Why Care About Search Engines?

Why bother using search engines? Because search engines represent the single most important source of new Web site visitors.

You may have heard that most Internet site visits begin at a search engine. Well, this is not true. It was true several years ago, and many people continue to use these outdated statistics because they sound good — “80 percent of all Web
site visitors reach the site through a search engine,” for instance.

However, recently, that claim was finally put to rest. The number of search-originated site visits dropped below the 50-percent mark. Most Web site visitors reach their destinations by either typing a URL — a Web address — into their browsers and going there directly or by clicking a link on another site that takes them there. Most visitors do not reach their destinations by starting at the search engines.

The latest source is through social networking sites such as Facebook, Twitter, Stumbleupon, Digg, etc.

But still search engine is the king of website traffic source.