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Search engine click through rates by position

I saw this today and thought that it was fairly interesting. Based off of the AOL search results that got leaked a month or two ago, someone went through and determined the click through rates based on position in the search results, 1 through 10. I thought it was interesting enough to share, guess being #1 really does matter...

Total Searches: 9,038,794
Total Clicks: 4,926,623

Position #1: 2,075,765 = 23% click through
Position #2: 586,100    = 6.5% click through
Position #3: 418,643    = 4.6% click through
Position #4: 298,532    = 3.3% click through
Position #5: 242,169    = 2.7% click through
Position #6: 199,541    = 2.2% click through
Position #7: 168,080    = 1.8% click through
Position #8: 148,489    = 1.6% click through
Position #9: 140,356    = 1.5% click through
Position #10: 147,551 = 1.6% click through

I wish there was data for second page positions. I would guess that the top couple spots on the second page generate more traffic than the last couple spots on the first page, though I maybe wrong...

Posted by Matt Heaton on 10/02/2006 06:05 PM

Comments (23)

seo, google, marketing

23 Comments on Search engine click through rates by position

OCT

2006

I would be interested to see how 'Sponsored Links' factor into this. And looking at Total Searches and Total Clicks, does this mean that about 44% of the people who did searches didn't click on any of the results?

Very insightful. I am ranked #1 in several categories but when I check my hits for length of time and where they roam I find that mls is the top contender..my questions is this: do I leave it alone and allow the buyer to come to me or do I request a sign in to access ? My opinion is that they need space to look and I;d rather look oin my site and stay a while hoping to capture them from other topics on my site than to make them sign in and leave, other days i wonder if I should be asking for something!

How does everyonelse feel >?? and why ?

I am number 2 in Florida for Orange county and Orlando Matt,...I have seen NO traffic from it yet....

Terri has prob eaten it all up, hmm?

Very interesting and true stats. You would hope that #1 position be the best when compared to the others. Do we ever say that we want to be #2 or do we mostly say that we want to be #1?

ALEX, what searches are you number 2? I would like to look at this closely in order to be able to follow you and understand and learn something new today.

That's such a huge disparity between 1st and 2nd. Though #1 organic is usually the 3rd or 4th entry on the page. Like John mentioned, it would be helpful to have the sponsored links factored in.

I believe these data for for the organic spots on the page. For this set it look like number 1 can expect 3.5 timesthe visitor tha #2 get - A BIG incentive if that translates to 3.5 the revenue a site brings in. - Happy Trails to All Bill Thomas, MontanaLandSale.com, http://www.montanalandsale.com/Serving Land buyers in Montana

Keep in mind you have a lot of heavy hitters in position one. Think of the number of hits Amazon.com gets. You have to remember when you are searching a brand name that site generally comes up. Toyota, Sears, Gap, and so on. These figures are most likely not for real estate sites only. Am I ringt on this point.

OCT

2006

Yup, this is a bunch of generic data not real estate specific. You do make a good point that for real estate terms that aren't as brand specific the click through rates farther down the page are better because the consumer has less chance of finding what he's looking for in position #1.

It's interesting how people have different ways of selecting which search results they'll click through to. While I'd be interested in finding out how the sponsored links factor into this, I rarely click on sponsored links myself. In fact, most of the time I don't even pay much attention to them as I'd rather find ones among the organic search results.

I never click sponsors either. I know Realtors in my area are there sometimes, does that truly take away my prospect if I am #1, I dont think so.

I also believe the "bigger isnt always better" idea that sometimes those paying to be #1 do not necessarily have what it takes to be #1

I have worked very hard on my site and really dont know squat about all the tag stuff..I think personally I got ranked because it was authentic and not fluffed or generic content.

I'm with Leanne on this one. I almost never click on the sponsored links. I will say that this will make me think about how I search the next time I'm looking for something.

Thank you for sharing.

Yeah I think sponsored links even if located at the top have a much lower click through rate. I know at least I have subconciously trained myself not to click on them, because they're much more likely to be trying to sell me something right away than provide useful information.

Yep, and that is the way it works. Look at the sponsered sites and see what is up there, you will be suprised. It has been over a year since I did any stats on this. I had another company that I tried it and it also failed. good luck on pushing up to # 1

OCT

2006

As a sales person, I am also trained NOT to click the "Sponsored Links" but there are a lot of people out there that do. So, yes, I also wonder how the "Sponsered links" thwart the statistics...

Good assumption about the higher spots on the second page getting more hits then the lower spots on the first page. Any info to prove this? I agree with you but wish we had some numbers to back us up. They may be a money maker and saver at the same time!

OCT

2006

Seo is great, but Search Marketing is the way to go. Organic now puts you 3 or 4 which by these charts is no good.

Jennifer, I guess I don't see it the same way you do. The click-through rates for 3 and 4 are still higher than the rate of return you can expect for most other types of marketing.

Position #3: 418,643 = 4.6% click through
Position #4: 298,532 = 3.3% click through

That's very interesting. I wonder why adwords never reveals this to its customers.

OCT

2006

These numbers are similar to those of serch engines. The higher you are ranked, the huge disparity in click through.

Actually, I purposely click on the sponsored links when I have the extra time to do so if they are name brand companies.

I do that as a way of protesting against the sponsored links. If the "big boys" are paying per clcik through then it cost just a little more to have that advantage.

OCT

2006

Ranking high with search engines is good, converting visitors to clients is better. I've ranked number 1 through 3 on page 1 for "Washington State Real Estate Law" with Google for a while. I get about a call every two weeks from a visitor/consumer who has a question. All callers say that they wished they had seen my website before they made their mistake. Nice compliment but it doesn't pay the bills.

OCT

2006

Thanks for sharing. I rank number 1 in a few categories, well at least one of my several websites.

OCT

2006

Very interesting. I think the search term will make a huge difference in the click through rate. When I took the top spot for my main term on google, traffic didn't increase all that much---which states to me that people are visiting the first couple of sites. -Charles

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Search engine click through rates by position

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