Click Distribution
is a fundamental part of SEO Theory that attempts to explain how the ranking order and position on a SERP (search engine resuts page) effects the number of clicks a web page gets. SEO’s like to tell their clients “If I get you ranking #1 for this phrase you could get 6,000 additional clicks a month”. PPC salespeople tell prospects the same thing essentially. Something like “If we get you on the top of the sponsored results you will get X numbers of extra clicks a month”. Click distribution explains how surfers pick between the sponsored results, the natural results, and now additionally the local maps results.
When I was one of the brave affiliate marketers bring products to the online marketplace in 2001, we learned to live by click distribution and we used a mixture of paid search (PPC) and organic search to cover all bases. We had thumb rule figures based on early click studies that basically told us that:
- 40% of the clicks go to the #1 PPC entry
- 40% of the clicks go to the #1 natural entry
- 8% of the clicks go to the #2 natural entry
- all web pages listed on the first page of the SERP got some clicks – we called that being in the scoring zone
- almost no prospects ever looked at the 2nd page for a viable site. Some researchers did and people looking for information – particularly on their competitors. But there were generally less than 10% of all surfers that would actually go to the second page of the SERPS.
Click Distribution and Eye Tracking
OK, that ballpark list of figures being said, we can say at this point that some of the click behavior is effected by the placement on the page. There have been numerous studies on eye movement using heat images to display the hot zones on a web page. They almost invariably conclude there is a scanning behavior that people generally use where they look from the top left corner of the page going straight down to the bottom left corner of the visible page and they scan across the top the page the same way. Sometimes they make the pattern of the letter “F” where they do a straight down scan on the left column and then they do 2 horizontal scans – the first across the top of the page and the second being in the middle of the screen. The average time a surfer spends on a web page is still around 7 seconds and during that time they scan the page and determine if they should spend more time on the page or the site.
What does this mean for the SEO Client?
As a client paying for SEO services, you want to get the most new business for the lowest possible cost. You have to have a way to gauge the effectiveness of the SEO campaign you are paying for. One stat SEO clients focus on is the ranking for each phrase and more importantly than the raw ranking number is the number of unique visitors and the amount of time they spend on your site and the number of times they convert to paying customers of course. It pays to be #1 on either the PPC side or the natural side. No matter how much the SEO pundits tell you that “ranking is dead”, the bottom line is most SEO firms still send out ranking reports, and most SEO clients still want ranking reports. Ranking and placement on the page are important stats to bring to the table at the end of the day when you are determining the ROI return on investment for your SEO campaign.
What percentage of clicks does Google Local Maps get?
I hope to be able to tell you that in the near future. I’ve never seen click distribution studies that factored in Google Local Business Listings or Bing Maps or Yahoo Local Maps for that matter. We know being on the Google Local Map is very valuable in terms of clicks and exposure. Anything “above the fold” on a SERP is prime real estate and Google frequently puts a Maps 10 pack or a local 3 pack right on top of the natural results (and below the sponsored results). As soon as I can find click data on Maps I’ll let you know but for now check with David Mihm and Michael Blumenthal because they are the recognized SEO Local Search Pundits to watch.
