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How to Reach Today’s Demanding Searcher

News Flash: The expectations of search engine users are up. And their patience? Down!

But is this truly news to you? I doubt it. If you are a regular reader of this blog, you probably know that these measures have been trending this way for some time now.

However, what may be new info is that such user behavior and attitudes have important implications for marketers. Before we begin our discussion of how you can capitalize on what your users think and do, take a look at the findings from an April 2008 study conducted by JupiterResearch, as it illustrates these trends:

So what are the implications of these findings?

There’s an obvious need to optimize your Web pages and obtain links from credible, relevant sources to maximize the chance of your site to be found on the first few pages of search results. But there are also two other important implications.

Low-Hanging Fruit
First, by using and optimizing all of the assets in your digital library, such as images, videos, audio files and press releases, you can gain a competitive advantage. Seek out these assets within other areas of your company, and if they are appropriate to use, place them on your website and support them with other relevant content.

But don’t stop there. Take these same assets and find resource sites (e.g., YouTube) and social media sites (e.g., Facebook) to post and tag them, so that you can expose your brand to visitors of those sites who may otherwise have never visited your corporate website.

This step is especially important now that all of the major search engines show more than just text in their search results, in what we call “blended results.” Now, such digital assets—on your website or elsewhere—have the potential to supplant your competitors’ listings on the search results pages for your most important keywords. And performing these steps with all your digital assets in a holistic manner will help your brand to dominate the search results page.

Pay for Play
The second implication is that barring the ability for you to effectively compete with other organic (algorithmic) search results—either with your Web pages or the digital assets just discussed—implementing some new paid search strategies can help obtain a greater presence for your brand within top search results. The questions from the study were specific neither to organic nor paid search results, so search engine users are looking at both types of results prior to making their “click or re-launch” decision.

In organic search results you may be competing with competitors that have several years’ head start, thousands of pages of optimized content, thousands of incoming links, and thousands of digital assets that they’ve distributed all over the Internet. But paid search (like Yahoo! Sponsored Search), using compelling ads and strong calls to action, can be used as a great equalizer to overcome any advantages they have in the algorithmic results.

Clearly, users’ expectations continue to rise, and their patience continues to wane. Smart marketers will capitalize on these trends by showcasing their digital assets, and initiating paid search campaigns to help their companies into the first few pages of results.

— Robert J. Murray, President, iProspect

Robert J. Murray is president of search engine marketing firm iProspect in Watertown, Massachusetts, and can be reached at rob.murray@iprospect.com.