Search Marketing Benchmark Report 2015

Global Edition

Table of Contents

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Intro

Global Overview

Global Benchmark

Shopping

Gambling

Travel

10

Finance

12

Arts and Entertainment

14

Games

16

Adult

18

The Importance of Search and Direct Traffic

20

Smart Insights to Suit your Needs

20

Data Methodology

20

In order to get ahead in the digital world, its essential to know where your
web traffic is coming from. Understanding traffic sources is not only crucial for
identifying potential clients and leads it is also an integral part of cultivating
brand awareness and brand strength.
At SimilarWeb we track over 2 billion mobile and web actions each day,
empowering businesses to refine their marketing strategies and make better
business decisions. Our data-driven insights provide an intuitive understanding
of how the digital world works, and helps our clients gain an edge over the
competition.
This benchmark report delves deep into 7 of the largest online industries to
reveal how web users are getting to websites via Direct, paid and organic
Search, social media, and other channels. It also explores the top global
keywords sending traffic to each industry from both paid and organic search.
The data from this report is taken from January 2015, and covers a global set of
users from over 200 different countries. The desktop visits are the estimated
number of monthly visits for the month of January 2015 only. All data is based off
of real human web behavior.

3/20

Global Overview
Top Countries by Web Traffic

United States

25.05%

United Kingdom

5.51%

Russia

5.05%

Brazil

4.42%

France

3.94%

Germany

3.47%

India

3.39%

Canada

3.20%

Japan

2.64%

Turkey

2.53%

Italy

2.23%

Poland

2.11%

Spain

2.00%

Netherlands

1.91%

Australia

1.85%

Ukraine

1.43%

Mexico

1.31%

Taiwan

1.17%

Argentina

1.12%

Vietnam

1.04%

Source: Search Marketing Benchmark Report Summer Global Edition |

4/20

SimilarWeb 2015

Global Benchmark
Top Global Online Marketing Channels
43.38%
27.79%
21.13%

5.81%

0.36%

Direct

Mail

Referrals

Search

Source: Search Marketing Benchmark Report Summer Global Edition |

Social

1.54%

Display Ads

SimilarWeb 2015

Direct is leading global web traffic for January 2015. 43.38% of visits were direct
to websites, meaning these websites were well-branded and likely already
known to users. Search (27.9%) and referrals (21.13%) came in relatively close
to one another as the next biggest global traffic sources, and email had a very
small impact with just 0.36% directing global traffic.

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Shopping

Our data illustrates that Search is dominating the shopping industry in terms of
traffic with over 37% of global traffic being sent from this channel. Direct traffic
follows closely behind at 31.65%, indicating that brand strength for Shopping
websites is on the rise. Referrals comes in at third place with 22.78% of global
website traffic, while the three remaining channels (display ads, social, and email)
are lagging far behind, together comprising just a little over 8% of traffic

Top Shopping Online Marketing Channels

37.22%

31.65%
22.78%

0.50%

Direct

Mail

Referrals

Search

Source: Search Marketing Benchmark Report Summer Global Edition |

3.82%

4.03%

Social

Display Ads

SimilarWeb 2015

Breaking down traffic share from Search, its clear that organic traffic far
surpasses paid with 97.22% of total traffic share coming from free search.
Meanwhile paid ads from Search clicks comprise just 7.23% of traffic to the
shopping industry. This was the highest ratio of paid Search clicks from all of the
industries analyzed in this report

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Amazon tops the list for organic keywords, while competitor eBay is the leading
keyword for paid Search terms. Major shopping websites maintained a strong
presence on both the paid and organic keyword lists, illustrating that despite
the predominance of Search traffic as a traffic source for the shopping industry,
brand strength is still of vital importance.

