It is marketing logic that the best way to attract customers is to first understand how they behave and identify factors that influence them. In the virtual space, Internet marketing companies and search engine marketing service providers are now finding ways to track online user behavior.
It has been observed that about 85% of Internet users visit popular search engines such as Google and Yahoo! to meet their search requirement of various goods and services. In addition to this, it is noted that less than 75% of these users will go beyond page one of the search results with majority of them surfing through only the top half of the first page.
Search engine marketing services providers’ aim is to ensure that information on the concerned brand or service ranks as high as possible in a search result to positively influence the number of hits on the website. Keyword-based content generation and pay-per-click advertising campaign management are common tools employed by a SEO company to achieve this.
Understanding Search Engines
To be able to efficiently track consumer behavior via search engines, it is crucial to understand how search engines function. Typically, search engines are either crawler-based or human-powered. Crawlers are basically auto-scripts that scout various websites to search and copy their content to generate a large index database. Search engines such as Google employ this technique to provide quick results.
Alternatively, human-powered search engines work on the basis of short descriptions that are placed within a search engine database. These could be generated by the company itself or through user reviews.
Tracking Consumer Search Behavior
Tracking consumer search behavior is an information-oriented process that helps characterize consumer behavior with respect to every search query as per specific type, subject and source. It provides a holistic picture of consumers’ online buying behavior in any marketing segment.
While purchasing products and services online, consumes tend to conduct multiple searches. This study provides information on the users’ complete search experience thus putting light on popular keyword phrases which benefit SEO initiatives.
This further presents opportunities to create micro-sites with the exact information your target audience is looking for.
Based on information gathered through consumer search behavior studies, Internet marketers are able classify and prioritize user traffic.
Tracking consumer search behavior can offer some interesting demographic information on users such as education background, age etc., simply by observing how good a user’s search skills are.
Basically, this study helps determine how one can influence online user behavior through enhanced SEO strategies. It especially benefits Internet marketing companies, search engine marketing services providers and pay-per-click advertising campaign management companies.