Top 100 online findability 2007

Findability websites large advertisers leaves much to be desired

A consumer uses the internet more and more to find products and services but are providers sufficiently findable for a consumer? Search Engine Mediabureau Checkit has conducted a study about the online findability of the 100 largest advertisers (source: Nielsen Media Research) in search engines. These organizations spend much money but are they findable on the internet? The Top 100 online findability 2007 answers this question.

Download the Checkit whitepaper top 100 online findability 2007.

Results

The results are remarkable. In 2007 58% of the organizations are sufficiently findable in the internet, when only 32% was sufficiently findable in 2006: an increase of 26 percent points. A conclusion in 2006 was that advertisers did not know how to make their websites visible online. This conclusion still applies to 42% of the organizations.

This article presents the research results as practical advice which is beneficial for the online findability of websites. The following parts wil be discussed:

• Research set-up
• Top 100 online findability
• Media budget versus findability
• Branches
• Press releases
• Findability criteria
• Conclusion
• About this study

Research set-up

For every organization and every branch we have examined and selected four pages on the most important user motives. For the largest advertisers from the 'Automotive' branch, for example, we have chosen pages about 'leasing' and 'used cars'. These pages were rated on their findability in search engines by using 11 findability criteria. This study provides the situation of the websites at a given moment in June 2007.

The scores of the 4 pages were weighed differently because for visitors as well as search engines the homepage is more important than a specific product page for instance. The weighing of the four pages is as follows:

1.	Homepage	45%
2.	Product page (overview)	25%
3.	Specific product page	15%
4.	Press release page	15%

The websites of the 100 largest advertisers were analyzed according to these 11 findability criteria:

1.	Is a sitemap present on the homepage?
2.	Are there different page titles per page?
3.	Is there a meta tag description present?
4.	Are meta tag keywords present?
5.	Is the page built without frames?
6.	Is a <h1>-tag used?
7.	Is there sufficient content (more than 150 words) present?
8.	Is the text on the page free of flash?
9.	How many website pages have been indexed by Google?
10.	What is the link popularity of the website at Yahoo!?
11.	What is the PageRank of the website?

The 11 findability criteria were selected from hundreds of variables which influence the online findability. The goal of this study is provide an indication of the online findability of the 100 organizations.

The websites which were examined this year show better results than last year: 58 of the 100 organizations obtained a final findability score of 50% or higher. 42% is still not sufficiently findable on the internet. 68% was not sufficiently findable in the Top 100 online findability 2006.

Top 100 online findability 2007:

Media budget versus findability

One of last year's conclusions can be confirmed this year: the media spend has no influence on the findability of organizations. Organizations which have a large media budget at their disposal are not necessarily better findable in search engines than organizations which have less media budget. The branch to which an organization belongs proves to be a better indicator.

Branches

The branch to which an organization belongs appears to predict its online findability. Organizations from branches for which online findability is crucial for their business model are better findable than organizations from branches which are less directly dependent on a sufficient online findability.

Top 100 online findability per branch:

An ambitious search strategy (and as a result a high online findability) is a must in branches where competitors compete for potential customers on the internet. The branch 'Finance' is a good example of this competition. The average media spend of organizations from this branch is relatively high and the findability for search engines is at a high level as well.

Just as in 'Finance' the branch 'Food and drink' also has a large media budget. However, the findability for search engines in this branch in 2006 as well as in 2007 is poor. A possible explanation for the difference between the branches can be the difference in direct commercial dependence on the internet.

Orientation and purchase of products takes place online more often for the branch 'Finance' than for 'Food and drink'.

The branch 'Travel' achieved a far better result this year compared to last year; the results have almost doubled. This is to be expected since purchase in this branch often takes place online.

The branch 'Government' again achieves a high score this year and has prolonged its first place position from last year. The government had set a goal to have 65% of the public services take place online. The government spends much time and money in online information service, which can also be concluded from these results.

Press releases

From each organization 4 pages have been examined, including the press release page. A well-structered press release page is interesting for both users and search engines. This page should be regularly updated for it contains important words (keywords) and other (relevant) websites will link to this page.

Many organizations miss out on opportunities in this field. At least 39% of the organizations did not have a press release page on their websites. Last year 40% did not have a press release page.

In short, it can be concluded that search engines rate a site better if there are many links from relevant websites to the webpages. Other websites will link to a certain website if it regularly publishes interesting, relevant and topical content. It can be expected that press releases will interest target groups and that the subjects will be relevant and topical. It is therefore advised to incorporate the publication of press releases in an (online) marketing strategy.

Findability criteria

There are eleven variables which determined the position of the organizations in the Checkit Top 100 online findability. These criteria were selected from more than one hundred variables which could influence the findability of a website for search engines. This study provides an indication of the online findability. The eleven factors are described below as useful tips. The images portray the research results.

Paul Aelen, one of Checkit's founders, comments on the results: "Although this year's results have shown an improvement compared to 2006, 42% of the largest advertisers still achieve very poor results. If you take into consideration that in this study only 11 findability criteria have been used, whereas we discern more than a hundred variables in our Natural Search Model, I can conclude that much can be gained in Search Engine Ranking for these advertisers. With relatively minor changes great results can often be achieved. With our Natural Search model, which is based on analysis, advice and knowledge transfer we make sure that together with our clients we will make their website better findable."

Conclusion

Consumers spend more time online and the online consumer spending increases steadily. These developments have made Search Engine Marketing an essential part of the marketing mix. This industry shows a continuing professionalization and a strong increase of the media spend.

The question of this study was whether the top 100 largest Dutch advertisers are adequately findable in search engines. The top 100 online findability 2007 shows that 42% is insufficiently findable (findability score < 50%). There is a clear improvement in the results in comparison to 2006. Last year 68% of the organizations examined in the study were insufficiently findable online.

The eleven tested variables also show an improvement. In 2007 more websites have placed a sitemap on the homepage, pages more often contain <h1>-tags and the content consists more often of at least 150 words. The number of indexed pages per website and the link popularity have greatly improved in comparison to last year.

Despite these positive results, 42% of the largest Dutch advertisers is still insufficiently findable. There is no doubt that many can be gained in Search Engine Marketing for these organizations. Analyzing and adjusting the technique, contents and link strategy of the websites of the these organizations according to the Natural Search model would lead to higher positions in search results, more qualitative visitors and an increase of the number of conversions.

Download the Checkit whitepaper top 100 online findability 2007.

About this study

This study was conducted by Eline de Bruijn (Marketing employee Checkit) and Emke Mol (Product Manager Checkit).

Tijdschrift voor Marketing

Articles about the Top 100 online findability 2006 and 2007 appeared in the Dutch Tijdschrift voor de Marketing (April issue 2006 and September issue 2007).

Use of text and images

Editors are allowed to use the text and images of this article provided that the text: Checkit www.checkit.nl is mentioned.

Questions

For more information about the contents of the document or Checkit and the services we offer please contact Paul Aelen - (T:024-359 37 70 of paul@checkit.nl).

Source: Search Engine Mediabureau Checkit