Is more, better? Not when it comes to search.

How useful are 36,000,000 search results from the keyword “Call Centers” going to be to a time-challenged BtoB buyer? And advertisers for that term have little chance of reaching their target audience. But that same search in a vertical search engine turns up more relevant — and a more workable number — of results.

That is not to say general search engines don’t have their place; they definitely do. But business buyers looking for vendors will fare better using a search engine that is focused specifically on their marketplace and the services they seek. And marketers benefit from advertising on vertical search engines, because they reach a more targeted audience that is actively looking for their products and services.

Statistics show that business buyers are sourcing products from industry-specific sites. A Convera* survey of business buyers revealed that the overwhelming majority (93%) of those surveyed say that they would be ‘very likely’ or ‘quite likely’ to use a search engine that focused on serving their specific business. And, they’re spending a significant amount of time on that task. Just under two thirds of respondents (64%) spend at least three hours a week carrying out online searches relating to their work. And almost a quarter of respondents (24%) are spending at least seven hours a week on work-related searches.

What’s driving this change in the way business users search? It’s because they see the value in vertical search. Let’s look at some benefits for search users and advertisers:

Users

So many search results, so little time. Time-challenged business buyers don’t have the time or desire to sort through “mounds” of information on general search sites. And buyers agree: more than half of BtoB survey respondents* (53%) say that faster access to desired information is a ‘major benefit’ of vertical search.

Relevancy. Business buying websites ensure buyers that their search will return only relevant results.

Lost in translation. Search terms don’t always deliver the right results. Sometimes, words have multiple meanings, such as pumps, as in women’s shoes and pumps, as in machinery. Terms that have very specific meanings in certain industries will yield a host of irrelevant results when used as keywords on the big search engines. But on business buying sites the term is understood to be industry-specific, thus eliminating irrelevant results.

Advertisers

Better stats. Because traffic is targeted, traffic to the advertiser’s website has a lower bounce rate, longer time spent on site and results in more inquires.

Top of list, top of mind. Business buying sites give advertisers much more opportunity to be at the top of search results.

More leads, less money. Finding an ROI in the expensive, time-consuming, keyword-heavy world of general search engine marketing is increasingly difficult. As more marketing campaigns move online, it’s becoming even easier to get lost in the crowd. Business buying sites, however, offer competitively priced rates and higher visibility.

Hitting the target. Another big advantage: focus. Advertisers have found that they can improve ROI by targeting their audience more precisely. According to the Convera survey, the biggest advantage of vertical search is the ability to deliver ‘more contextual, relevant and targeted advertising’, with 66% of advertisers regarding this as a major advantage.

Closer to the goal. Vertical search engine users are typically closer to purchase. In other words, if users have gotten as far as a vertical search, they’ve essentially classified themselves as interested prospects.

Covering all the bases. Vertical search sites that are properly optimized get higher ranking in Google and other large search engines.

Get listed on the Business Directory for your industry

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*Statistics Source: Vertical Search Report, Convera

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