Recent studies have come out about the way people are searching based on a wide variety of different factors. The data collected will be very useful for local marketers who are targeting specific audiences. Whether it is a local brick and mortar business or an internet marketer looking to get results with very targeted optimization tactics this information could lead marketers to update their strategies.
Where Are The Customers?
This study, from WebpageFX, found that the search engine people use can be largely determined by where they are geographically located. Everyone knows that Google is the #1 search engine in America, but it is a mistake to ignore the others. If, for example, someone is targeting users in North Dakota they should be putting a lot of effort into optimizing for Bing since they get 15% of total searches. In Arkansas Yahoo brings in 11% of the searches. While 11 or 15% may not seem like too much, when it comes to searches that can be millions of potential customers.
In general the Midwest is moving to Bing in greater numbers than on the West coast. In Southern states Yahoo is doing better than in Northern states. In California Google is even more dominant than in other states. With more and more SEO efforts going toward local search results this type of information can be invaluable to a marketer.
Habits of Customers
The location is not the only thing that makes a difference either. Those who are more religious tend to prefer Bing more than those who are not affiliated strongly with a religion. Coffee drinkers (specifically from coffee houses like Starbucks) use Google at an above average rate. Even things like the weather can have an impact with those in milder climates preferring Yahoo.
While the study does not go into why it is believed that the specific factors involved can change which search engine people use, the statistics are quite interesting. In the world of marketing having an advantage of even a couple percentage points can be a huge difference in the success of a campaign. Anyone who is targeting a local audience would be wise to review the complete study and adjust their strategies based on the information they find.
You can find the full study here: FULL STUDY
