The Mystery of the Supreme Search Strategy is one case marketers have yet to crack. But evidence shows that a combination of organic and paid search may be the secret to success. According to the MarketLive Performance Index, Vol. 21, a midyear analysis of e-commerce metrics, website visits attributed to paid search increased 30% in the first half of 2013, while visits via organic search decreased 3%. However, in the first six months of 2013, only 32% of people who arrived at a retail website via a referring engine got there by clicking on a paid link, compared to the 68% who used organic search.
Even with that disparity, both forms of search are prime suspects for benefiting marketers’ bottom lines. According to the report, 56% of search engine traffic revenue can be attributed to clicks on organic links, compared to 44% that can be attributed to clicks on paid search links. However, paid search did pull ahead in terms of conversion rate and order size. The report cites that paid search generated a 35% higher average conversion rate than that of organic search (2.6% and 1.9%, respectively) and that the average paid search order size was $113, while the average organic search order size was $109.66.
The data suggests that marketers are improving their use of paid search. But if there’s one thing marketers are guilty of not doing well, it’s creating mobile-optimized websites. According to the report, only about half of the merchants surveyed (52%) had mobile-optimized websites as of Q2 2013.
We know you love infographics. Check out some more Direct Marketing News originals.
