What's better? Rank.No. 1 or Rank No. 2,3 or 4 ?

So when you last searched for something on Google, which site on the results page did you click first?

I bet it is the Second,Third or the Fourth result.

Mind you this isn't the repeated search I'm talking about but the very first search and the very first click.

To illustrate you with a example - you searched for "Free i pod" and you don't know anything about free i pods, you are purely dependent on the results.

Out of 10 people i asked, they agreed that -

- They will ignore the "sponsored results" with the blue background, appearing overriding all the results - at the top.(One of the reason's being that they think it's a forced ad, and wouldnt really help them, in getting their query sorted.)

- They are more likely to click the results "one - below" the top ranked site.(It is associated with the "Sponsored/Forced Ad" on the top.)

- They are unlikely to click on the last result on the page.(Irrelevance of course!)

Now, this throws up an interesting question - Is it REALLY worth while to be top ranked, for a keyword, or is it better being "one-below" and "2nds and 3rds" among the top ranks?

Is all the "SEO Stuff" we've been doing to rank first only worth a brag?

I know that most of you wouldn't really appreciate this post or take it to believe but i would appreciate it if all the SEO's out there would give it a thought since - Ranking your site on positions 2-3-4, could bring you more traffic than ranking no.1 - talk about wise SEO's !

What do you think?

 

Number one is always the best spot to be in. People are banner blind, and will still pick the first organic result, unless they WANT to purchase something. In that case, there is a good chance that they will click on a banner.

If you are number one, you have first crack at showing your stuff. A well optimized site (both SEO-wise and visitor experience-wise) will retain that first click and hopefully convert it.

If you are number two, you hope that the person visiting number one doesn't convert there and will visit your site. And repeat all the way down the SERP's.

So, no matter how you spin it, number 2 is still the first loser.

 

Check out this AOL search data. I think this is a pretty good guide as to how other search engines work - http://www.voasi.com/2006/08/awesome-se-data-click-thru-rate-via.htm

 

Well Fox, that's an interesting one. My take:

No1 position is (or IMHO should be) what we all strive for - ultimatley. If you sell a product and are at number 2 with your closest competitor at number 1, would you run the risk of the visitor buying at 1 before even coming to your site?

I also think that the average joe in the street sees Google or other search engines as being akin to Which magazine and they think that by the SE choosing number 1 over 2 to head the search it is in some way an endorsement. After all it is a ranking system (all be it a ranking system about web sites) and as such company 1 is seen as better than company 2.

Where I do click 2 before 1 is if I can easily see that number 1 is a directory site or plainly a commercial site that has little relevance to the search but obviously a big budget - for instance, If I search for info on a holiday destination and one of the big holiday companies comes up before a good infomation site I will ignore site 1.

Just my 2c worth

 

No 1 is clicked on more, whatever people may say (or even think).

 

Yeah kh is right, no matter what the no. 1 spot is always usually the first point of entry after keying in search terms.

 

I believe it has more to do with what the visitor is searching for specifically, what site description shows up in the SERPs for that search. If your visitor is searching for "green eggs and ham", specifically a recipe for it but isn't quite that specific in their search, and Dr. Seuss book comes up 1 and you are 3 for the recipe, then yeah I think visitor would click on number 3 before number 1. Just depends on what the visitor is looking for and how google interprets the request.

 

Of course people will click on NO3 if that fits their needs best. But on average, no. 1 will fit their needs as well, so they will just click the top most link.

 

When I search for something I always glance at the descriptions of the top 2 or 3 results. Then I normally choose whichever description I like best. I rarely just blindly select the 1st result.

I wonder if many others do this.

 

No. 1 is the most visit site as some think it is the best being on the number 1 spot but then it really depends on the persons need and which best fit for them.

 

We target the no. 1 rank because number 1 rank is the most targeted page with most traffic.

 

for us, we always target to be the number one.. since when a person search for a keyword, they always look or click first the number one spot.

 

Well, if you had 5 sites and they ranked 1,2,3,4,5 on google for a specific term and this theory were able to be tested, I think you might see some variations, number 1 being that being number 1 doesn't always get the most click-throughs. For instance, if I were searching for History of Buddha and I knew anything at all about searching and the potential for spam sites as they are at the top of search engine listings, without knowing anything about your site, I still would have clicked on the site below yours just for the fact that it ends in .edu and I feel I would get more reliable information from that site. No offense to your site of course, as it is nicely layed out with excellent information. For a newbie searching under the same circumstances, yes I could see where they would click at will. Just don't always believe number 1 means number 1 for all searches. Sometimes being number 2, 3 or 4 may garner just as much traffic, if not more.

 

You should read and research this :

Eyetracking

 

Nice rack SFOD_D223. Since I have that out the way, I have to say sometimes it depends on the title and description of your site. People automatically read the description and choose between the first, second and third results

 

i think webmasters are different from normal internet users. webmasters check the description. but normal users click the first site.

 

I agree with you. No. 3 is usually the center of your browser, so you can see better #3 link.

But the statistics was interesting. I guess no matter what ppl may think or say, #1 is simply the best unless the title and description are totally irrelevant.

 

I click first the number 1 cause i think that is the most relevant site to my query.

 

<When I search for something I always glance at the descriptions of the top 2 or 3 results. Then I normally choose whichever description I like best. >

The answer to this is that it all depends on how web savvy the user is. I personally would never automatically click the top result unless its title and snippet made it look like the best solution. Having said that, anyone who is in the habit of using search engines will soon realise that this is the most productive method.

 

For organic search results #1 is the best place to be. Period.

But for PPC position it may be a different story. I've heard that in many cases the best ROI can be found at #2, or 3.

#1 for PPC gets more curiosity clicks, and they are often more expensive clicks (though Google does not always rank them by highest bid, CTR plays a roll in rankings).