[Build Backlinks Online] Mission ImposSERPble 2: User Intent and Click Through Rates

Build Backlinks Online has posted a new item, 'Mission ImposSERPble 2: User
Intent and Click Through Rates'

Posted by CatalystSEMThis post was originally in YouMoz, and was promoted to the
main blog because it provides great value and interest to our community. The
author's views are entirely his or her own and may not reflect the views of Moz,
Inc.
Itâs been quite a while since I first read (and bookmarked) Slingshot
SEOâs YouMoz blog post, Mission ImposSERPble: Establishing Click-through
Rates, which showcased their study examining organic click-through rates (CTR)
across search engine result pages. The Slingshot study is an excellent example
of how one can use data to uncover trends and insights. However, that study is
over two and a half years old now, and the Google search results have evolved
significantly since then.


Using the Slingshot CTR study (and a few others) as inspiration, Catalyst
thought it would be beneficial to take a fresh look at some of our own
click-through rate data and dive into the mindset of searchers and their
proclivity for clicking on the different types of modern organic Google search
results.


Swing on over to Catalystâs website and download the free Google CTR
Study: How User Intent Impacts Google Click-Through Rates


**TANGENT: I'm really hoping that the Moz community's reception of this
'sequel' post follows the path of some of the all-time great movie sequels
(think Terminator 2, The Godfather: Part II) and not that of Jaws 2.

How is the 2013 Catalyst CTR study unique?
RECENT DATA: This CTR study is the most current large-scale US study available.
It contains data ranging from Oct. 2012 â June 2013. Google is constantly
tweaking its SERP UI, which can influence organic CTR behavior.
MORE DATA: This study contains more keyword data, too. The keyword set for this
study spans 17,500 unique queries across 59 different websites. More data can
lead to more accurate representations of the true population.
MORE SEGMENTS: This study segments queries into categories not covered in
previous studies which allows us to compared CTR behavior attributed to
different keyword types. For example, branded v. unbranded queries, and question
v. non-question based queries.
How have organic CTRs changed over time?

The most significant changes since the 2011 Slingshot study is the higher CTRs
for positions 3, 4, and 5.


Ranking on the first page of search results is great for achieving visibility;
however, the search result for your website must be compelling enough to make
searchers want to click through to your website. In fact, this study shows that
having the most compelling listing in the SERPs could be more important than
âranking #1â (provided you are still ranking within the top five
listings, anyway).


Read on to learn more.






Since Slingshotâs 2011 study, click-through rates have not dramatically
shifted, with the total average CTR for first page organic results dropping by
just 4%.


While seemingly minor, these downward shifts could be a result of
Googleâs ever-evolving user interface. For example, with elements such as
Product Listing Ads, Knowledge Graph information, G+ authorship snippets, and
other microdata becoming more and more common in a Google SERP, usersâ
eyes may tend to stray further from the historical âF shapeâ
pattern, impacting the CTR by ranking position.


Positions 3-5 showed slightly higher average CTRs than what Slingshot
presented in 2011. A possible explanation for this shift is that users could be
more aware of Paid Search listing located at the top of the results page, so in
an attempt to âbypassâ these results, they may have modified their
browsing behavior to quickly scan/wheel-scroll past a few listings down the
page.

What is the distribution of clicks across a Google SERP?



Business owners need to understand that even if your website ranks in the
first organic position for your target keyword, your site will almost certainly
never receive traffic from every one of those users/searchers.


On average, the top organic SERP listing (#1) drives visits from around 17% of
Google searches.


The top four positions, or typical rankings âabove the foldâ for
many desktop users, receive 83% of first page organic clicks.


The Catalyst data also reveals that only 48% of Google searches result in a
page one organic click (meaning any click on listings ranging 1-10). So what is
the other 52% doing? Two things, the user either clicks on a Paid Search
listing, or they âabandonâ the search, which we define as:

Query Refinement â based on the displayed results, the user alters their
search
Instant Satisfaction â based on the displayed results, the user gets the
answer they were interested in without having to click
2nd Page Organic SERP â the user navigates to other SERPs
Leave Search Engine â the user exits the Google search engine
How do branded query CTRs differ from unbranded queries?

Branded CTRs for top ranking terms are lower than unbranded CTRs, likely due to
both user intent and the way Google presents results.






These numbers shocked us a bit. At the surface, you might assume that listings
with top rankings for branded queries would have higher CTRs than unbranded
queries. But, when you take a closer look at the current Google UI and place
yourself in the mindset of a searcher, our data actually seems more likely.


Consumers who search unbranded queries are often times higher in the
purchasing funnel: looking for information, without a specific answer or action
in mind. As a result, they may be more likely to click on the first result,
particularly when the listing belongs to a strong brand that they trust.


