8% are writing more descriptive copy
- 47.1% are testing versions of landing pages
[Source: Loechner, Jack. "Searching Pays off More." Research Brief from the Center for Media Research. May 17, 2010.]
Friday, May 21, 2010
Courtney Huckabay