Search Engines And Your Web Traffic

How much web traffic do you want?  Probably more than you are going to get, especially if you don't do well in the search engines.  I'm talking about Google, Yahoo, and MSN of course.  Placing well in other search engines like Excite, AltaVista, Ask, and the other search engines is nice, but nothing to get real excited over.

Getting noticed in the search engines isn't all that easy, even if you do quite well in the rankings.  Most companies are pleased to have a page one listing, but even that doesn't work all that well for you unless you manage to make it to the top of the page.  People who use search engines hit the top results quickly, but few manage to make it down the page very far.

A survey that was done by search marketing firms Enquiro and Did-it and eye tracking firm Eyetools examined the eye movements of users viewing Google search result pages.

The searchers eye movements followed a basic movement that resembles the letter "F".  The researchers called this pattern a "golden triangle" at the top of result pages. The triangle extends across the top natural search result, then angles back to the left of the page down to the bottom-most "above the fold" result, typically in the third or fourth position on the page.

Going by rank, here are the results for people that actually viewed the listing:

• Rank 1 - 100%
• Rank 2 - 100%
• Rank 3 - 100%
• Rank 4 - 85%
• Rank 5 - 60%
• Rank 6 - 50%
• Rank 7 - 50%
• Rank 8 - 30%
• Rank 9 - 30%
• Rank 10 - 20%

Obviously, this means that if you are in the top of page one, you are going to be seen by a lot more people than if you are at the bottom.  Of course if you are showing up on page 10, you aren't going to see much of anything at all.  For most people, if they don't find what they are looking for in the first couple of pages, they will either try another search engine or they will modify their search phrase.

This doesn't mean that if you aren't on Google's page one that you should simply give up and take down your website.  Few local businesses will ever end up at the top of a national search.  Instead, plan to make your website seen offline in your location and find the gathering points where your viewers would end up.  Find those at the top of your search and work with them to be visible.

Marketing >> Website Development >> Search engine traffic