The State of Search: 2021 Edition

2020 was a year like no other, especially when it came to finding pertinent information in a timely manner. With an increased need for knowledge, websites, intranets and apps across many industries experienced a surge in search traffic. The following report is a gathering of Cludo customer search data and trends for the year of 2020. Let’s dive in!

Results Overview

Content search is highly utilized across all devices, industries and regions
Desktop search usage increased compared to previous years
The Media industry had great success with the highest annual search rate and CTR
Search result relevance will continue to play an important role in optimizing the user experience

Annual Internal Searches

Overall Internal Search Usage

2020 was a year of digital transformation, which lead to a boost in online traffic. In 2020, Cludo saw an increase of 13% in overall search traffic across all customers. The growth in on-platform search usage can be attributed to many factors, most notably the outbreak of COVID-19 and the uncertainty surrounding it.

Below we’ll discuss which industries saw the most growth in their search usage, which industries saw a decline in search usage and what may have contributed to these trends.

Highest Search Growth by Industry

In 2020, the five industries that saw that largest amount of growth in their internal searches were Media, Manufacturing, Government, Technology and Higher Education.

Astoundingly, the Media industry had a 55% increase in search traffic on their digital platforms. This increase makes sense due to the sheer amount of current events and breaking news in 2020. Visitors to news sites and local publications were seeking time-sensitive information and opted to search instead of navigating the website.
The Manufacturing industry saw a 48% increase in internal search traffic. With the increase in online shopping over the pandemic, manufacturers experienced high production demands. As a result of these demands, their website, app and even employee intranet traffic noticeably went up.
Government websites saw an increase in search traffic of 21% at both the local and federal level. Keeping citizens informed throughout the events of 2020 proved to be a challenge for many government entities, leading them to optimize their websites and search. See how Cludo customer, the Danish Health Authority, utilized search to keep citizens informed throughout the pandemic!
The Technology industry saw an increase of 15% to their search traffic. This was likely due to the increase in communication via online conferencing, as well as the need for overall digital optimization.
Higher Education platforms saw a similar rise in search queries, by 14%. With the shift to at-home learning, universities were pushed to improve the on-site and in-app search experiences in order to satisfy the needs of their students and faculty.

The growth in internal search usage for these industries is partially a result of unforeseen events, showing that the content on your digital platforms may not always be relevant. Paying attention to not only the seasonality of your content but search trends and analytics is crucial to forming an effective strategy and delivering a pleasant user experience.

As search usage continues to increase, organizations will need to ensure they have a well implemented and highly relevant search experience in place, whether it’s on their website, app, intranet or ecommerce shop.

Search Usage Decline by Industry

In 2020 the two industries that saw the largest decline in search traffic were Insurance, seeing nearly a 49% decrease in search queries, and Finance, with a 21% overall decrease in searches. These numbers could demonstrate one of three things:

1) that digital visitors aren’t using the search tool as intended,
2) your platform isn’t serving relevant results, encouraging them to leave instead of continuing their search, or
3) your overall traffic has declined. In 2020, it was likely a combination of factors that contributed to changes in these industries.

If you notice an overall decrease in searches, or a decrease in searches over a period, it’s time to evaluate your website and digital strategy. A few easy changes include making your search bar more prominent, identifying and filling gaps in content as well as optimizing your search through machine learning. If these changes don’t seem like a feasible option, it may be time to consider a comprehensive search partner like Cludo.

Click-through-rate by Industry

The search result click-through-rate (CTR) varied quite a bit by industry in 2020. Some industries saw CTRs that matched their annual search level, while others had a lower CTR per search even with high traffic levels. These numbers are worth giving attention to in order to gauge how well your search is performing.

