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How to Write a CV and Other Burning Questions
August 06, 2007
Last week, Bill Tancer (GM of Research for Hitwise US) wrote a brilliant column for Time.com about US search queries that include the words "how to". While Americans are fiddling with their neckties, Brits are brushing up their CVs, firming and toning and as with the US, teenagers (educated guess) are looking for advice on other diversions.
In the four weeks to 4th August 2007 there were 33,270 unique search queries containing the words "how to", and a look at the most popular questions asked paints an interesting picture of modern Britain. Essentially, we want to become rich ("write a CV", "make money") and attractive ("lose weight", "get a six pack", "get rid of spots") in order to procreate ("kiss", "snog", "have sex", "get pregnant").
Top 10 search terms based on share of UK Internet searches that include the words "how to": Four weeks to 4th August 2007
The query "how to write a cv" has held the #1 spot for most of the past year. There was a brief spell in late March / early April when searches for "how to save a life lyrics" took the top spot but it quickly sank down again. (In case your memory is as terrible as mine... that was a song from The Frays that was featured on Greys Anatomy and Scrubs).
You may also notice in the table above a column titled "Success Rate". I chuckled when I saw that "how to make money" has the lowest Success Rate at only 59%. This is not however an indicator of the quality of information or advice one receives. Success Rate in this case refers to a successful search - one in which the consumer clicked on one of the results. In this case 41% of searchers found the results uninspiring enough to do another search. Better luck next time...
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Posted by Heather Hopkins at 02:10 PM
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Jeremy, Good question - thanks. No we can't take into account bounce rate. What we measure is whether the searcher left the search engine after performing the query. It's not an exact measure but does provide an important relative measure of success. Typically we see a success rate in the 90's so the 59% success rate really stuck out for me.
Take for example, searches that include the words "cheap flights to". The top 9 queries all have a success rate of above 90%. The #10 result is at 86%. Knowing that the term "cheap flights to india" has the lowest success rate (77%) among the top 50 terms with "cheap flights to" might indicate an opportunity to a search marketer.
Consumers aren't finding what they are looking for in that query so that may indicate that there is an opportunity.
Posted by Heather Hopkins | August 7, 2007 09:04 AM
Does "success rate" take bounce rate into consideration?
Posted by Jeremy | August 6, 2007 04:29 PM