How People Use Search Engines

Digital Marketing - Study Notes:

Types of search queries

Generally speaking, all searches that people make on search engines can be classified as one of three types of searches:

• Transactional queries, where people actively want to do something, like buy a plane ticket or download a song.
• Informational queries, where people want to know something, for example, the name of a new band or a good restaurant in New York.
• Navigational queries, where people want to go to a specific website or webpage that they know exists on the web, such as Facebook or the homepage of the NFL.

Search engines will identify the type of query - transactional, informational, or navigational - and will show the best possible results to satisfy that particular user’s query.

Search process users go through

Here is an outline of a common process people go through when using search engines:

• First, someone experiences the need for an answer, solution, or piece of information.
• They formulate that need in a string of words and phrases, which is the query, the search term, or the keyword.
• They enter that query into a search engine.
• They browse through the paid and organic results to find the best match.
• They click on the most appealing result.
• Once on the website, they scan for a solution, or a link to that solution.
• If unsatisfied, they return to the search results and browse for another link.
• Or they perform a new search with refinements to the query.

Generally speaking, users will go through this process several times before their query is satisfied.