In alignment with the annual search rate, the Media industry also saw an extremely high CTR at 78% of searches receiving a click! That means their content was highly relevant, timely and met user needs.
Even though they also saw an increase in annual search traffic, the Manufacturing industry only experienced an average CTR of 17%. When compared to the success rate of the Media industry CTR, this shows search results were not performing as well as they should be on many Manufacturing digital platforms. This may be an opportunity for Manufacturing platforms to evaluate their content and adjust their results manually.
Another high performing industry was Hospitality, with an average CTR of 43%. With most travel cancelled or postponed, and many bars and restaurants running at limited capacity, the Hospitality industry was under pressure to update websites and apps with accurate and up-to-date information on policies and procedures. With nearly half of all searches being clicked on, their efforts proved to be successful.
Two additional industries that felt the pressure of informing their digital visitors all throughout 2020 were Education and Government. Both industries had high CTRs: 36% for Education and 35% for Government. Read how Cludo customer, London Borough of Tower Hamlets, improved their CTR through search!

These click-through-rates show how important your search relevance is. If the content visitors seek isn’t at the top of results but buried down the page (or even on a second or third page), they may become discouraged and want to abandon your content.

Be sure to pay attention to your search CTR in order to identify any ineffective searches within your results. From there, it may be time to write new content, add new documents, or utilize a tool like Page Rankings to push those results to the top of the page.

Device Usage

Usage of Search on Desktop was Up in 2020

The use of search tools on desktop devices proved more popular in 2020 than mobile devices and tablets at about 71% of search traffic. Mobile search traffic was about 26% of overall search traffic and tablets accounted for 4%. This rise in desktop usage could be attributed to an increase in people working from home and having easier access to desktop computers.

Device Search Usage by Industry

Education had one of the highest rates of desktop usage at 80%
Right behind Education, with 78% of searches being conducted on desktop computers was Insurance
Hospitality was one of the most evenly distributed between desktop and mobile, both devices with 45% of search volume. Hospitality also had one of the highest tablet search traffic rates at 10%
Government and Retail both had similar desktop to mobile ratios of about 2/3 desktop traffic and 1/3 mobile traffic

With the varying distribution of desktop and mobile traffic, it’s important to ensure that your search delivers no matter what type of device is used. Pay attention to device usage analytics, especially the search origin page. This data can help determine whether your website, app or web shop are missing crucial information.

Search Location

Search was Utilized Worldwide in 2020

As content discovery continues to grow in importance worldwide, search has become recognized by digital platform visitors as the most efficient way of finding what they are looking for, as opposed to using the main menu navigation.

Some of the highest search volume for Cludo customers occurred in the following countries:

Canada: 15% of search volume
Denmark: 30% of search volume
United Kingdom: 22% of search volume
United States: 13% of search volume

The Future of Search

Search is expanding to beyond just websites.

As search adoption continues to grow, it’s important that every facet of your search is optimized. Which means your app, ecommerce shop and organization’s internal search needs to be prepared to deliver across all platforms.

The future of search is about improved user experiences and accessibility. Enhancing the user experience is a sure-fire way to keep visitors happy and coming back to your site or app every time. One way to ensure users return is through a personalized search experience. By combining intelligent, AI-powered search and your search analytics, you have the power to tailor every search to every user. In addition to personalization, implementing functionality like voice search will expand the usability and accessibility of your search. Nearly seven out of ten people prefer to use voice search to conduct searches, whether that is to gather information or to purchase goods. By providing the option to use voice search, your overall search rate will grow and potentially your conversions too.

As we can see from the data above, search is a necessity and is here to stay. Make sure every part of your digital experience is optimized, beginning with exemplary search.

Study Methodology

Data was pulled from a sampling of Cludo clients for the period Jan 1, 2020 through Dec 31, 2020.
The study excluded any customers that were not on Cludo for the entire year (i.e. if a customer started in July 2020 they would be excluded).
Annual search data was calculated by comparing 2019 search data to 2020 search data.

About Cludo
Cludo is a powerful search and insights platform that helps your website and content teams save time and create more value. Unlike passive search, our unique platform enables you to custom rank and prioritize search results, automatically creating an intelligent guided search experience for website visitors.

This report is based on search data from a sampling of Cludo clients from Jan 1 - Dec 31, 2020