Why bother using search engines for your marketing? Because search engines represent the single most important source of new Web site visitors.

You may have heard that most Web site visits begin at a search engine. Well, this isn’t true. It was true several years ago, and many people continue to use these outdated statistics because they sound good — “80 percent of all Web site visitors reach the site through a search engine,” for instance. However, in 2003, that claim was finally put to rest.
The number of search-originated site visits dropped elow the 50-percent mark. Most Web site visitors reach their destinations by either typing a URL — a Web address — into their browsers and going there directly or by licking a link on another site that takes them there. Most visitors don’t reach their destinations by starting at the search engines.

However, search engines are still extremely important or a number of reasons:

- The proportion of visits originating at search engines is significant. Not so long ago, one survey put the number at almost 50 percent. Sure, it’s not 80 percent, but it’s still a lot of traffic.

- According to a report by eMarketer published early in 2005, 21 percent of American Internet users use a search engine four or more times each day; PEW Internet estimated that 38 million Americans use search engines every day.

- A study by iCrossing in the summer of 2005 found that 40 percent of people do online research prior to purchasing products.

- Of the visits that don’t originate at a search engine, a large proportion are revisits — people who know exactly where they want to go. This isn’t new business; it’s repeat business. Most new visits come through the search engines — that is, search engines are the single most important source of new visitors to Web sites.

- Some studies indicate that a large number of buyers begin at the search engines. That is, of all the people who go online planning to buy something or looking for product information, perhaps over 67 percent use a search engine, according to a study in 2005 by iCrossing.

- The search engines represent a cheap way to reach people. In general, you get more bang for your buck going after free search-engine traffic than almost any other form of advertising or marketing.