Words: Ashley Rigg
Published: 1st May 2008
New data reveals value of being number 1
In mature markets, the number one player often outsells the number two competitor by a factor of four or five times. In the UK
property portal market, the leader
Rightmove.co.uk receives nearly
six times the number of monthly page impressions of its nearest rival. This is true from
personal music players to
baked beans.
It’s also true in search. The prize for a second place ranking pales in comparison with the benefits of a top position, according to figures leaked from AOL to Aaron Wall at
SEO Book.
The figures show the top search result generates 42% of clicks, nearly four times greater than the website ranked second and over 14 times greater than the site in tenth position.
| Position |
Clicks |
Share |
| 1 |
2,075,765
|
42.1% |
| 2 |
586,100 |
11.9% |
| 3 |
418,643 |
8.5% |
| 4 |
298,532 |
6.1% |
| 5 |
242,169 |
4.9% |
| 6 |
199,541 |
4.1% |
| 7 |
168,080 |
3.4% |
| 8 |
148,489 |
3.0%
|
| 9 |
140,356 |
2.8%
|
| 10 |
147,551 |
3.0%
|
11 to 20
|
501,397 |
10.2%
|
The actual distribution of clicks will obviously depend on the nature of the search. Number one rankings for brand searches for example will get more clicks than informational searches like “property for sale in Cape Verde”.
There is good reason to believe the above data may even underestimate the advantage top ranking sites have. Although recently leaked, the data is over a year old and over the past 12 months search engines have got better at filtering out irrelevant content (spam) and Google has introduced universal search. Both developments suggest users are more likely to find what they are looking for further up the page.
Implications for overseas property
The data has some important implications for lead generation for estate agents and
property developers:
- Make sure you know what the “money terms” are in the areas where you sell property. For UK searchers, they are usually “property in x”, “x property” and “property for sale in x”. Use this tool to examine traffic volumes and this one to look at which sites rank where in different countries.
- Identify the portals that have top positions for these phrases and make sure you list on them. It’s often quicker and cheaper to use portals than trying to rank for these terms yourself, especially if you sell in many locations.
- If you get a number one ranking for a term that drives you relevant traffic, defend it! Keep an eye on competitor movements and try and get new links that either point to the page that ranks and/or contain relevant anchor text.
- Focus at least some SEO resource on phrases where you already rank in the top 20 to try and back-link your way into top position. It’s easier than starting from scratch and the rewards can be significant. However, its effectiveness depends on the competition you face, so it’s not always that simple.
User Comments
I'm afraid your conclusion is heavily flawed.
If you check the source which a study made by Thorsten Joachims et all in August 2005 you will see that they only captured the FIRST click for each search.
It doesn't include people's second or third click. It is most likely that the 42.1% who clicked on Position 1 subsequently clicked on one of the other positions if they didn't find what they needed in position. These clicks are not included.
It is my best guess that Position 1,2 and 3 are much more evenly split.
Happy to provide you with the study if it's of interest to you.
Jorgen
Jorgen Poulsen,
The Catalyst Partnership