Google and the Power of Search

Emily Creech - February 14, 2011

We all know Google is powerful, but just how powerful is search and how could it be helping your business?   Earlier this month Google posted a pretty neat video to YouTube detailing some of the data they found through their research during 2010. The video is short and worth watching, but some of the highlights are below:

• 89% of consumers start holiday shopping online
• Portable PC shoppers do an average of 14 searches during their shopping process
• 60% of moms search for coupons/special offers online
• Google provides the most dating site search referrals; 64% become members
• 70% of TV, Music and Gaming fans visit sites on the Google Display Network daily
• The Display Network also reaches more vehicle buyers than any other major portal
• 75% of patients research symptoms online before discussing them with their doctor
• 40% of travelers search for consumer reviews before booking their next trip

So what does this mean for marketers?  

First and foremost, if your audience is any of these mentioned above, you should at the very least be aware of your online presence. How does your site rank organically for important keywords? Are you running paid search ads through AdWords?   Keep in mind with any campaign you run, (whether it is Search Engine Optimization to help your website’s pages rank well or a paid search campaign where you pay to have a presence for certain keywords or to be on certain websites) you should be tracking your efforts closely. What are these visitors doing when they get to your website?   Are they spending time on your site or are they bouncing? Are they converting or completing the desired action?

There are so many questions to ask. You may not know the answers to all of them, but being aware of the power of search and how users are currently find your website is critical.   If you are in need of an analytics tool, Google Analytics is a great, free tool to help you analyze your site’s visitor behavior.