search habit of UK surfers

how the UK surfer find their products on the net?

[allcam]

I have been looking the access log of my site in the past few weeks, I have the following conclusions:

1. Two-word phrases are the most commonly used; for example if one person is trying to find "portable DVD player", he will search for "portable DVD" instead of the full pharse;

2. Actually very few people add "UK" to the end of the search phrases, altough I like to use search term + "UK" for any products, and some webmasters here also like to use the same way, but the general public does not behave the same way;

[richardb]

Hi allcam

That conclusion is about right most non-web people do not know how to use SE's and once they have access to 1 regardless of the results they tend to stick with it.

Rich

[peewhy]

Strange..I'm UK based and find in my logfiles the vast majority of searches add UK.

I'm a UK only, UK based marketeer and my clients generally stress UK in order that they remove the outside UK results.

I suppose it is based on what you sell. If you sell homes, searches will be much more geographically precise.

[yonnermark]

google should do more to direct uk users to the .co.uk version of their site. Even when you go to .co.uk the default search is still global. stupid.

[currybet]

>> google should do more to direct uk users to the .co.uk version of their site. Even when you go to .co.uk the default search is still global. stupid.

its a difficult line to draw - if you by default direct users to the smaller dataset (i.e. restricted to the UK) of course you will get more targeted results.

but you also greatly increase the chances of empty or less relevant SERPS because you are only looking at a smaller subset of the web. which makes the engine look less good.

[peewhy]

I get a lot with +UK, +Britain or British + unless they are in co.uk search engines.

I also seem to get more specific phrases as opposed single keywords. .. Almost like Ask Jeeves mentality.

[charon]

I agree, we've got alot of clients who tell us that the 'uk' or 'britain' clarification comes through on their stats from SEs alot. So we use where appropriate.

Put it this way, it's not a huge thing to add, and if it increases your traffic and/or business, then it's worth it... or that's my take on it anyway.

Cheers
Charon

[peewhy]

Location, Location, Location :)

If you want a local service, why unrestrict a search?

[NFFC]

We rank for widgets and widgets UK and see hardly any wigets UK activity in the logs.

>my clients generally stress UK in order that they remove the outside UK results.

Never ever listen to a client :)

[IanTurner]

With the same rankings for widgets and widgets uk we see significatly more searches from single word widgets, however in realy competitive areas it is much easier to rank highly for widgets uk and it can generate good quality traffic without too much effort.