If you're ranked #1 in Google, how much actual traffic can you expect?

[Nick Brighton]

I know that it depends on the search volume for your specific keyword, but what I'd like to know is if there are any studies into how much "share" of the search traffic you'll get if you're #1 in Google's organic listings, where there are a full page of PPC ads for that Keyword too?

Anybody know?

I guess this would be crucial info to judge whether a particular keyword is really worth ranking for (after all, search volumes from keyword tools don't mean you'll actually GET that amount of traffic as we know).

If any one can advise, it would be really helpful.

Thanks guys!

Nick

[jazbo]

Share is around 40% of total clickthroughs for position 1 on Google. There was a lot of AOL info leaked a couple of years ago which showed a pretty standard clickthrough rate for any search. I had to research it for my ebook, and basically unless you are in the top 5 positions you are toast.

[Seekness]

Originally Posted by Nick Brighton

I know that it depends on the search volume for your specific keyword, but what I'd like to know is if there are any studies into how much "share" of the search traffic you'll get if you're #1 in Google's organic listings, where there are a full page of PPC ads for that Keyword too?

Anybody know?

I guess this would be crucial info to judge whether a particular keyword is really worth ranking for (after all, search volumes from keyword tools don't mean you'll actually GET that amount of traffic as we know).

If any one can advise, it would be really helpful.

Thanks guys!

Nick

The best study I saw was one done by Cornell University, which had it at 56%. They found that the #1 spot gets about 4 times the traffic that the #2 spot does. Pretty crazy if you think about it, especially when you consider how much that extra traffic might be worth to you.

It's only one study and it's about three years old, so take it with a grain of salt.

http://www.seoresearcher.com/distrib...g-analysis.htm

[FBisMoney]

That is ridiculous the difference between one and two. Interesting stuff.

[meldave]

That is pretty wild about the 7th listing being pretty well ignored being that is just below the fold. Just shows you again you need to be in the first three spots.

David

[dburk]

Hi Nick,

Based on the data leaked from AOL, the top position gets approximately 23% CTR based on search volume. That is an average number and it varies wildly depending on the keyword. While the average may be 23%, your chosen keyword could be much higher or lower.

There are other factors:

• Apeal of your page title
• The Appeal of your text snippet
• Number of sponsored listings
• How many sponsored listings appear above the organic listings
• How appealing the sponsored listings appear

It's difficult to predict how any individual keyword will perform because there are so many variables that need to be considered. You should expect that many keywords will deviate a great deal from the average and don't rely on a single, or small number of keywords for your traffic.

[carlos123]

Yeah...I hardly ever click on just the first link. I always scan down about 20 or 30 search results, click on those that interest me to show up in tabs while I keep looking down the list, and then go look at each tab in turn.

1st or 7th or even 20th don't matter to me at all from the standpoint of being a searcher.

Most of what Google serves up for the things I search for are pretty poor. Google is really not a great search engine. I mean it's the best but it's not great compared to what I want.

Of course most people don't search like I do

Regarding the percentage of traffic that comes to first place...I still consider myself a newbie at this but I would say just pick a percentage that seems reasonable and use it in your determinations of whether the traffic coming to a keyword is reasonable.

I have a formula that I believe uses %50 of the LSV or MSV (whichever is greater) for a given keyword phrase (among other variables). That gives me a rough (albeit very rough idea) of whether a keyword phrase is worth taking a closer look at.

It's a whole lot better than picking keywords out of a hat and complete guessing LOL.

Such a formula can give us a relative measure of whether one keyword is likely to return more than another. If one keyword phrase shows as returning $10 a month through such a formula vs another that shows as returning $300 through the same formula used on the same type of input variables...well...I focus on the latter and not the former.

Carlos

[7_8_shortcuts]

Yes, the guys at Stompernet also reported some kind of similar differences between the nr 1 and 2 spots in Google in one of their videos.

However

At the same time

some experts also think there might be a slight difference in the buy-intent of the person, depending on which link they click. Clicks on the nr 1 result might convert differently than clicks from other positions.

That said, the huge difference in CTR in the first spot will surely outweigh the buy-intent issue... I think...