Interesting statistics, Jody. It makes me wonder a...

2009-10-26T11:28:11.614-07:00

Interesting statistics, Jody. It makes me wonder about why the Canadian market is different, and I can make a few guesses.

1. Many Canadian companies are branches of US operations, and they have not tailored their Canadian sites to the differences in our market (other than adding a maple leaf to the home page).

2. Search results often return US companies, because some Canadian companies are unaware of the value of optimizing their sites for search and get crowded off the SERP by less relevant results.

3. Some Canadian retailers, especially at a locally owned and operated level, don’t have a web site at all, and search will only reveal a directory listing with a phone number, if anything. For example, a search in Bing for ‘kelowna computer store’ returns one (1!) local computer store listing – the rest are all directories and ads. Google fares slightly better, with local listings and a map, but then it’s mostly directories. And if you do click on a local listing, you don’t get much reward. One local store’s link actually clicks through to a page that says “there are no items to display”. Brilliant marketing.

4. It’s difficult for search to find a company if their web presence is outdated, non-existent, or brand new. This unsophisticated approach to search makes for a very frustrating search experience for Canadians, so just finding a company’s web site can take several search attempts.

Comments on Marketing Jive - Discussions About Online Marketing & Organic Search: Canadians Searching Habits: Oh Canada: How Do Th...

Interesting statistics, Jody. It makes me wonder a...