Shopping Industry Paid vs. Organic Clicks

Paid search

7.23%

Organic search

92.77%

Source: Search Marketing Benchmark Report Summer Global Edition |

Paid Keywords
#

KEYWORDS

SimilarWeb 2015

Organic Keywords

DESKTOP VISITS

KEYWORDS

ebay

405,413,945

amazon

amazon

383,558,491

olx

99,114,429

olx

115,676,428

home depot

67,931,762

ikea

77,881,922

groupon

65,624,930

walmart

77,729,227

aliexpress

62,066,993

sahibinden

68,279,788

alibaba

60,065,782

allegro

64,435,521

flipkart

53,228,581

flipkart

60,851,553

best buy

51,453,656

gumtree

52,336,187

walmart

46,342,007

10

49,743,656

10

ikea

43,468,206

7/20

DESKTOP VISITS

487,689,614

Gambling

For the gambling industry, display ads are the most popular traffic source,
responsible for 29.6% of all global traffic. Direct follows very closely behind
at 29.13%, reinforcing the importance of brand strength for this industry.
Referrals take third place at 24.99%, and Search comes in as the fourth most
popular traffic source for the industry with just 14.30% of traffic coming from
this channel. This is most likely because Google prohibits gambling websites to
advertise on Adwords.

Top Gambling Online Marketing Channels

29.13%

29.64%

24.99%
14.30%
1.66%

0.28%

Direct

Mail

Referrals

Search

Source: Search Marketing Benchmark Report Summer Global Edition |

8/20

Social

Display Ads

SimilarWeb 2015

Organic Search also dominates heavily for the gambling industry, with over
98% of traffic coming from organic and just 1.45% of traffic stemming from
paid keywords.

Gambling Industry Paid vs. Organic Clicks

Paid search

1.45%

Organic search

98.55%

Source: Search Marketing Benchmark Report Summer Global Edition |

SimilarWeb 2015

The most popular keyword for both organic and paid clicks was the term
lotto. The rest of the terms for both traffic channels was heavily comprised
of branded keywords such as the names of national lotteries and well-known
online gambling sites

Paid Keywords

Organic Keywords
DESKTOP VISITS

DESKTOP VISITS

KEYWORDS

lotto

5,987,580

lotto

15,411,276

bet365

4,243,418

bet365

15,342,486

loto

2,379,567

fdj

6,463,402

national lottery

2,119,545

norsk tipping

4,553,130

pmu

1,938,159

jackpotjoy

4,056,873

powerball

1,929,261

euromillions

3,453,539

loteria nacional

1,927,645

staatsloterij

3,197,967

lottery

1,730,328

tattslotto

2,871,326

euromillions

1,677,298

danske spil

2,254,215

10

1,623,740

10

ladbrokes

2,157,986

KEYWORDS

9/20

Travel

SimilarWebs data analysis indicates that the Travel industry relies heavily on
search traffic, which comprises 46.74% of all clicks. Direct traffic fell way behind
at just a little over 26%, and referrals at 20.51%. The remaining traffic sources
(mail, social, and display ads) had much less of an impact in terms of directing
traffic to the travel industry, as all three placed below 3.2%.

Top Travel Online Marketing Channels

46.74%

26.35%
20.51%

0.43%

Direct

Mail

Referrals

2.80%

3.18%

Social

Display Ads

Search

Source: Search Marketing Benchmark Report Summer Global Edition |

SimilarWeb 2015

Since Search is still leading the way in terms of traffic, its probable that theres
heavy competition for search clicks by advertisers. Nearly 7% of this traffic is
paid, which is on the high side again reinforcing the fact that this industry is
highly competitive for Search traffic

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Our data shows that branded keywords are the most popular search terms for
the travel industry. While booking claimed first place for organic keywords, the
remaining top keywords on both lists were branded keywords. Ryanair took first
place for paid keywords, while popular travel websites tripadvisor and expedia
held second and third place respectively on the organic keywords list.

Travel Industry Paid vs. Organic Clicks

Paid search

6.97%

Organic search

93.03%

Source: Search Marketing Benchmark Report Summer Global Edition |

Paid Keywords
#

KEYWORDS

ryanair

SimilarWeb 2015

Organic Keywords

DESKTOP VISITS

KEYWORDS

54,535,304

booking

99,959,956

skyscanner

41,109,429

tripadvisor

91,266,874

tripadvisor

37,433,572

expedia

58,598,563

irctc

31,260,850

airbnb

53,646,735

expedia

27,916,022

trivago

30,089,476

easyjet

24,947,768

agoda

29,970,789

booking

23,130,453

easyjet

26,989,609

airbnb

20,021,588

despegar

26,285,230

trivago

19,348,606

lufthansa

22,127,369

10

kayak

15,183,967

10

skyscanner

18,561,905

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DESKTOP VISITS

Finance

For the Finance industry, users are clearly gravitating towards trusted brands
over search. The majority of all global traffic for the industry comes from direct,
which is leading at 45.61%. Referrals are the second most popular traffic source
at 25.78%, just barely inching ahead of search traffic (24.77%). Display ads,
social, and mail are each below 2%, at the tail-end of directing traffic share and
falling far behind the other channels.

