OK so you have your website up and running, Great!  You’ve begun work on your search engine optimisation campaign, Great! You’ve conducted keyword research, you’ve applied chosen keywords using white-hat on-page SEO techniques and you are now showing up in the Search Engine Ranks.  This is all Great but Have you ever wondered what % of clicks you get for the different page 1 positions in SERPs?  Have you ever pondered how many clicks you will get if you put more time and effort into that 1 keyphrase and move up a position in SERPs? And how many more clicks to your website for your work?

Well I’ve thought about all this and more, I’ve put together some information about the percentage of clicks to expect from positions 1 to 10 in search engine ranks.  You’ll also find some nice downloadable excel sheets ready to start working off.

1.% of Visitors for positions 1 – 10 in Search Engine Ranks

Lets make this easy to have a look at and understand.  Lets say our keyphrase gets average 10,000 exact match searches per month. Lets presume you are listed on page 1 of the search engine and rank position #4.

Search Engine Rank (Table A)

So for search engine rank #4 based on a keyphrase with average 10,000 exact match searches per month – you should expect 603 visitors / clicks onto your website.  Shocking isn’t it.  All that hard work to reach page 1 and unless you are ranking no. 1 or 2 its pretty slim pickings. These %s should not only be used to calculate the potential for each position, here are some ways that I use the SERP % analysis to further enhance my SEO work.

2.Use the Search Engine Rank positions to see potential

Don’t be disheartened by these shocking statistics, you are already on page 1 in search engine ranks.  Your website IS being exposed to potential visitors / clicks .  Use the figures to further analyse your SEO work and prioritse 1 keyphrase over another.  So if you have a keyphrase that holds a no. 4 position in search engine ranks work doubly hard to get that no. 1 position. Based on the figures above moving from no. 4 to no. 1 position would see an increase in 3,627 visitors / clicks to your website. The maths add up EH!

Now do an analysis of your current keyphrases, compile a report of keyphrases that are currently ranked #10 or higher. Use the downloadable excel sheet (bottom of post) to calculate the search engine rank position potential for each keyphrase. Now really have a look and identify keyphrases that with a little (or alot) more work could increase your web hits.

3.Use the statistics to check your CTR (click through rate)

For me this is very important, if your website is already on page 1 in search engine rankings, even if this is for a low volume search keyphrase, you should be getting visits to your website specifically for that keyphrase. Lets say the keyphrase is ‘search engine rank‘ and it has an average 8,700 exact match searches per month, your website currently holds no. 5 position. You should expect 423 visitors on average per month to your website specifically from this keyphrase.

Search Engine Rank (Table B)

So how do you check your click through rate? For this you can use the free tools provided by Google – Webmaster and Analytics OR I use SEO Powersuite Rank Tracker for quick check of rank of keywords I’m going after in conjunction with Google Analytics. For this post I’ll discuss google free tools webmaster and analytics.

1. Open Google Webmaster, from the dashboard click on your website
2. In the left menu click your site on the web / search queries
3. Use the filter tab to search for your keyphrase
4. Check your keyphrase rank and keep a note of it
5. Calculate how many visitors / clicks you should be getting for your current search engine rank position
6. Keep a note of this figure
7. Open Google Analytics, from the dashboard click on your website
8. In the left menu click traffic sources / sources / search / organic
9. Enter your keyphrase into the search box and search
10. Now all you see is your exact keyphrase and the number of searches in the past 30 days (default setting)
11. Does the figure shown correspond with or come close to the figure you calculated for your SE rank position?
12. Is the figure in Google Analytics lower or higher, if it is higher GREAT this means that your website is exceeding the % of clicks for its current search engine position

• Is your website really relevant to the keyphrase you are going after? you won’t sell a camping trailer to someone looking for gucci pink boots. On the other hand you might sell banana’s to someone looking to buy a monkey. Keep your keyphrases relevant to your website content
• Do you have a strong Title? This is what will draw a user to first notice your website listing. Go to a search engine, actually do a search for your keyphrase, see what your competitors have for their Titles. Amend yours to stand out more if necessary.
• Do you have a catchy description with a call to action. Again check this out, go to a search engine, actually do a search for your keyphrase, see what your competitors have for the Descriptions. Amend yours if necessary.
• TIP: Find a a keyphrase that you have a higher click through rate than the recommended clicks for that position. Try to see whats working for this keyphrase, the title, the description and apply to your other keyphrases

I Use and Recommend Rank Tracker part of SEO Powersuite for easy management of my keyword ranks. 

• Try Rank Tracker the 30 day Free trail before you try the trail Click me! and read about Rank Tracker Features
• Try the full SEO Suite of Tools Free for 30 days before you try the trail Click me! read about the SEO Powersuite suite of Tools
• includes Rank Tracker, Link Assistant, Website Auditor, SEO SpyGlass

4.Don’t forget low search volume key phrases

OK we all love looking at the high volume search keyphrases and wanting that no. 1 position and working our butts off to achieve it but don’t forget about the little guys, yes, the low search volume keyphrases with lets say 100 exact match searches per month.  Lets think about this for the last position on page 1 (no. 10) for a keyphrase with average 100 exact searches you should be getting 3 clicks / visitors to your website. Now some of you may think why would I be bothered with 3 clicks, well if you look at Table C below you’ll see that no. 1 position for 100 searches per month should amount to 42 visitors / clicks.  Using 100s or 1000s or low volume search keywords can amount to a large number of clicks / visitors to your website.

Search Engine Rank (Table C)

Low volume search keywords will often be long-tail keywords and have less competition, hence it will be easier to achieve a high rank in the search engine.  Also long-tail keyphrases will often be more specific to the user and if you have achieved no. 1 or no. 2 position should lead to a click and a purchase on your website (or whatever your call to action maybe).

Download: Tworks Design Search Engine Rank % Calculator 
Download: Search Engine Rank % and Clicks for Positions 1-10 for Searches 12000 to 4100
Download: Search Engine Rank % and Clicks for Positions 1-10 for Searches 4000 to 2

I hope my post on Search Engine Ranks – What % of Clicks to expect for Positions 1-10 helps my fellow search engine optimisers.

Many thanks for dropping by

Taryn Siwale
Tworks Design – Web Designer, SEO, Online Marketing
Blog: Joomla Tutorials, Joomla SEO, Web Design Tips
Services: www.websitedesign-dublin.ie

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