Forums: Discussions for entrepreneurs and small business.

I never click on google ad words. I just don`t trust it. It`s a "paid" slot. I get enough advertising without google ad words.

I do scroll down the page when looking for results. I generally take a quick look at nearly every result on the first page. I will then check the second page of the results for "interesting looking" links. In all situations I DO read the short description below the search result links.

On the first page`s links, as I said, I will look at each page, but maybe only for 2 seconds. If I don`t find the content reflecting my search desire within a very short time, I move to the next.

Note... When I look at the search results, "links" of the first page, I "open a new window" for each. That way when I glance at it for 2-3 seconds, I just close the window and look at the next one. (BTW Macintosh, Firefox allows me to open a new window behind the page I am viewing with the `apple key` and a click. So opening ten pages behind my search results, is very fast.)



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Vincent Wilcox (a.k.a. KRAKR)
Drummer
My band: Letters Make Words

House...
To be honest with you, I don`t click on the first 3 results or on the first page at all... One of the reasons is that "there`s so much stuff out there these days, and just because they are showing up on the first page, doesn`t mean you have what I am looking for.
Just because I get a search return with the key word that I typed in , doesn`t mean you have what I am looking for. Most businesses, that advertise on google, are more concerned on ranking and traffic  than selling you  a  product.
As I asked one of my customers, what are you more concerned about, making a sale or knowing that you are number two google [when you search for his products] his response was, as long as he knew he was number 2 he was OK because he knew that eventually he would be number 1 [ego-trip don`t you think?]...
I usually start at about page 7 or 8.... I tend to find more relevant stuff on those pages than on the first 2 or 3 pages..


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Edgar Monroy
Web Developer / Owner / Consultant
When starting your own business the need to "know-how" is greater than money!
http://www.nuevolution.net

I read the descriptions to see if they contain what I`m looking for ( one of the reasons I tell people to use meta descriptions in their SEO ). If it doesn`t give me the impression that it has what I want, I skip it.

Often, the best result is not on page 1.

As far as PR, I ignore it.


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M Hall
Website Critique Community
International Society of Curmudgeons

Jason Miller wrote a great article about just what you are asking ...

Here`s the link ..

http://archive.webpronews.com/2007/0118.html

 

It depends upon what I am searching for... if I am searching for a product then I look at the "onebox" in Google and the first page (other pages if the results on the first page do not fulfill my search needs).

If I`m searching for a solution (more complex - multi-worded search) then I`ll explore many pages.

Another interesting question would be what search engine is used. I primarily use Google, but do check other search engines from time to time.

PR - I disregard PR. It is not relevant nor a true indicator of anything since it is not a real time indicator.

I might click on an ad if it looks like a promissing solution, but for most searches I not not even look at ads.

For specific information, I have already bookmarked websites/forums that are resources for specific topics.. and I usually do not search for more information on general search engines.

~Roland

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Web Design | Best Beef Jerky | ecommerce articles | Follow vwebworld on Twitter

I scroll down the page and read the context in which the words are appearing, perhaps click on a few and click back to the search results, sometimes make it to page 3 or 5 if I`m really digging deep!

If I don`t like the first 10, I`ll often change my search terms until I get a better mix of results on the first page.

I use a lot of syntax in my searching vs. the average user ... quotes vs not, operators, limitations such as dates or sites, exclusions by date or site, ordering changes, etc.

As per Roland`s bookmark thing (made me think about my own) ... I don`t use bookmarks. (Seriously!) I have about 14 of them across my Firefox window for particularly hard to remember URLs like how Target makes you dig for the login to their credit card. For the rest ... I have probably a few hundred at least that I`ve simply memorized fully. (I can also recite every phone number I`ve had in my life, every domain I`ve ever worked on, and every house number I`ve lived at! I can promise you no one at SuN was thinking someone memorized the URL structure when they went and changed it on me!!!) For a hundred or more additional, I just visit enough that if I start typing, the Firefox history will fill out the rest for me, or I know the name to exactly quote it for a Google search.
Yeah, I`m scary like that. If you ever need to know the entire preamble to the Constitution, all the presidents in order, a whole bunch of the number Pi, or a lifetime of useless animal facts, I`m your girl!

Jeez ... most mornings I have trouble remembering my own name.

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M Hall
Website Critique Community
International Society of Curmudgeons

If I`m looking to buy something, I will click mainly on first-page results, including the sponsored links.

If I`m looking for information, I will ignore the sponsored link but will scroll through several pages until I find the relevant info.

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Oleg Issers | StartupNation.com Web Team

50% of computer programming is trial and error. The other 50% is copy and paste.

Haha ... I didn`t say that I didn`t have trouble remembering my own!!