Top Finance Online Marketing Channels

45.61%

25.78%

24.77%

1.70%

0.72%

Direct

Mail

Referrals

Search

Source: Search Marketing Benchmark Report Summer Global Edition |

Social

1.42%

Display Ads

SimilarWeb 2015

The finance industry is centered on trust, so its no surprise that in terms of

search, over 96% of traffic is organic with a very small percentage (3.32%)
attributed to paid clicks.

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Aside from mortgage calculator, all the top organic and paid search terms are
branded keywords. Paypal is leading for both organic and paid, indicating an
aggressive search strategy that is clearly working well.

Finance Industry Paid vs. Organic Clicks

Paid search

3.32%

Organic search

96.78%

Source: Search Marketing Benchmark Report Summer Global Edition |

Paid Keywords
#

KEYWORDS

SimilarWeb 2015

Organic Keywords

DESKTOP VISITS

KEYWORDS

paypal

47,657,521

turbotax

79,423,413

santander

12,741,858

paypal

33,713,126

la banque postale

12,284,813

capital one

26,335,332

hsbc

11,390,919

turbo tax

16,974,359

banesco

10,396,451

mortgage calculator

15,594,599

itau

10,215,852

credit karma

15,451,326

bank of america

9,839,625

garanti

15,324,559

wells fargo

9,721,466

h&r block

15,154,041

bradesco

9,103,830

western union

13,272,989

10

banco do brasil

8,683,090

10

hrblock

11,429,523

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DESKTOP VISITS

Arts and Entertainment

Search is the second most popular traffic source for the arts and entertainment
industry with 30.81% of the traffic share. Direct traffic is leading the way with
a little over 39% of the traffic share. In this industry social is doing better as a
traffic source than in many of the other industries analyzed, as videos and other
forms of online entertainment are often shared via social media.

Top Arts & Entertainment Online

Marketing Channels
39.07%
30.81%
19.74%
9.36%
0.86%

0.17%

Direct

Mail

Referrals

Search

Source: Search Marketing Benchmark Report Summer Global Edition |

Social

Display Ads

SimilarWeb 2015

Organic Search is responsible for over 99% of global search traffic for the
industry, with paid search comprising a mere 0.44% of all search traffic. This
illustrates that paid search is perhaps not a priority for arts & entertainment,
which often produces shareable content and therefore decreases the need for
paid traffic.

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Arts & Entertainment Industry Paid vs.

Organic Clicks
Paid search

0.44%

Organic search

99.56%

Source: Search Marketing Benchmark Report Summer Global Edition |

SimilarWeb 2015

Some variation of the Youtube brand dominates both paid and organic
keywords for this industry, indicating the brands strength. Netflix and youtube
are the most popular paid search terms, and the organic keywords list is heavily
saturated with other branded keywords as well

Paid Keywords
#

KEYWORDS

Organic Keywords

DESKTOP VISITS

KEYWORDS

youtube

3,397,917,424

hulu

239,982,318

you tube

209,532,131

pandora

211,113,042

153,687,773

shutterstock

202,167,505

kickass

136,460,862

vimeo

192,364,709

you

89,736,994

direct tv

170,550,110

imdb

85,546,543

redbox

161,371,760

dailymotion

84,298,418

spotify

160,831,958

netflix

82,702,769

youtube

138,728,675

youtube to mp3

72,825,239

shutterfly

113,799,092

10

youtube mp3

59,484,091

10

thomann

112,758,855

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DESKTOP VISITS

Games

Direct traffic surpassed search as a traffic source for the gaming industry, with
35.28% of global traffic from direct and 33.26% of traffic from search. Referrals
came in at third place as a traffic source, while display ads (4.79%) followed very
closely on the heels of social channels (4.85%) for traffic, indicating that this
industry relies more on visuals to draw traffic.

