So...where's the volume?

[Cygnus]

A phrase I've been getting link exchanges for over the last few months has finally cracked the top 10 in MSN, but traffic is...where?

According to Overture, there are 49,360 searches for this phrase a day -- I know that Overture is lumping together two equally weighted terms and it accounts for Yahoo as well, which I'm not ranking for, so dividing by 4 "should" give me something close to the average daily searches...12,340. Previous phrases in different engines for a variety of sites have shown that my #8 position should be about 2.5% of this daily search traffic (provided the estimate is correct), leaving 308 clickthroughs. So, imagine my astonishment when that specific page is only getting a few clickthroughs a day.

For those that are ranking well in the new MSN, is your traffic actually less than what you had in the old, Inktomi-driven version? I'm trying to figure out why even high ranking sites on competitive terms are seeing the equivalent of page 3 in Google.

Cygnus

[jocelyn]

It's like that, I get nice positions on MSN but not the trafic expected from them. We can see that most are still using G for their searches just because of that. So I still look and work on Google because of this... too bad MSN don't get as many searches as google... would be very cool to optimize for them instead.

[Mike Bell]

Did you notice no difference at all?

[Thermit]

Is this the thread that MSN search guys have been expecting and dreading?

Volume is low, but there.

I've had a ranking for a very popular 5 letter word on first page of MSN for a while and although it does bring in lots of new people each day, it isn't the mongo slam it would be on Google. Thru some experience with AdWords, I'd guess that the same ranking on G would have brought in at least 100x more visitors... But in no shape or form am I complaining! :} :} :}

[dazzlindonna]

Ok, I can give hard numbers for my topic. I have first hand knowledge of the numbers of users that Google generates for my 3-word kwd phrase for a number 1 spot in Google. Over the last year, it averages 3,000 per day. This is not my site, but I have access to the log files (long story, and legitimate, nothing underhanded about it).

My site just reached #2 in MSN for that same phrase. It is bringing in 50 users per day.

Of course, I'd much rather see it bringing in something closer to the Google numbers. Still, I'm going on the assumption that over the next 6 months, with a solid MSN advertising campaign, that those numbers will increase significantly. 1,000 per day would make me happy, and that's what I'm hoping MSN will eventually provide. 3,000 per day would be retirement-worthy.

So, MSN currently doesn't generate the traffic it should, but give those guys some time to build up their brand. If it's still the same in 6 months, then maybe the hope will diminish. Until then, I hope and hope and hope.

[summy]

Yes i would say the new msn search was only introduced early this year. Peaple need time to shift from their preferred search engine to another. I personally tried google for several months before deciding to make it my primary search engine ( that was years ago).
The second thing to note is that google shows a certain website for different occurences of the same keyword: i.e blue widgets, widgets blue, new blue widgets, etc...
I still don't know how msn search behaves to this. This will surely affect how many times your website appears in search results for the keyword "blue widgets", which will directly affect the traffic you get from msn

[Cygnus]

Same here DD. What really threw me through the loop as I'm checking logs for a client was a #11 ranking in Yahoo for a site getting more traffic than a #2 in MSN...wow.

On one hand I'm glad it isn't just me; on the other...damn. Volume will be going up with the advertising, granted, but I'm a bit surprised that it isn't a lot higher than it currently is. I'll just have to keep trumpeting my "try MSN" horn to my clients, their families, neighbors, pets, etc.

Cygnus

[jc2004]

hey Cygnus,
i noticed you are in the top 3 for auto insurance on MSN. Is that ranking turning into any real traffic and conversions for you? I ask because I have a decent keyword ranking in the auto insurance area as well and it hasn't really increased my traffic besides more than 5 or 10 visitors a day.

[dazzlindonna]

An update for me - I am now receiving close to 200 visits per day via MSN. Most of those are from 2 main terms, with a smattering from secondary terms. For my main term, I fluctuate between positions 2-4 on a daily basis. For the other main term, I fluctuate between positions 7-9, yet it gets slightly more clicks than the first one does. So in one month (approx.), I've gone from 50 per day to nearly 200 per day. Hope the trend continues. In 6 months, I would be rockin!

[wyrickj]

So dazzlindonna you think MSN has been gaining on Google or just as it was before advertising started.

[dazzlindonna]

I think its gaining, but that's based on my own very limited stats. Ok, let's put it this way...for ME it is gaining. Significantly, in fact. If it continues, Google will be shocked at the results 6 months from now. Only time will tell...

[Cygnus]

[QUOTE=jc2004]hey Cygnus,
i noticed you are in the top 3 for auto insurance on MSN. Is that ranking turning into any real traffic and conversions for you? I ask because I have a decent keyword ranking in the auto insurance area as well and it hasn't really increased my traffic besides more than 5 or 10 visitors a day.[/QUOTE]

I get some traffic -- it is the equivalent to the 3rd page on Google...so not too much.

Don't despair though, as the traffic will slowly increase as the MSN Search advertising continues.

Cygnus

[madmonk]

I dont get the traffic from msn too. although on page 1 of words that are searched 50000 per month. but its sitll the same thing. got the ranking but no traffic..
I was just gonna ask this question too.

could it be a bad search results by overture suggest tool?
cuz i use that too and it doesnt seem to tell the truth.

[Cygnus]

Keep in mind that Overture shows results to both Yahoo and MSN, and MSN is dwarved in that share of the results shown. Couple that with Overture's tendancy to combine like phrases and singular/plural phrases and you'll see that the figures aren't quite so high.

But yes, MSN traffic is light compared to Y! and G, mainly because MSN has a very small market share compared to the two of them. If you can hold on to your rankings for the next few years, you'll be very happy, because MSN's share will likely only be increasing...at some other engine's detriment.

Cygnus

[madmonk]

yeah I thought of that. traffic is still too light supposing traffic is from msn only.
msn search seems to be getting popular tho.
do you know when exactly msn PPC is coming out? I gotto try it out on its first day of launch!!

[jocelyn]

Saw a french advertisement on TV for MSN search yesturday, just a 15 seconds one but still... maybe they are starting to work on that volume problem... lol

[Web Gazelle]

I have seen an add on TV a few time now for the new MSN search. "More powerful, more precise.." they claim.

[jocelyn]

I would have thrown "... and we show accurate Backlinks too..." in the TV ad... LOL !!

[Web Gazelle]

[QUOTE=jocelyn]I would have thrown "... and we show accurate Backlinks too..." in the TV ad... LOL !![/QUOTE]
That could be part of the precise feature. They could say "...more precise even on backlink count. Unlike Google's crap."

[madmonk]

time to look to yahoo.... heheh.

[2much]

They're also advertising in Google Adwords. I saw an ad yesterday on a SEO blog to "visit the new MSN search".

The thing with MSN is that the traffic converts much more than Google's. I have a site ranking well in MSN, and the conversions are as high as 50%.

Also, give Bill time to get his head around this...and MSN will gain market share, no doubt.

[Cygnus]

My MSN traffic doesn't convert nearly as well as Google did, mainly because traffic from MSN is delivered to the category pages, versus directly to the product page in Google...MSN will get there eventually.