Last month I confessed a few habits that I have while searching online, and I asked for others to do the same in a survey.
I received 16 entries from search marketers and was happy to hear that I’m not the only one with possibly strange habits or internet trust-issues.
Here are the results!
Primary Type of Search Marketing
Question: What type of search marketing do you primarily do?
Paid Search – 11
SEO – 5
Prior to Search Marketing Life
Question: How long did you use the internet prior to your search marketing career?
(I didn’t mean to ask this question to make anyone feel sad, I just wondered how previous internet use affects your perspective today.)
Here are the results:
It was an even split!
8 people used the internet for 5 years or less before search marketing.
8 people have been in the industry one way or another before the web.
Of the 8 people who used the internet prior to their career, 2 mentioned their love for AOL and the free hours that came via snail mail.
Experience and Use
Question: How does your own search experience affect the work you do?
Here are a few highlights:
Every day searching turns into evaluating site user experience and SEO.
When searching and coming across a poorly written ad or irrelevant targeting, they take screen shots and use them as an opportunity to generate new business.
Using long keyword stuffed queries that aren’t always logical, but will get the result quicker.
Of the 11 paid search marketers, 4 mentioned that they only click on paid ads when shopping, and 2 said that they never click an ad.
Of the 5 people who concentrate on SEO, 2 said that they never click on paid ads.
Shopping Habits
Question: Have you noticed any habits that you have when you seek out non-work related information, or shop online?
When it comes to shopping, people were all over the place with their habits, and I think that it has to do more with personality than search knowledge.
People responded that they look at anywhere from 2 to 100 websites for information and reviews. (Yes, 100.) But 2 people mentioned that even if they aren’t going to make a purchase on Amazon, they go there for reviews.
Another person said that they don’t mess around with researching online too much if they can get the product they are looking for from Amazon.
There really wasn’t a difference in researching habits based on length of career or experience but, as expected, the value of the purchase corresponds to the amount of research; the higher the price or the personal value, the more searches are done.
While there wasn’t a difference in habits based on length of career, 1 paid searcher said that they don’t trust organic listings, and 1 SEO’er said that they don’t trust paid ads.
I thought that it was a little excessive that I use different profiles for different types of online activity or searching, so I was happy to hear from one person that they only do certain searches on their phone, and others on their computer. Interesting….
Thanks for your input SEM friends!
