Search Engine Analysis 1 - Damn Statistics

Search Engine Analysis - Search Engine Statistics

by John Hughes
of http://www.oyster-web.co.uk

Last updated: 12 Sep 2007

In the first of a series of articles analysing the Search Engine marketplace, John Hughes argues that there are statistics, damn statistics and search engine statistics.

Undertaking Search Engine Analysis

In order to undertake successful Search Engine Optimisation projects, it is more than helpful to understand the information and statistics that are used to describe and justify SEO.

There are many search engine statistics quoted in various journals, blogs and information sites, such as 85% of search engine users do this and 30% of your website visitors do that and so on. Even those statistics that are quoted from reliable surveys and research only really relate to the context of the sample that was investigated. In many ways, search engine research and analysis must be must more subject to mean something about your site.

62% of All Search Engine Statistics Are Made Up

I made that one up too. Actually, to be fair, not many statistics are really just made up, but there is an important caveat that is missing from nearly all statistics you will ever read. That caveat is context.

For example, Jupiter Media reported in July 2006 that 28.8% of “surfers” searched the web using Yahoo. Such information suggests that Yahoo should account for more than a quarter of your internet Traffic if true.

Analysing Search Engine Statistics More Thoroughly

Let us analyse this statistic more closely, however, and we quickly begin to see through its usefulness. The search engine survey was undertaken in the US, using a representative sample of home, work and university users. So there we have two initial problems.

Firstly, university searches are skewed by the requirement for academic results (not much use if you are an online retailer). Furthermore, the survey was based on searches in July, when the profile of searches carried out in academic establishments may be different to standard times in the university calendar.

Additionally, the survey was undertaken in the United States, a country with some significant differences in Internet usage, if other statistical analysis is to be believed. Further analysis of the search report tells us that the figures quoted in the survey are search-specific, but not web-search-specific. In other words, it includes own-site searches for Content – something that is likely to be a significant proportion of the searches undertaken at a major content Portal like Yahoo It has reams of its own content, such as Yahoo Sports, Yahoo News and so on, all handled through a separate search facility.

So our analysis and interpretation of the results of this survey show that in relation to an online retailer in the UK, its findings are as good as useless. We need to find something more useful.

Looking further at search engine analysis

In the next of these articles, I will discuss how to apply context to search engine statistics in order to carry out search engine analysis in context.