None of the numbers below are exactly perfect so don’t quote me on it. Only Google knows for sure, but estimates range from about 40% to 50%. This means if there are 1 Million people out there that are clicking on the results on the page, 500K of them are going to click on the first result on the page.
AOL once released their data, which suggested that 42% click on the first listing. “Heat map” studies tend to lean more towards 50% or more.
People are clicking on the first results primarily out of laziness, but also because they trust them. Typically the first result on the page is the most trusted according to Google.
Google ranks this on a variety of factors, including how well your ad is written, how your landing page is set up, what words are on the landing page, and how much money you’re willing to spend with Google.
The natural and organic search results typically only will get 20%-30% of traffic because the paid search results will get the majority of the traffic. You being an advertiser needs to have good quality scores in order to take advantage of this.
Your PPC results are important and you need to be in the top 1-3 spots, if you aren’t going to get any type of results. Personally, across all my accounts I never get any good results if the person isn’t in the top 4 spots. Typically if you aren’t ranked in the top 3 spots you aren’t going to get any type of results.
iPyxel Creations
February 6, 2012 at 9:39 pm
I wonder if there is an analysis done comparing the cost of ranking #1 organically vs. the cost of paying for the front page over a period of time. Would be very interesting.
-Tom
Edgar
February 7, 2012 at 11:55 pm
the heat map does all the talking. I wounder if they use crazy egg.
But your right being on the top 3 at least is very important.