Search engine users are quick to switch

The BBC reported on a  new survey by Jupiter Research which says search users will look at three pages of results (or less) before trying a new query or another search engine. Loyalty is fleeting. The survey found that 41% of users would change search engines, or search terms, if they didn't find what they were looking for on the first page. I suspect that most of that 41% simply try another search term before switching engines, but the report was not specific on that point.

The survey reported that 62% clicked on a result on the first page, and 90% clicked on a result within the first three pages.  Search users are getting better at entering more precise search terms, and search engines are getting better at delivering more relevant results. However, it is surprising to me how quickly users will switch search engines if they don't immediately find what they want. Google's current dominance is not assured.

When I was at AltaVista we ran statistics on all kinds of user behavior. I don't remember the exact numbers but a huge percentage, something like 75%, of all queries were two words or less. There are lots of ambiguous words or synonyms in the English language, so returning relevant results on a two word query was, and still is, extremely difficult.

Here are a few hints for effective searching.

• Use at least three descriptive and unique words in a query.
• Use "quotation marks" when you want only those words together. For example, the search query Don Dodge will find all instances of the letters don, including don't, donate, done, donor, etc., and all instances of the letters dodge. By placing "quotation marks" around "Don Dodge" you get only results that contain exactly those letters in that order.
• Use other words to limit or narrow your query. For example "Don Dodge" Microsoft, will return only results that contain "Don Dodge" and the word Microsoft somewhere in the result.
• Use the minus sign "-" to exclude certain results. The query "Don Dodge" - Microsoft, will return all instances of Don Dodge not related to Microsoft.

Most search engines have advanced search options that do a great job of helping you form more precise queries. Very few people use these features but they are very effective and don't take much extra time.