Last month, MarketingSherpa asked 1,500 business execs and IT pros (non-marketing folks) how they used search. Here are some highlights:

+ Google dominates – 83% said Google was their engine of choice. Advice to SEM pros: make sure your Google SEO and PPC campaigns are optimized.

+ Searchers are warm prospects – not hot – 55% said they used search 30 to 90 days prior to a biz expenditure. Advice to SEM pros: Make sure your campaigns aren’t just offering a sales pitch. Instead offer a whitepaper (check out Marqui’s whitepaper on SEO and CMS) or tech spec docs or comparison charts.

+ Organic are far more noticed than paid ads – 70% confirmed they click on organic not paid ads. Advice to SEM pros: Continue to focus on SEO, but don’t loose sight of PPC – because of the syndication partnerships that Google and Overture have, your ad is practically everywhere.

+ Position and clicks count – Top three positions get 60% of all organic clicks and 51% to first ad. Advice to SEM pros: Make sure you are there. And so does copy – Make sure your copy counts. Tell them they are clicking the right ad or result by telling them so by optimizing your meta description or body copy.

+ Most go to your site before the search – 20% of users are more likely to go directly to a manufacturer’s site first. And then they go to search engines. Advice to SEM pros: Make sure that first visit is a good one because once they leave your site, they might not click on your url in the search results once they go to the engines.

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