Search Engine Demographics

Search Engine Demographics

Recently I was asked by a retailer of women’s apparel to audit their search engine marketing efforts. The company mentioned that they were primarily targeting the Google search engine since they account for the majority of the search market share.

While true, you cannot rely on the search market share alone. You also have to take into account the demographic profile of the visitor. Consider for example the study conducted by iProspect in 2004, which states that only 41% of Google visitors are female. The percentage of female audience at Yahoo and MSN on the hand is 56% and 59% respectively. As a result, you can imagine how the company can get higher bang for their buck by marketing through the other outlets.

Search engine demographics should not be limited to gender. Age and income should also be taken into consideration. Just like print ads, your search engine marketing activities should take into account the demographic profile of the outlet and your audience. Unfortunately though, the outlets don’t publicize their visitors’ demographic profiles. That’s why you need to constantly monitor the return on your investment using Web analytics and constantly try to improve the results so that you can stay on top of the ever-changing landscape.