Search Engine User Research

I just came across a report released by iProspect, with Jupiter Research’s help, about three months ago regarding important user behavior stats on people using search engines. The leading summary points were as follows.

Of over 2,300 people surveyed:
1. 62% of search engine users click on first page results, and a total of 90% click on results within the first three pages.
2. 82% begin a new search query using the same search engine if they don’t find what they are looking for with the first search term used
3. 41% of users who continue their search after not finding what they were looking for will change their search term and/or search engine if they don’t find favorable results on the first page.
4. Now here is the BIG ONE: 36% believe that company websites that are ranked in the top search results are at the top because they are leaders in that field.

Point number 4 is interesting indeed, suggesting that over a third of the population believes that search engines somehow determine who are industry leaders – and then rank them accordingly. Wow. Any companies out there willing to take advantage of this proven perception? No wonder SEO services continue to be a larger part of marketing budgets across the board.