How do users use a search engine today?

[Mark_A]

I am trying to get my head around how people use Google & Bing et all today.

And what they expect when they visit a website as a result of their search.

On the website front it is more what can the website do for me the visitor? and quickly, more than how smart your HQ looks.

I suppose a modern example would be you have a product whose software is out of date, you visit G and search for "product software 2018 update" .. a few pages are listed, you choose one (why that one?) and you arrive at the website. As long as the website looks reasonably credible, and the update is visible, you download the update, install it and leave. Result for the website 1 download, 1 bounce, a minute on page.

I am interested in an item, I go to G and I type "where can I buy X item in the UK?" This seems a quick way to get to the item I am seeking.

Some people, just type "item X" and wade through more results ..

I need to know how searchers think in my sector in order to customise web pages for more relevance.

Does anyone here feel they have a good understanding of their target searchers?

[goodroi]

The simple answer is that there is no one answer.

It depends on the industry, intent, user, technology and so much more. We now have desktop search, mobile search, and voice search. Sometimes users want simple answers direct from the search engine like spell check, calculator & other simple bits. Other times they want breaking content (weather, news, stocks, etc). Sometimes the user wants to do some old fashion web research via websites.

IMHO users have evolved past websites having a monopoly. Many users are engaging directly with apps & social platforms that cut out websites. The online world has exponentially splintered. Think of it less as a worry and more like almost countless opportunities.

[Mark_A]

I am trying to understand my own search history where products that can be bought are concerned.

There seems to be a research phase (which can be lengthy), and later a get down to business buying phase.

AIDA (Awareness Interest Desire Action)

[Leosghost]

Does anyone here feel they have a good understanding of their target searchers?

Yes.. :)

[goodroi]

If we want to only focus on products that can be bought, we still have splintering. Many users (including some B2B buyers) now go directly to Amazon and shop in that marketplace. Google's shopping ads are also very effective and diverting users before they even see organic search results. Other users start their e-commerce search at YouTube to watch product review videos. People are also using voice assistants to place orders instead of going through search engines.

I need to know how searchers think in my sector in order to customise web pages for more relevance.

If you want this answer, reach out to 30 people in your sector and interview them. Make sure to have a representative sample because different types of people behave differently. Ask them to show you how they do it. Offer them a gift card or other reward to compensate for their time. You can go to a relevant trade show or conference to recruit people or reach out via your newsletter or former customer list. You can do a good bit of DIY usability testing to better understand your audience.

[Mark_A]

Hi goodroi, I will think about interviews, I did already interview a panel of users to discover what media / publications they were using. Telephone interviews then, seemed to work well.

Now I want the exact phraseology they are entering into G when they are looking for what we do. So I really need people who don't already know us. Key words I can glean from google ads etc but they don't tell the whole story.

[goodroi]

Launching a small adwords campaign can help gain keyword insights. I'm not talking about the keyword you bid on, I'm talking about the actual search terms that generate clicks. Mining your internal search box is another good source. I would also ask the people you interview to complete a task in front of you or on a computer that is recording the screen so you can see what they are typing, where they are looking and where they place the mouse. You can use Google Tag Manager to learn some stuff like this.

[tangor]

Search has morphed so much in the last 8 years. Nowadays answer boxes and knowledge obviate the need to visit websites, so getting that last click to get there is becoming more difficult.

Oddly enough, when I was doing a little teaching a year or so back, I was astonished how easily a "user" (think middle-age, not kids, getting help on "using the web") got sidetracked, and when they did, they often forgot what they were after in the first place, having been led down a different path simply because something else showed up on the screen. These kind of things we can't (as webmasters) have much control over.

These days I just make sure my content is the best and hope for the best. :)

[Mark_A]

Hi goodroi, I do run Google and Bing Ads, and consequently have plenty of key words triggered and search terms entered data, from which I have and continue to learn a lot. However I still don't feel I know my prospects, their needs and online habits well enough. I don't think I have been explaining myself very well so I will go away and have a think :-)

[tangor]

@Mark_A ...

Don't give up. You are after the holy grail of advertising and that is several centuries old. All seek it, all hunt for it, some find a piece, but there is nothing etched in stone that works every time.

Keep asking, keep tweaking, keep after it. That's the best we can do.

Note: the answers you are getting are generic. Do you actually believe anyone who has found the magic way will reveal it in PUBLIC?

Take the comments, sort through them, find the kernel of truth. Make that work for you.

[Mark_A]

Hi tangor

Note: the answers you are getting are generic. Do you actually believe anyone who has found the magic way will reveal it in PUBLIC?

Interesting point, and I am sure there is plenty of truth in it. And I am also guilty of keeping my powder dry on one or two topics. What would I gain by sharing them?

Not great for a discussion forum perhaps though.

[tangor]

True, but that's why reading between the lines can be helpful. Sometimes helps to just be reminded as well.

[swara]

Most humans who are utilizing a search engine are doing it for research purposes. They're by and large looking for solutions or as a minimum to data with which to make a determination. They’re looking to find a website online to satisfy a targeted reason. Someone doing a time period paper on classic cars for their automobile history one zero one classification would use it to search out information on the number of cars sold in the USA, directions for restoring and customizing ancient automobiles, and most likely communities of traditional vehicle fans in the market. Businesses would use it as a way to find the place their clients are, and who their competitors are.

[Mark_A]

Hi swara, goal orientation among search users does imply we should be wary of being worried about high bounce rates, because if the searcher found what they were looking for and then left that is still a positive rather than a negative.

Certainly searchers are looking for what your website can do for them, rather than the other way around.

[lucy24]

Are you asking about that subset of users who use a search engine to perform searches (of whatever kind), or about all the uses to which a search engine can be put? The obvious one is telling a human to go to example.com. They'll promptly fire up the search engine and “search” for example.com. Or, conversely, if a human types “example.com” into the address bar and there doesn’t happen to be such a domain, that user will end up in a search engine whether they wanted to or not. Do those count as uses of a search engine?

[Mark_A]

Hi lucy24, I am just musing on searcher's habits and hoping to find some #*$!on rather than just rely on the search terms I have access to at the moment. My feeling is that I should be directing my content to answer questions my target visitors have .. because goal oriented searchers are looking to answer an issue.

[lucy24]

Oh, dear. I can't even figure out what word you inadvertently misspelled ;)

If (if!) it were safe to hypothesize that Google users and Bing users start with the same search terms, you could derive a little information from the various bingoid entities--they used to operate from a Drake Holdings range but are now back to the ordinary bing crawl ranges--that send a referer, including full search query. At least it lets you match up specific searches with specific pages. fwiw.

[Mark_A]

I just tried to write #*$!on - will it let me this time?

i l l u m i n a t i o n :-)

[lucy24]

I’m sure there’s a reason for this particular word being censored on this particular site. (Someone had to remind me what word it was.) Apart from the Core Obscenities, word filters are often site-specific. I knew one site that decided it was less distracting to use plain-text conversions, like changing “p###n” into “boring visuals”.

[Leosghost]

I saw what you did there ;).. well played ..

[Silians]

You try to define keywords for sure. You can't know how thousands of people think. Refer to special services. They will help you build a semantic kernel considering all possible queries. I love to use Ahrefs.

[Mark_A]

I think I am wanting to create pages which are more the answer to user's general questions, rather than creating pages I think should be there which probably correlate less to searchers intents. So I am wondering what the searcher wants from their interaction with our site. That might sound like second nature to some of you, but it is slightly new for me.