• by Laurie Sullivan , Staff Writer @lauriesullivan, May 20, 2015

Since product support influences sales, OwnerIQ may have some data that search marketers should see. The company's site, ManualsOnline, maintains manuals for 650,000 products from hundreds of top brands. Consumers who are looking for more information about a product, but can't find that darn manual, can go there. The data provides insight into what consumers search for online.

The company also white labels the service, enabling more than 50 online retailers to easily add details from manuals to their product pages. Like so many other companies, it recently revamped its mobile site to support consumers looking for manual information in the stores and on the go.

About 44% of individuals arrive on OwnerIQ's site from a mobile device, primarily a smartphone. Chris Parker, OwnerIQ's director of support solutions, believes that will jump to more than half by the end of the year. During the past three years, mobile site visits rose 300%. Some 90% of the site's traffic comes from organic search, and Google sends the majority.

Parker said the seasons determine the searches for specific product types. About 4 million consumers visit the site monthly, giving the company insight into seasonal trends based on consumer needs for product support. The site gets about 48 million unique visitors and 300 million page views each month.

Searches for lawn and garden supplies rise 116% in the spring; trimmer page views, 580%; tiller tools, 390%; and pressure water, 308%. Many of the searches are for brands like John Deere, Murray and Craftsman. The summer months see a rise in household appliance. Air conditioner page views typically rise 107%; conference phones, 33%; outboard motors, 33%; and thermostats, 20%.

The fall brings more searches for roaster ovens. In fact page views typically rise 633%; furnace, 320%; and coffee maker, 55% to brew cups of pumpkin spice and apple cider.

"During this past Super Bowl, we dug into our stats and found deep fryers went through the roof." Parker said. "Flat screen TV, and other Super Bowl-related items."

During Memorial Day, consumers search for manuals for barbecues. Daylight savings is another popular time for searches on manuals for alarm clocks, he said.