The Truth about Being #1 on SERPS

I know its sorta the wet dream of many members of this forum to be ranked #1 on the SERPS for a high ranking and heavily competitive search term, but there's a lot more at risk to being number when then meets the eye.

Firstly, being number one is seen as a boon because it means you're one of the first results to be listed and seen. While being #1 you may appear first on the search listings, it doesn't mean you're the first result to be seen by the user. I've been fortunate enough to be able to look over some of the heatmaps for some search engine pages (not google or yahoo's of course, but much smaller search sites which can in some manner be generalized for Google). The results that appear 2nd and 3rd actually appear to have the highest CTRs, the most advantageous is to have a result that is 2nd, and has a supplementary result which is listed as the 3rd item on the list. Being number one definitely yields traffic, but I wager its not as good as being number #2.

The next thing that jumps out at me only affects those who are using CMS or massively distributed and pre-built systems like Joomla, PHBB, IPB and VB. If you're not among those who constantly update their script software and you're not too knowledgeable on security - know that having your site listed as #1 - whether that means having great pagerank or just being listed #1 through keyword optimization could land you in some sticky trouble in the future. Basically as new exploits and errors become apparent in these popular scripts, there are many scriptkiddies who are eager to exploit your site for whatever reason and having a site that uses a faulty version of one of these scripts could cause you to become an easy target for one of these attempts (after all your pages are all optimized and indexed and contain those "powered by x" keyword). Essentially you need to be careful since if you're already not too good with keeping ahead or with the technological curve, you're more inclined to be a victim of some of these exploits.

 

It's true, being #1 has its ups and downs.. but so does being #2, #3, and so on.

 

Yes I agree with slincon, CTR for 2nd and 3rd spots is normally higher than for #1.

 

Hmm you are saying its not good to be number one because you supposebly seen some heatmaps with a higher click through rate at second result?

I'm pretty sure #1 results get the most traffic and need to see some credible evidenc ethat states otherwise.

I see no reason why a #1 site would be targetted except because of jealousy. By that rationale you should never make your site popular.

 

I definitely agree with your last point, but all the data I've seen has me convinced that the number 2 spot is just as good as the number 1 spot.

 

When searching i've always clicked on the 2nd from the top, its a habit now more than anything

 

Decent point re: #1 vs 2/3, but since its not possible to control---this is just academic. If its competitive...you need to constantly work on it without really being able to quantify what you are doing.

 

the relative titles of the sites in position 1, 2 and 3 do also play a role in the CTR/traffic for the sites

 

Yes, being number 1 sucks, Ill take all that burden off your hands give me your sites

Joke apart what you have said is very true, the more popular you become the more of a target you become too, but that has always been true.

 

I would say it depends on the description of the page. If its well described and matches the need of the searcher, he/she will click on it

 

"see no reason why a #1 site would be targetted except because of jealousy. By that rationale you should never make your site popular."

I never said not to rank for #1, by all means that should be your goal. But from what I've seen and experienced #2 appears to yield better results in terms of click-through traffic. For some reason the #1 SERP result is causing blindness amongst search users, I'm not certain why - I can only speculate. If you wish to ignore this that's fine, I'm not endorsing people to drop their page from results, I'm merely stating a trend in traffic - whether you wish to troll about it or actually contribute to the discussion is your own choice.

 

ell somebody give me for al of my keywords number 1 and let me worry of being number one poor me

 

sounds a bit like you are trying to justify why you aren't number one......If I can't have it then its no good....

 

dude, #1 is like almost twice as good as being #2

 

i m agree with u Slincon. Really a good point, and its the fact.

 

Yea i agree,
I have face the same problems lots of time.when my site was #1 i got less traffic than #2 or #3 but not only ranking but also description have some effect.some times u got more traffic on #11 than #8 or #9 ranking.this is game of mind.

 

I agree #2 is best, but once you are #1 you cant really go back

 

let me clarify something here, I rank #1 for several competitive terms so I really don't have the problem of trying to rationalize being second - appearing on the first page is already an accomplishment on its own, so I really don't see how anyone could have sour grapes about not being #1.

The people who are arguing about these trivial things clearly are missing the bigger picture.

 

Show me the data. #2 as good as #1, or #2 and #3 being better than #1 flies in the face of all the studies I've seen.

 

I agree, sometimes 2nd and 3rd have high ctr...

I think its because the 2nd and 3rd place are in the center of the screen (just a prediction )