Role of Search in Business to Business Buying Decisions

The Role of Search in Business to Business Buying Decisions," Enquiro and MarketingSherpa found that:
Search engines play a dominant role in B2B purchases
Search engines are used in early or mid research phases of the buying cycle
Google is favored over other search engines
Search engine research takes place at least one to two months before a buying decision
Good balance between organic and paid search is necessary
Organic SEO gets over 70% of the clicks
Position is a factor, with over 60% clicking on the top three listings
Most users decide which listing to click on within seconds of scanning the page
A 2004 com Score study reported that latent purchase conversions account for the majority of online buying activity. This study caused quite a stir last year by revealing that search marketing is more than a direct response vehicle; it provides branding as well.

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