New Google SERP Study Says FAQs Get Most Clicks

An article on Search Engine Journal reports that a new study just looked at 4.5 million search queries on Google and analyzed click-through rates to find out what content was most popular and effective for website owners. It found that rich results got clicked on 58% of the time - and that was compared to just 41% for non-rich results, which is perhaps no surprise given bots aren't the only entities looked for cold hard facts when accessing SERPs. It seems humans too like rich results, but which form of rich content performs the best?



That's not to say we didn't learn anything new from the study. The fact that internet users are looking for information might not be a revelation, but the fact CTR depends so much on the type of content might be of interest to website owners. In fact, for some formats, CTR results can get as high as 87% - which is well worth knowing - but what exactly gets Google users clicking through? The study also looked at branded and non-branded content, and also AMP versus FAQ material. Search Engine Journal breaks down the results, so let's take a look at what did the best:

The Full Breakdown

• The average CTR of all rich and standard results on page one is 49.5%.
• So, roughly half of all searches lead to a click on an organic result.
• The remaining 50.5% is comprised of no-click searches, clicks on paid ads, and voice searches.
• Rich results have an average CTR of 58%, and non-rich results get an average of 41%.
• Rich results with branded keyboards tend to do slightly better with a 60% CTR.
• AMP is simultaneously responsible for both the highest and lowest CTR included in the study.
• Non-rich AMP results generate the most significant number of clicks per 100 searches, with a 92% CTR.
• AMP articles have the lowest CTR of only 15%.

FAQ rich results, including branded and non-branded keywords, have an average CTR of 87%, which was the highest of any rich result studied. With branded results removed from the figures, the CTR for FAQ content reaches 91%. Video content also performed well, with brand keywords getting 65% and non-branded achieving 50%.