Difference between #1 and #5 is huge

Well this totally depends on the keyword you are targeting. I have sites in very competitive niches that are at #3 and this is still returning a decent profit.

Rather than what you say about #1 I would say top 3 should be your initial target again depending on the search volumes but outside top 3 in most are pretty much just picking up the dregs of searchers. Think about it, unless you have a much better targeted and well written meta description then if peopled get down to the lower positions they are less likely to be buyers and more likely to be people shopping around or not 100% sure on what they want!!

There is a little worry in working with small ad sense sites. Any way you are trying to earn money with these sites then keep promoting your site in a constant flow and generate real back-links.

You're right that it's better to get the #1 spot or else, go home. However having a website on the first page of the SERPS is already an achievement and you can earn decent sales depending on the niche.

Sites in the #1 position do not automatically generate sales.Why? There are lots of other factors that site visitors consider. Products offered, price, and web design. Sites on #5 can overtake any site in the #1 position if the former have better web design compared to the latter.

The difference in the number of visitors you can expect is enormous. At #3 you'll get about 4-5 times less traffic than at #1, and down at #8 it's about 14 times less.

Hi ASAM, is there a reference for this ? I am not argueing at all, just trying to learn more.

The difference in the number of visitors you can expect is enormous. At #3 you'll get about 4-5 times less traffic than at #1, and down at #8 it's about 14 times less.

It is definitely logical to expect better results when your website is at the first spot on Google for the targeted terms and keywords but another important issue is about how hot the niches are actually. For example, if your targeted terms are searched by tens of thousands of people, even if your site is at the 10th spot for the words, you can feel very satisfied with the AdSense results as lots of clicks can be expected.

Compare this example with another situation in which only a few hundred searches are performed on Google for your primary words. In that case, even there would be huge difference in income between the first and second websites as there are only limited clicks to share among domains and sites compared with the prior case mentioned. No wonder the higher ranks will offer higher monthly incomes always.

My testing for this resulted as follows:

No.1 = 38% of the total search traffic

No.2 = 12.5% of total search traffic.

I don't have solid stats for the other positions so I won't publish them.

Your click through rate is also affected by your title and the description that is shown below your title. If your title seems more relevant or 'enticing' to the searcher when compared to the other 'close' spots then that figure will likely be higher. Maybe 50 - 60%. As a general rule of thumb though I have found 38% a good statistic for the top spot.

According to many websites
#1 is 42% of searches
#2 is 12%
#3 is 8%
by the time you get to #5 you are down to like 4% if you are lucky so yes
#1 would be like 10 to 15 times the traffic on # 5