How Do People Really Use Google?
How your customers use Google depends on many factors, but age has a lot to do with it.Research conducted by Moz.com showed that younger people (under 40) tend to make 3+ searches per day, while those aged 60+ make an average of 1 per day. Younger people are also more likely to ignore adverts while older searchers don't discriminate between paid and organic results when deciding what to click on.This is great news for businesses as it means that top spot on Google isn't necessarily the aim anymore, but having a relevant looking search result is more powerful. Businesses selling primarily to younger people would do well to divert some paid search budget to SEO to gain organic results, while those selling to older people can focus on refining the wording of their adverts to get great results.
Only 7% of respondents said they go to the second page to see more search results, while 75% always stay on the first page, clicking either the first couple of results or multiple results from the first page. People are more likely to then perform another search with a different query than go to the second page, so it's vital that you are on the first page of results.The rise in featured snippets also plays a part in how users interact with search results – if the question is answered by Google with no need to click through to the website the snippet is from, then users won't bother to click through, and if the answer is very good and leaves people wanting more then they will visit that website. Getting a featured snippet from your website is the current Holy Grail of SEO.
There is some concern that featured snippets and other information now displayed directly on Google (i.e. without the need for the searcher to click on the link and visit the website that information is pulled from) will lead to a drop in website traffic for sites which provide that sort of information.The good news is that only 22% of respondents would not continue searching, or click the link so the majority of people will still visit your websites even if you have a great featured snippet. Luckily, people are still a little sceptical of Google results and want to ensure they have the correct information (perhaps as people become more aware of fake news and the need to conduct your own research rather than accept things at face value) so there's no need to worry that Google's developments will steal traffic from your website just yet.
This is just a small window into searcher activity and there is plenty of information on the web about how different demographics use Google (and other search engines), as well as how different industries experience website traffic. Go beyond the first page of results when you do your research, and remember to contextualise the information you find – if 55% of American teenagers perform a certain type of search does that information mean anything to a UK based service provider working with other businesses? We can help with insights and what to do next, so if you want to have a really great SEO strategy which is designed around your customers and your website get in touch with us today.
