UK retailers selling electronics for consumers are not doing enough to satisfy informational searches, according to research released this week. The data also shows the importance of using video and YouTube to reach consumers searching for information.

About 31% of the searches are purchase driven and the remainder are looking for information, according to the Searchmetrics study, which analyzed Google’s UK search results for 1,000 keywords related to consumer electronics topics.

Some 49% of searches are from people looking for information, yet retail sites in the study are estimated to attract only 20% of their traffic from these informational searches. Not enough retail sites have the required information in their descriptions and marketing campaigns. 

Amazon is the top visible site for consumer electronics in the UK, but YouTube.com comes in second, suggesting a need for relevant video content that provides information on how and why to use a product.

Amazon appears in search results for product listing ads about 49% of the time, images about 17% of the time and AMP pages about 1% of the time.

Currys.co.uk takes the No. 3 spot, with argos.co.uk, and laptopdirect.co.uk rounding out the top five. Major brand names like dell.com and Samsung.com come in at no. 9 and No. 12, with hp.com at No. 17, with ebay.co.uk at 18. Giffgaff.com rounds out the top 20.

Nearly all of the search traffic to YouTube for consumer electronics, at 99.5%, shows consumers are looking for information. Google’s algorithm recognizes that consumers who look for information on products and for post-purchase help are often best served through video content, according to the Searchmetrics data.

For mobile phone-related searches, the research finds carphonewarehouse.com is the most visible on the first page of Google results, with nearly double the market share of second-placed buymobiles.net.

When asked how often search engine results page features appear for electronics keywords, the study rates AMP first with 94% for mobile.

Related questions comes in at No. 2 with 86% for desktop and 85% for mobile. Videos rank No. 3 with 40% for desktop and 73% for mobile. Product listing ads rank No. 4 with 68% desktop and 58% mobile.

AdWords at the bottom of the page follows with 33% on desktop and 61% on mobile. AdWords at the top of the page ranked No. 6 with 33% on desktop and 55% on mobile.