Are you a Wilfer
Come on, confess, are you a wilfer?!Well you’re not alone, according to a survey of more than 2,400 adults conducted by YouGov and sponsored by moneysupermarket.com. Wilfing (or “What was I looking for?”) on the internet takes up a huge amount of our time. The YouGov researchers found that 7 out of 10 of the UK’s 33.7m internet users admit to wilfing. And that’s both at work and at home. While 1 in 4 users spent nearly a third of their time on the internet wilfing! But hopefully not just while at work!
Interestingly, it’s an age thing; with the over 55s 3 x less likely to wilf than the under 25s. And I‘m afraid it’s also a gender thing too guys! Yep, you’re more likely to wilf than us girls! Of course you might call it research, but we know it’s really wilfing! But seriously, the internet is packed so full of information and there’s so much choice out there, it’s no wonder we find it so distracting.
Well of course wilfing is great news for internet marketing! (Although not so great if you find yourself wilfing too much!) It’s estimated that UK web users spend an average of two days a month wilfing. So what better way to catch their attention than with internet advertising? It shows that affiliate marketing works, because surfing the net and clicking on what we find interesting is the way we browse the web – and 7 out of 10 of us can’t be wrong! The researchers at YouGov found that the kinds of website most likely to cause us to wilf are shopping, news and travel sites. So more good news for affiliates! Not only are we wilfing but we’re also in the mood to buy and we’re loving those online ads!
Now if you’re one of those 1 in 4 users that’s spending all their time wilfing and you want to break the habit, how do you get yourself to stop? Use your will power! No seriously, try keeping your searches focused and specific to what you’re looking for, plus setting yourself a time limit is a great idea – even if it means you have to put an egg timer next to you!
But instead of thinking of wilfing as just aimless surfing, maybe it’s really just the way our minds process information. We see something interesting, and follow it up and investigate. So perhaps it’s just an organic process, a way of gathering information and satisfying our curiosity. After all, if you’re in a shop and see something you like, you go over and have a look. Which is what we do on the net, it’s just that there’s so much more choice on the internet than you’d ever find on the high street and that’s exactly why so many of us are out there wilfing!
And long may we do so!
Regards Catherine Dunn
Senior Affiliate Manager
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