New F-Word for Google Search Results

By Chris Sherman, Search Engine Watch, Mar 8, 2005
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A new study has added tangible evidence to the widely held view that top-ranking search results get the most attention from users, and that lower-ranking results are all but invisible to most people.

The joint study conducted 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 study found that most viewers looked at results in an “F” shaped scan pattern, with the eye travelling vertically along the far left side of the results looking for visual cues (relevant words, brands, etc) and then scanning to the right, as if something caught the participant’s attention.

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.

This area was viewed by 100% of the 50 participants in the study.

With both organic and sponsored search results, higher ranking results were viewed more often. Here are results for organic results (percentages represent the number of study participants viewing the listing):

Organic Search Results Viewed:

* 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%

A similar, though smaller triangle effect was also observed for the sponsored listings on the right side of Google search result pages. In aggregate, fewer people looked at the sponsored listings; the exception to this was then sponsored ads were served at the top of a search result page as well as on the right side of the page. Ads at the top of the page were viewed by 100% of study participants.

Sponsored Listings Viewed (right side):

* Sponsored listing 1 – 50%
* Sponsored listing 2 – 40%
* Sponsored listing 3 – 30%
* Sponsored listing 4 – 20%
* Sponsored listing 5 – 10%
* Sponsored listing 6 – 10%
* Sponsored listing 7 – 10%
* Sponsored listing 8 – 10%

Here’s a screen shot of the triangle.

These results are preliminary; a full analysis of the results will be available soon.
Organic Search Still Rules

The findings of this eye tracking study lend further credibility to the notion that organic search engine optimization is still critical to the overall success of a search marketing campaign. Last December, Jupiter Research released a report stating that algorithmic listings in search indexes generate an estimated six of seven commercially natured search referrals.

The eye tracking study offers a major reason why: People continue to favor organic listings over paid search listings, unless the paid search listing is at the top of the page.

And yet many search engine marketers are ignoring search engine optimization, opting instead to go the “easier” route of buying sponsored listings. The increasing body of research is very clearly saying that it’s a mistake to rely solely on paid listings to drive visitors to a web site. A well-balanced search marketing campaign should incorporate both well-crafted search engine optimization efforts as well as paid listings to capture the full range of searcher behavior.

More information about the study is available here.

Many webmasters observed a drop of their Google PageRank. Google’s John Mueller wrote in Google’s webmaster discussion forum that this might have been a glitch and that the PageRank in the Google toolbar is not important:
“Looking at your site, it might have been that there was some kind of glitch that occurred just as the latest round of Toolbar PageRank was put together. In a case like that, you just need to wait for the next update (we do 3-4 updates per year).
That said, this is generally not something that will affect your site’s crawling, indexing or ranking, so I wouldn’t worry about it! Don’t worry about PageRank .”

blog news by www.ecommercepositioning.com

February 25, 2009

Obama Speech to Congress Relevant to SES New York Delegates

President Barack Obama’s speech to Congress on last night contained a number of revevant messages to the delegates planning to attend SES New York next month.

For example, President Obama said, “We have lived through an era where too often, short-term gains were prized over long-term prosperty.” And the search engine marketing industry has lived through years when it was easier to launch pay-per-click campaigns than it was to launch search engine optimization programs.

In fact, Fredrick Marckini, the chief global search officer of Isobar, made this point during his keynote speeches at SES London 2008 and SES Toronto 2008. According to Marckini, “Paid search alone does not constitute a search engine marketing program. I interviewed Fredrick a year ago about the importance of natural search in search engine marketing campaigns, which is still a potent issue as we wrestle with a global recession.

Greg Jarboe & Fredrick Marckini on SEM at SES London 2008

Another line by President Obama that still resonates a day later is this: “The weight of this crisis will not determine the destiny of this nation. The answers to our problems don’t lie beyond our reach. They exist in our laboratories and universities; in our fields and our factories; in the imaginations of our entrepreneurs and the pride of the hardest working people on earth. Those qualities that have made America the greatest force of progress and prosperity in human history we still posess in ample measure.”

And today, I received an email from Search Engine Strategies that said, “Bad news can easily derail you from your goal. Don’t fall flat on your Q2 achievements. Stay on top of your marketing plan and learn how you can ride through the troubled economy and stand tall in the end. Search Engine Strategies New York is your survival guide to the unsteady economy. From Web 2.0 strategies for small businesses with small budgets to winning online campaigns on a dime.”

And the email backed that up with specific suggestions of conference sessions to attend at SES New York:
• The Impact of Today’s Economy on the Search Landscape
• Survival of the Fittest 2.0
• Every Day, In Every Way: Search Marketing as a Business Activity
• Publishing: New Business Models for Changing Times
• Lower Your Marketing Costs with Vertical Search
• Four Paths to Success in a Tough Travel Economy

Or, take a close look at the SES New York conference agenda and you’ll discover more sessions that “confront boldly the challenges we face.” This includes:
• The Dozen Most Common Search Marketing Mistakes That CMOs Make
• Search on a Dime
• 8 Things You Aren’t Doing That Will Boost Your SEM Results
• Extreme Makeover: Live Ad Copy & Continuity Clinic!
• SEO Tools of the Trade: What’s in YOUR Toolbox?
• Google Website Optimizer: Radically Improve your Conversion Rate!

And if you register for SES New York by March 6, you can save up to $200. Plus, you have a chance to win an extreme makeover of your website in real time during SES New York! And there are other bonus offers.

So, if you think “the time to take charge of our future is here,” as President Obama does, then check out the conference agenda for SES New York, which will be held March 23-27, 2009, at the Hilton New York. To borrow a phrase, “So often, we have come to view these documents as simply … laundry lists of programs. I see this document differently. I see it … as a blueprint for our future.