Conducting an online search is so common today that it is perceived as a behavioural pattern and not merely as using a service. According to this [1] Forbes article, 93% of all online experiences begin with a search engine. That’s a really high number.
Of the multitude of reasons that a user is online, let’s consider one scenario. Assume that a customer has narrowed their purchase consideration down to a particular brand; their next obvious step would be to enter the brand’s name in a search engine.
Unfortunately for marketers, even competitor ads find their way into a search engine’s results page. They divert customers away from the brand, leading to a loss of advertising budget, besides increasing competitor’s revenues. Herein, exploring multiple search engines has emerged as an important marketing strategy, becoming a need over a nice-to-have consideration.
Search beyond Google
Even though it has more than 92% market share [2], Google is a popular search engine. However, with over 4.66 billion internet users currently [3], the remaining 8% market share makes for a sizeable chunk. If this market is left untapped, brands may lose out on precious leads.
Besides, there are a few other reasons to take marketing efforts beyond Google:
- Emerging marketer preference: Competitor ads on Google’s results page cause an unavoidable loss of customers. New-age products like Site Suggest are helping brands by teaming up with other search engines like Qwant and DuckDuckGo. Such partnerships help high-intent purchasers to remain on their purchase journey with zero distractions
- Specific targeting: There are some search engines that cater to niche user groups. For example, Ecosia targets environment-friendly internet users. Brands can use these search engines to reach their high-intent customers
- Risk management: Focusing on a single search engine is like putting all your eggs in one basket. Diversifying marketing efforts is like managing risks across various search engines
User convenience
This Forbes article [4] states that 66% of customers choose a product based on the purchase convenience. Alternate search engines employ tools to help brands provide this ease of making a purchase. Using these tools, search engines enable users to bypass the search page and allow them to land directly on the desired brand’s page. This ensures a frictionless purchase journey and, hence, a lower churn.
The advantage for brands
So, how do brands use these innovative solutions to facilitate customer convenience? When a user is typing a brand’s name in the search box, products like Site Suggest cause their algorithms to identify the user’s inputs. They simultaneously recommend only the brand’s link to the user, thus bypassing the search page.
In this way, Site Suggest transforms a complicated user journey into a convenient single-click passage – and specifically, 2x faster navigation. The combination of alternate search engines and innovative products like Site Suggest render an enhanced user experience.
Here’s an example. SitePlug’s partnership with search engines Qwant & Opera has helped brands with the following benefits:
Thus, together with new-age search solutions, alternate search engines promise better marketing returns. While Google’s dominance in the search engine market demands Google-centric marketing efforts, alternate search engines make for a compelling case for brands to harness their potential.
[2] https://gs.statcounter.com/search-engine-market-share
[3] https://www.statista.com/statistics/617136/digital-population-worldwide/
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