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What's the CTR of #1 Ranking in Google?

by B Set
9 replies
  • SEO
    • |
What is the average CTR of being ranked #1 on Google's organic ranking? How much does this CTR decrease compared to the #2-#5 rankings?
#ctr #google #ranking #seo
  • Profile picture of the author gittar1122
    It's critical for websites to appear on Page 1 of Google, especially in one of the top three organic positions, as these spots receive 58.4 percent of all clicks from users, according to a new study from Optify.

    Websites ranked number one received an average click-through rate (CTR) of 36.4 percent; number two had a CTR of 12.5 percent; and number three had a CTR of 9.5 percent. Being number one in Google, according to Optify, is the equivalent of all the traffic going to the sites appearing in the second through fifth positions.

    Source:Top Google Result Gets 36.4% of Clicks [Study] - Search Engine Watch (#SEW)
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    • Profile picture of the author B Set
      Originally Posted by gittar1122 View Post

      It's critical for websites to appear on Page 1 of Google, especially in one of the top three organic positions, as these spots receive 58.4 percent of all clicks from users, according to a new study from Optify.

      Websites ranked number one received an average click-through rate (CTR) of 36.4 percent; number two had a CTR of 12.5 percent; and number three had a CTR of 9.5 percent. Being number one in Google, according to Optify, is the equivalent of all the traffic going to the sites appearing in the second through fifth positions.

      Source:Top Google Result Gets 36.4% of Clicks [Study] - Search Engine Watch (#SEW)

      Thanks for this info! Do you know the answer to this though,,,,are the percentages they listed of all searches or of organic clicks? Meaning, do you think they remove SEM from this report.

      Lets say keyword gets 130 searches per month, 30 users click on paid searches/SEM. That leaves another 100 users to click on organic listings. Is it 36.4% of the 130 searches click on #1 or 36.4% of the 100 searches click on #1?
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      • Profile picture of the author packerfan
        Originally Posted by B Set View Post

        Thanks for this info! Do you know the answer to this though,,,,are the percentages they listed of all searches or of organic clicks? Meaning, do you think they remove SEM from this report.

        Lets say keyword gets 130 searches per month, 30 users click on paid searches/SEM. That leaves another 100 users to click on organic listings. Is it 36.4% of the 130 searches click on #1 or 36.4% of the 100 searches click on #1?
        I don't have the link off hand, but I recently read an estimate that about 25% of all searches click on ads when they perform a search. I always use 75% of the exact for my max figures. Sorry I don't have the link.
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        Nothing to see here

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    • Profile picture of the author dburk
      Originally Posted by gittar1122 View Post

      It's critical for websites to appear on Page 1 of Google, especially in one of the top three organic positions, as these spots receive 58.4 percent of all clicks from users, according to a new study from Optify.

      Websites ranked number one received an average click-through rate (CTR) of 36.4 percent; number two had a CTR of 12.5 percent; and number three had a CTR of 9.5 percent. Being number one in Google, according to Optify, is the equivalent of all the traffic going to the sites appearing in the second through fifth positions.

      Source:Top Google Result Gets 36.4% of Clicks [Study] - Search Engine Watch (#SEW)
      FAIL!

      Percentage of clicks is not the same thing as CTR. Those are two totally separate metrics. That chart has mislabeled percentages of clicks as CTR. I don't get why people have difficulty understanding that percentage of clicks is not the same thing as click through rate. Learn the difference people!

      If you use the the known average CTR from the largest publicly available dataset, it puts the Optify CTR at just above 18% for the #1 position. The leaked AOL data shows a 23% CTR for the #1 position, 12% for position #2, and 6% for position #3.

      Keep in mind that branded keywords typically have a higher CTR than the average and that generic keywords tend to be lower than average.
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      * Get Results - Outsource Your PPC Management |
      *       Don Burk Advertising & Marketing - www.donburk.com

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  • Profile picture of the author John Williamson
    Realistically, probably about 50-60%
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  • Profile picture of the author RevSEO
    It varies greatly by keyword search and user intent.

    Although overall its generally 50-60% for the first listing. If a user needs more information they'll generally visit the first 5 or 6 sites and sometimes as far back as the first two pages.
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  • Profile picture of the author O0o0O
    Usually it is between 30 and 50 percent. Sometimes more because of an attractive title copy.
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  • Profile picture of the author SEOBestTips
    In my experiences you can estimate your first page traffic for a keyword by taking the exact match search volume X .6

    This is a pretty good baseline to know if its profitable or worth the time/effort to get there. Plus you know you'll receive an extra bit of organic traffic from long-tail keywords and such as well.
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  • Profile picture of the author RW
    I've got to agree with most of the others here, ~60% has been my experience for my sites that are in the first spot.
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