Top Games Online Marketing Channels

35.28%

33.26%
21.68%

0.14%

Direct

Mail

Referrals

Search

Source: Search Marketing Benchmark Report Summer Global Edition |

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4.85%

4.79%

Social

Display Ads

SimilarWeb 2015

Organic traffic is the clear winner with over 99% of all traffic for games coming
from free search, and just 0.66% from paid

Games Industry Paid vs. Organic Clicks

Paid search

0.66%

Organic search

99.34%

Source: Search Marketing Benchmark Report Summer Global Edition |

SimilarWeb 2015

The most popular paid keyword is friv, and the rest of the top 10 are branded
keywords and the term games which falls in at number 10. For organic
keywords, the top search terms are a mix of branded keywords and gaming sites.

Paid Keywords
#

KEYWORDS

Organic Keywords

DESKTOP VISITS

KEYWORDS

friv

131,709,123

origin

happy wheels

30,824,739

g2a

juegos friv

26,799,731

gamestop

46,684,499

minecraft

24,298,319

google chrome

39,054,461

kizi

21,166,727

animal jam

38,573,655

17,751,309

war thunder

31,105,750

miniclip

15,160,380

world of tanks

30,568,794

stardoll

13,439,786

games

28,242,083

twitch

13,347,771

game

21,062,038

10

games

12,878,415

10

pogo

19,397,195

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DESKTOP VISITS

114,486,358
67,129,287

Adult

Unique out of all the industries analyzed in this report, the adult industry
receives the majority of its traffic from referrals at 42.22%. This illustrates that
the adult entertainment industry relies heavily on referring links and ads from
other sites. Search is the second most popular traffic source at 26.27%, with
direct traffic following close behind at 25.21%.

Top Adult Online Marketing Channels

42.22%
26.27%

25.21%

0.09%

Direct

Mail

Referrals

Search

Source: Search Marketing Benchmark Report Summer Global Edition |

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2.85%

3.06%

Social

Display Ads

SimilarWeb 2015

As in the gambling industry, adult ads are prohibited in Adwords. The end result
is that the lions share of the traffic is organic 99.79% - while a mere 0.21% of
traffic to the adult industry is from paid search

Adult Industry Paid vs. Organic Clicks

Paid search

0.21%

Organic search

99.79%

Source: Search Marketing Benchmark Report Summer Global Edition |

SimilarWeb 2015

The most popular organic keywords are mostly branded search terms for adult
websites, although sex toys and sex shop are both non-branded keyword
that take second and third place, respectively. Amongst top paid keywords are
branded terms and also the highly competitive keywords porn and porno.

Paid Keywords
#

KEYWORDS

Organic Keywords

DESKTOP VISITS

KEYWORDS

xvideos

154,818,205

aff

94,977,344

xnxx

125,773,243

sex toys

60,248,958

pornhub

117,510,755

sex shop

43,231,808

porno

117,497,102

adultfriendfinder

33,847,676

porn

94,159,055

ashley madison

33,041,781

redtube

93,487,907

fleshlight

32,106,282

81,560,398

lovehoney

28,279,423

youporn

77,220,000

adam and eve

27,870,870

xxx

72,030,302

sexshop

27,292,258

10

xhamster

57,166,701

10

26,680,871

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DESKTOP VISITS

The Importance of Search and

Direct Traffic
Search channels are vital sources of traffic across all industries analyzed in this
report. Organic keywords are leading the way over paid ads, so SEO remains
a critical factor for businesses looking to increase their traffic and boost their
conversion rates in turn.
Top global search terms across all industries are dominated by major brand
names, illustrating that brand recognition is still a crucial factor for users when
getting to a website. To emphasize this point further, over 43% of all traffic
worldwide is direct, so building a strong brand is clearly the key to establishing a
strong presence online.

Smart Insights to Suit your Needs

benchmark report displays comprehensive data-driven insights for 7 of the top
leading industries online. Visit SimilarWeb.com to see the complete rankings
for over 20 different categories, as well as the traffic statistics for any website
worldwide. For more in-depth marketing insights and competitive analysis on
any website or mobile app, have a look at SimilarWebs advanced platform. This
subscription-only platform is ideal for those in the online marketing industry to
gain a competitive advantage with insights on the marketing strategies of their
biggest rivals

Data Methodology
The data in this report highlights the leading branded and non-branded
keywords sending traffic to websites in the 7 analyzed categories. This data is
based off of global desktop visits to websites in January 2015, and is filtered
from SimilarWebs measurement of 1.5 trillion desktop visits.

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