Engine Ready: Convert more users with brand-driven traffic

According to a recent report from Engine Ready, an SEO and analytics firm, search traffic may not be as beneficial as traffic garnered from users typing in a URL. The study found that brand-driven traffic - traffic that lands at an etailers by directly typing in an address - is more likely to convert.

by Kristina Knight

The study followed users in four categories over two years. The categories are direct access, paid search, organic search and referral. Referral users are users who are pointed to an e-commerce site from another website or an email. Researchers found that direct access users spent more time on e-commerce sites, viewed more pages and are more likely to spend money on-site.

Brand-driven traffic converted at a rate of 3.3% (the highest of the four categories) and referral traffic converted at 3% rate. Paid search converted at a 1.4% rate. Organic search, while the lowest conversion rate, actually showed the second-highest rate of engagement with users viewing 5 pages per visit.

What this means is that online retailers need to become more conscientious about creating and growing their brand so that their etailing hubs become the first place consumers look for products. As even brick-and-mortar stores have found, brand is the key to returning customers. Because most consumers are looking for ways to save money, they will shop around until their find that deal. By advertising sales and offering low prices on goods, etailers can create a cost-effective brand that consumers may remember.