The online ad network Chitika in a new study has revealed that the top listing on Google's organic search results get 33 percent traffic, while the listing holding second position gets 18 percent, and the traffic percentage only decreases from there.
Here are the top 10 results
Chitika conducted a similar study in 2010 and the ad network says that such findings validate the importance of SEO for online businesses.
"While being the number one result on a Google search results page is obviously important, these numbers show just how big of an advantage websites of this type have over any competitors listed below them. The importance of SEO for online business is seemingly quantified by these latest statistics, which, judging by their similarity to those observed as part of the 2010 study, are not likely to change significantly in the near future."
There was also a significant drop in the traffic from Page 1 to Page 2 results. While the Page 1 results received 92 percent of all the traffic from average search, the traffic on Page 2 dropped off by 95 percent.
Whether you are on Page 1 or Page 3, the top position always gets more traffic than other listings on the page. The traffic dropped by 27 percent, 11.3 percent, and 5.4 percent on page 2, 3, and 4, respectively from the first to second position.
Chitika examined tens of millions of online ad impressions for the study. On all these impressions, users were referred to the page via a Google search.
Interpreting the Rankings and Traffic Data
Rankings are only as important as the traffic that they drive. Although, rankings for a particular query way differ in search results from one user to another, data shows that same position are winning time & time again.
Compete.com released a study last year, which revealed that the first link gets 53 percent of the organic search clicks.
The 2011 Slingshot SEO study also showed that the number one position on Google organic search results received 18.2 percent clicks, second got 10.5 percent, and the third listing received 7.22 percent.
Understanding what a ranking means to SEO campaign in terms of conversions and traffic is the key to determine that ranking's value. Try to know the methodology of these types of studies, use your expert insights, and figure out how the data can help you as a marketer.
Know more about Chitika's methodology for the latest study, download the full report here.
