• by Jack Loechner , Staff Writer @mp_research, February 9, 2003

Make Your Site Memorable Enough to be a Bookmark

According to WebSideStory's StatMarket division in a recent release, the majority of Internet sites worldwide are reached through direct navigation - typing a URL in their browser address bar or using a bookmark - rather than through search engines and Web links. As of February 3, 2003, over 64 percent of Internet users arrived at sites by direct navigation, compared to about 53 percent only a year ago. Web links are anything that links from one site to another, including text links and ad banners.

Geoff Johnston, vice president of product marketing for StatMarket, says “The days of Web users randomly 'surfing' to sites is ending. Now, more than ever, people know exactly where they want to go on the Web. This does not mean search sites or other Web links are now less important, because users still have to initially find a site before they can bookmark it. However, having a site worth returning to is becoming increasingly important to businesses."

Change in Global Internet Addressing

	2/03/03	2/03/02	2/03/01
Direct Navigation	64.43%	53.19%	48.14%
Web Links/Search Engines	35.55%	46.79%	51.85%

You can find out more here.