Hitwise overall search terms 12/08/09 to 12/09/09

September 17, 2009 · Posted in Blog, SEO, Web/site review

Hitwise UK have released the last four weeks search terms, here they are -

1.facebook 3.49%

2.youtube 1.02%

3.ebay 0.93%

4. facebook login 0.72%

5. bebo 0.42%

6. ebay uk 0.32%

7. you tube 0.26%

8. argos 0.22%

9. bbc 0.22%

10. amazon 0.22%

The result aren’t so surprising but has made wonder how the general public do not know how to use search engines properly.

What got me thinking was the search terms, all the sites that the general public are searching for are domain names, facebook being number one is a simple domain to remember – facebook.com, likewise with youtube – youtube.com, bebo – bebo.com, ebay uk – ebay.co.uk.

So looking at this data it begs the questions -
1. Do the users in the UK need a crash course on how to use the internet
2. Do internet search engines need to rethink the way they work
3. Does the internet need a revamp.

1. Do the users in the UK need a crash course on how to use the internet – short answer yes, long answer yes, users in the UK are of many nationalities and is proven that users are from all age ranges, so searching for a domain in a search engine could be a trust thing or it could be they do not remember the domain name. Again being a confident user it suggests to me that users need to remember the domain name, its not difficult to remember facebook.com, most big companies own all the domain extension and send you to your local/national domain.

2. Do internet search engines need to rethink the way they work – short answer yes, long answer – here goes…… Search engines do a good job, not great but does the job currently. I think one of the major search engines or discovery engines or whatever they are called now needs to release technology where you search just once word and it takes you to the domain, wouldn’t take much work for them and would save searching the results. The other suggestion that I have come up is browsers do something similar to chrome and newer firefox, where you enter your term in and it takes you to the domain or offers you a few suggestions. (if this does happen remember to tell me so I can take the credit)

3. 3. Does the internet need a revamp, short answer yes, long answer (can of worms coming) right where do I start? There are now hundreds of millions of websites available for you to use, many sites are now blogs, and many sites are parked so they get paid when you click on their ads or search on their site. I think the internet as a whole does need some sort of changes made it enforce some clarification.
However back to the real question and point, domains/websites should be easier to find, not essential for it to be localised but maybe categorized so its easier for the internet users and easier for the search engines and web browsers to direct you to the right place. There are many things I would love to suggest to change but its impossible to write them all in one post. So yes the internet does need a revamp but changing one small thing or standard will affect millions of websites and search engines.

So from ten little stats i’ve rewritten the internet…but seriously I think it cannot be that difficult for the users to put .com after the domains, or use their favourites on their web browser. Especially when getting connected to the internet is so important.

Rant over until the next time