Additionally, take a look at the example below, notice how many organic
results are presented âabove the foldâ for a unbranded query
compared to an branded query (note: these SERP screenshots were taken from
1366x768 screen resolution). There are far fewer potential organic click paths
for a user to take when presented with the branded query's result page (1
organic result v. 4.5 results). It really boils down to 'transactional' v.
'informational' queries. Typically, keywords that are more transactional (e.g.
purchase intent) and/or drive higher ROI are more competitive in the PPC space
and as a result will have more paid search ads encroaching on valuable SERP real
estate.




We all know the makeup of every search result page is different and the number
of organic results above the fold can be influenced by a number of factors,
including, device type, screen size/resolution, paid search competiveness, and
so on.


You can use your website analytics platform to see what screen resolutions
your visitors are using and predict how many organic listings your target
audience would typically see for different search types and devices. In our
example, you can see that my desktop visitors most commonly use screen
resolutions higher than 1280x800, so I can be fairly certain that my current
audience typically sees up to 5 organic results from a desktop Google search.



Does query length/word count impact organic CTR?

As a userâs query length approaches the long tail, the average CTR for
page one rankings increases.






The organic click percentage totals represented in this graph suggest that as
a userâs query becomes more refined they are more likely to click on a
first page organic result (~56% for four+ word queries v. ~30% for one-word
queries).


Furthermore, as a query approaches the long tail, click distributions across
the top ten results begin to spread more evenly down the fold. Meaning, when a
consumerâs search becomes more refined/specific, they likely spend more
time scanning the SERPs looking for the best possible listing to answer their
search inquiry. This is where compelling calls-to-action and eye-catching page
titles/meta descriptions can really make or break your organic click through
rates.


As previously stated, only about 30% of one-word queries result in a first
page organic click. Why so low? Well, one potential reason for this is that
searchers use one-word queries simply to refine their search based on their
initial impression of the SERP. This means that the single word query would
become a multiple word query. If the user does not find what they are looking
for within the first result, they modify their search to be more specific, often
resulting in the query to contain multiple words.


Additionally, one-word queries resulted in 60% of the total first page organic
clicks (17.68%) being attributed to the first ranking. Maybe, by nature,
one-word queries are very similar to navigational queries (as the keywords are
oftentimes very broad or a specific brand name).

Potential business uses

Leveraging click-through rate data enables us to further understand user
behavior on a search result and how it can differ depending on search intent.
These learnings can play an integral role in defining a companyâs digital
strategy, as well as forecasting website traffic and even ROI. For instance:

Forecasting Website Performance and Traffic Given a keywordâs monthly
search volume, we can predict the number of visits a website could expect to
receive by each ranking position. This becomes increasingly valuable when we
have conversion rate data attributed to specific keywords.
Identifying Search Keyword Targets With Google Webmaster Toolsâ
CTR/search query data we can easily determine the keywords that are
âlow-hanging fruitâ. We consider low hanging fruit to be keywords
that a brand ranks fairly well on, but are just outside of achieving high
visibility/high organic traffic because the site currently ranks âbelow
the foldâ on page 1 of the SERPs or rank somewhere within pages 2-3 of the
results.). Once targeted and integrated into the brandâs keyphrase
strategy, SEOs can then work to improve the siteâs rankings for that
particular query.
Identifying Under-performing Top Visible Keywords By comparing a brandâs
specific search query CTR against the industry average as identified in this
report, we can identify under-performing keyphrases. Next, an SEO can perform an
audit to determine if the low CTR is due to factors within the brandâs
control, or if it is caused by external factors.
Data set, criteria, and methodology

Some information about our data set and methodology. If youâre like me,
and want to follow along using your own data, you can review our complete
process in our whitepaper. All websites included in the study are Consumer
Packaged Goods (CPG) brands. As such, the associated CTRs, and hypothesized user
behaviors reflect only those brands and users.


Data was collected via each brandâs respective Google Webmaster Tools
account, which was then processed and analyzed using a powerful BI and data
visualization tool.


Catalyst analyzed close to 17,500 unique search queries (with an average
ranking between 1â10, and a minimum of 50 search impressions per month)
across 59 unique brands over a 9 month timeframe (Oct. 2012 â Jun 2013).


Here are a few definitions so weâre all on the same page (we mirrored
definitions as provided by Google for their Google Webmaster Tools)â

Click-Through Rate (CTR) - the percentage of impressions that resulted in a
click for a website.
Average Position â the average top position of a website on the search
results page for that query. To calculate average position, Google takes into
account the top ranking URL from the website for a particular query.
Final word

I have learned a great deal from the studies and blog posts shared by Moz and
other industry experts throughout my career, and I felt I had an opportunity to
meaningfully contribute back to the SEO community by providing an updated, more
in-depth Google CTR study for SEOs to use as a resource when benchmarking and
measuring their campaigns and progress.


For more data and analysis relating to coupon-based queries, question based
queries, desktop v. mobile user devices, and more download our complete CTR
study.


Have any questions or comments on our study? Did anyone actually enjoy Jaws 2?
Please let us know and join the discussion below!
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