Looking beyond the first page

According to a study done by iProspect, 49% of us change our search terms and/or search engine after not finding our desired result on the first page (for those interested, this compares with 40% in 2007, 42% in 2005 and just 28% in 2004). Only 8% of us actually bother going past the third page.

I’ve been an avid internet user for many years and yet guilty of the same. However, on a recent online shopping trip to purchase a logo creation software, I discovered that the product that met my specifications the closest and offered the best value for money sat quietly all the way back at page 4 of Google.

Further exploration of this discovery by Googling products/services I was familiar with revealed that especially within the small business services sector, not being on the first or second page didn’t indicate lack of relevance or even quality for that matter. It only meant that the websites on these back pages have simply not been optimised for search engines. If anything, it might even indicate that these companies have such a well established off line presence and customer base that they do not need to market online actively.