Most people think search marketing is only about paid advertisements (PPC) and organic listings (SEO) in search engines like Google. While search engines generate tens of billions of referrals across the web each month, there is still a huge amount of traffic that comes from direct navigation or browser type-ins. Direct navigation is largely ignored by search marketers, but some experts estimate that it makes us roughly 30% of all web traffic. In many cases, these users are indeed searching for something--they just don't use a search engine because they assume they will find it more quickly by typing a domain name or generic word into the browser's address bar. Companies that can capture customers that use direct navigation as their searching method can acquire huge amounts of qualified traffic at low cost.
- Books.com --> Barnes & Noble
- Gift.com --> JC Penney
- Tennisshoes.com --> K-Swiss
- Money.com --> CNN Money
- Clothes.com --> Zappos
- Baby.com --> Johnson & Johnson's Baby Center
- Asthma.com --> GlaxoSmithKline's informational site about asthma
- Toys.com --> ToysRUs' brand portfolio (purchased for $5.1 million in 2009)
- Fly.com --> Travelzoo-owned website for booking flights