Web Promotion - Web Development and Design Foundations with XHTML - page 504

13.1 Search Engine Overview
What do you do when you need to find a Web site? Most people launch their favorite
search engine. A Nielsen/NetRatings survey found that nine out of ten Web users visit a
search engine, portal, or community site every month. These Web users also revisit the
sites frequently, almost five times per month.
Using a Search engine is a popular way to navigate the Web and find Web sites. The PEW
Internet Project ( http://www.pewinternet.org/Reports/2008/Search-Engine-Use.aspx?r=1),
reports “almost half of all internet users now use search engines on a typical day.” A DM
News report ( http://dmnews.com/cms/dm-news/search-marketing/37367.html) on a Harris
Interactive study states that 80 percent of Internet traffic begins at a search engine.
Appearance in a search engine lends an aura of legitimacy to a Web site. A study by
NPD Group ( http://www.justwebpromotion.com/top_ranking_search_engines.html)
showed that consumers are five times more likely to purchase goods or services as a
result of finding a site through a search engine listing than through a banner ad.
A search engine listing helps customers find your site and increases the chances that
they will make a purchase. Search engine listings can be an excellent marketing tool for
your business. To harness the power of search engines and search indexes (sometimes
called search directories), it helps to know how they work.
13.2 Popular Search Engines
According to a survey by Nielsen/NetRatings ( http://www.nielsennetratings.com/pr/
pr_090616.pdf), Google ( http://google.com), and Yahoo! ( http://yahoo.com) were the
two most popular sites used to search the Web during a recent month. Of those sur-
veyed, 64.6 percent used Google and 16 percent used Yahoo! during this time. Other
major search engines include MSN/Bing, AOL, and Ask.com. Figure 13.1 contains a
chart of the top five search sites reported in this survey. Check nielsennetratings.com for
the most recent survey results.
Figure 13.1
Over 60% of the
searches done in a
recent month used
Google
Google's popularity has continued to grow since it began in the late 1990s. The simple
and whimsical interface combined with quick-loading and useful results have made it a
favorite of Web users. The second most popular search engine is Yahoo!. Although
Yahoo! is now a search engine, it originally was a search index (also called a search
directory ). Each site that is submitted for inclusion in a search directory is reviewed