According to a new study by nRelate, conducted by Harris Interactive, Behavior Shift: Getting Content in Front of Consumers study, 76% of consumers click on related links at the bottom of articles for more information. Next to search results, these related links are consumers’ preferred method of discovering information online, even trumping videos, articles and images recommended by friends on social networks.
Neil Mody, CEO of nRelate, says “...no single search engine or website is the sole gateway to content discovery... it’s a fragmented, highly contextual, often serendipitous process... yet consumers spend more than seven hours a week... looking for it... viewing four articles and three videos per session... “
The study found that consumers are gravitating toward an exploratory, contextual information discovery process
According to the study, a number of factors influence a consumer’s decision to click.
The likelihood of a reader clicking through to related or suggested content differs based on the subject matter:
Quality is key, and consumers indicate quality content has the following attributes:
76% of respondents indicate they do not get most of their content recommendations from friends on social networks. While researching, 48% of users are most likely to click on search results followed by:
When it comes to purchase decisions, consumers say they trust:
more than they do content posted by a friend on a social network (10%)
Mody concludes that... the results of the study prove consumers are hungry for content that is not only relevant and timely, but trusted and easily discoverable...“
For more information about nRelate, please visit here.