Pamela Parker reports today at ClickZ that only 85% of brand searchers ultimately end up on that brand's Web site. The other 15% of searchers end up split between affiliate sites, comparison shopping engines and competitor sites. With brand searches up 17% over last year, the battle to capture those searchers is increasing.

From the article:

In one instance, for online travel agency Expedia, the research firm found that 90 percent of searches on its brand name resulted in a visit to the company's Web site. Of the remaining 10 percent, 2.5 percent went to affiliate Dealcrawler, which had placed a high-ranking paid search ad on the term. Priceline and CheapoAir, competitors to Expedia, received less than 1 percent of traffic, a result the researchers felt was driven by consumers' reluctance to visit a competitor's site.

The number of brand-related searchers diverted away from a brand's site can also be affected by other words associated with the trademark. When people searched for "allstate," for example, 83 percent ended up on the brand's Web sites. But when "allstate insurance" was the search term, only 74 percent of searchers found their way to the company's sites.

Add in companies piggybacking off of each other's names like Mazda's plan of bidding on Pontiac related phrases to draw from Pontiac's "Google Pontiac" campaign and this all makes sense. In fact on some level, I'm surprised that it's as high as 85%.

To note though, that number can go down depending on the combination of brand related keywords and more generic keywords.

The number of brand-related searchers diverted away from a brand's site can also be affected by other words associated with the trademark. When people searched for "allstate," for example, 83 percent ended up on the brand's Web sites. But when "allstate insurance" was the search term, only 74 percent of searchers found their way to the company's sites.






About the Author

Jennifer Laycock is the Editor of Search Engine Guide, an educational web site aimed at translating the search marketing world into something that small business owners can understand. Jennifer specializes in common sense search engine marketing, viral marketing and customer outreach via social media and blogs. A former search marketing consultant and in-house trainer, Jennifer’s clients have included companies like Verizon, American Greetings and Highlights for Children. Her primary clients now are a little girl named Elnora and a little boy named Emmitt.

Jennifer Laycock is the Editor of Search Engine Guide, an educational web site aimed at translating the search marketing world into something that small business owners can understand. Jennifer specializes in common sense search engine marketing, viral marketing and customer outreach via social media and blogs. A former search marketing consultant and in-house trainer, Jennifer’s clients have included companies like Verizon, American Greetings and Highlights for Children. Her primary clients now are a little girl named Elnora and a little boy named Emmitt.