As we enter 2011, search marketers can rest assured that consumers tend to respect the results they find on the web. A poll from Rasmussen Reports indicates that consumers have favorable opinions of the leading search engines.
The survey asked more than 700 U.S. adults about their search behaviors. Two-thirds (66 percent) of internet users routinely go online to get answers to day-to-day questions. Eighty-nine percent of survey respondents say they think search engines are good or excellent sources for finding relevant information.
This is probably good news for Google. As Brafton reported, toward the end of 2010, the company came under fire from mainstream media sources for allegedly unreliable results. Many called into question the relevance and trustworthiness of the company's rankings, but the majority of Rasmussen's respondents suggest leading search engines (including Google) offer information they need. Less than half 1 percent rate search engine results as poor.
There's a good chance that respondents are referring to Google when they claim to find quality search results. Seventy-eight percent of respondents say they tend to use the same search engine, and just 19 percent use more than one. As Brafton has reported, the latest search engine rankings reveal Google is still the leading search engine by a landslide.
For marketers, this means search marketing and SEO tactics aimed at coming out on top of web results should be a priority in 2011. It may be wise to seed social sites with custom content. Experts at the recent Affiliate Summit West conference suggest quality content can drive traffic to sites, and eMarketer has reported that nearly half of marketers (44 percent) say social campaigns have had a positive impact on search performance.
