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Search Numbers Dropping – Is Search Your Major Source Of Traffic?

US figures are showing that search numbers dropped a significant 16% in 2010 compared to 2009. This number represents a drop of almost 2 billion search queries from a high of 10.5 billion to 8.8 billion this year. The question is, will this be a worldwide trend or just a local issue for the US? There are a lot of factors that go into search trends  – elections, war, celebrities and natural disasters to name a few. There is also increased competition when it comes to finding information online.

It is this competition that should interest website owners and online marketers. If the trend does continue, it could mean that search as a major source of traffic will come under threat. I use the term search and I should perhaps define it as traditional search. Users are accessing sites such as Facebook and Twitter and searching their content for information. Users are also becoming a little more educated. For example, as they find sites that provide information, they bookmark them for later reference. Search then is carried out on a site basis rather than through a search engine.

While search will continue to deliver significant traffic for many years to come, it is obvious that business owners now need to spread efforts across multiple channels. Social media marketing through  Facebook, Twitter or one any one of a dozen or more social sites is becoming a must. Of more importance now is the quality of your own site and the information you provide. If your site is easy to navigate, is comprehensive and accurate in the data it provides and can be quickly and easily searched, you may find that users prefer to access your site directly rather than through search engines.

Today’s online world is no longer dominated by search. Users are more sophisticated, better educated, and more capable of finding information without the use of search engines.  As an online business owner, the key to succeeding in the future will be governed by how well you connect with users – where ever they are. That doesn’t mean that search engine optimisation stops – rather, it means that SEO is now only one part of a comprehensive online presence.

You can check out the latest statistics here.