Search Results are 3rd Most Trusted Online Information Source
A survey from Forrester shows that search results are the 3rd most trusted online information source, behind only email from friends and consumer reviews.
The findings are significant because they show that although people might not trust a corporate blog or news article in the mainstream media, they trust it a lot more if they found it at the top of Googles search results.
So if you are looking to gain trust in your brand the best way to do it is to start an SEO campaign and add consumer reviews to your product pages.
Wikipedia does give a bit of a paradox to the results. Only 33% of people trust the site and yet it’s at the top of probably 90% of search results. Do people trust Wikipedia articles more if they find them via Google?
Patrick Altoft is Director of Search at Branded3, a Leeds SEO & Digital Agency specialising in SEO, Web Design, Development & Social Media.
Comments
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Wiki is a paradox. I have clients that tell me never to cite it in my articles and others who provide Wiki links as part of the brief when setting up a commission. Some sections, such as the chemistry section are pretty much 99%, the more political and alt culture areas are not. It can generally only be trusted if you already “know” the facts you’re reading there.
And then there’s the lack of trust in corporate blogs, which I’ve discussed here:
http://agitationist.com/corporate-blogs-arent-trusted-forrester-research
findings are significant because they show that although people might not trust a corporate blog or news in Search Engine Optimization Services.
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