Search engines boost retail site traffic

Paid search and search engine optimization may be the best options for driving traffic to e-tail websites. According to a recent Hitwise study, nearly one-quarter of the traffic to retail websites in May was driven by search engines.

by Kristina Knight

Researchers found that from May 2006 through May 2007, search engines boosted traffic to shopping and classified websites by 25%; that is barely a 1% increase, but the overall percentage is still worth noting.

Bill Tancer, general manager of research at Hitwise said, “Marketers can leverage search data to better understand their brand and that of your competitors’ brands to make smarter business decisions moving the needle on their brand equity and associations.”

With so many experts touting the benefits of online video, display ads and social network marketing, it is clear that paid search and SEO campaigns must not be ignored by e-tailers, specifically the influence of online giant Google. According to Hitwise, Google was responsible for more than 15% of the search traffic to e-tailing and classified sites in May, that is an increase of nearly 9% since May of 2006.

What kind of searches are users performing? The study indicates that single word searches were the biggest draw (23% of traffic), with many users searching for URL or domain names as their keyword. Branding an online retail site, then, is also crucial to selling known brands of clothing, food or other products and supplies.