Domain Name Matters: Searchers Pick Brand Over Quality, Study Finds, Chris Sherman, Search Engine Land (Dec 13)
Research from Microsoft confirms that searchers examine the domain in assessing a result. I certainly hope so - that's what we teach.
"The results of this research present a good news/bad news scenario for search marketers. The good news: If you have a credible, trusted domain name, you’ve got an advantage, as searchers really do pay attention to the URL in search results before deciding to click. And this is true regardless of the position of the URL on a search result page."
Of interest - "In other words, even if search result rankings change due to factors like personalization or algorithmic tweaks, searchers don’t seem to care. They’re demonstrating a clear preference now for credibility and trustworthiness in a domain name now over simple ranking on a search result page. This is the strongest evidence yet that I’ve seen that an obsession with ranking is not only futile, it completely ignores the reality of how your site attracts users."
Searchers - good for you. This might send the message that quality and authority of the site matter most.
Full study - Domain Bias in Web Search, Samuel Ieong Nina Mishra Eldar Sadikov† Li Zhang, Microsoft Research Silicon Valley, Mountain View, CA (2011)
Posted by Gwen at December 13, 2011 07:03 PM