Nearly two-thirds of US online healthcare consumers click on search results because the results are relevant, according to JupiterResearch's
"US Online Health Consumer Survey, 2007: Understanding Search Behavior"
report. By contrast, only 16% of healthcare consumers clicked on search
results based on the trustworthiness of the source or author.
Only 19% of online health users used favorite Web sites in
their searches. The majority usually researched through search engines,
without a specific destination in mind.
Monique Levy of Jupiter said, "Publishers targeting the online
health audience have to focus on search engine marketing to build and
maintain traffic — only the well-established players like WebMD and the
portal channels can rely on loyalty to some degree.
"Also, marketers needn't worry about trust," Ms. Levy added.
"There is little evidence that trust issues are a barrier to online
health-related activity or engagement as only 3% of online health users
believe most health information found on the Internet is untrustworthy."
