Target Google's Top 10 to Sell Online

In an effort to substantiate SEO industry claims that first page listings in natural search results increase traffic and sales, Oneupweb reviewed data collected by its proprietary conversion analytics technology, ROI Trax®, to determine average increases in traffic and conversion rates occurring when sites move higher in Google search results. Overall, the data shows that improving one’s position on search engine results pages (SERP) is effective in increasing both traffic and the rate at which that traffic purchases, indicating that well-positioned sites attract a more qualified customer. Search engine optimization is one method of improving one’s position on SERPs.
The first month a site appears on the second or third page of Google’s results for a targeted search term, traffic will increase significantly, an average of five times its previous monthly rate. The second month, traffic will be nine times greater than before it reached that position. There’s also a slight increase in sales—up from no sales prior to reaching the second or third page.
Getting listed on Google’s first page increases both traffic and conversion rates—a double bonus. The first month, traffic triples. The second month it doubles again to more than six times the traffic it had before achieving a first page position. And a greater percentage of that traffic will convert to sales—an incremental 42 percent more the first month, and nearly double the second month.
The default setting for Google provides searchers with 10 results per page; page one lists a total of 10 links to sites in the natural or organic listings (not sponsored links). The search optimization industry tells clients that very few searchers review more than the first three pages of these results. Intuitively, the industry believes traffic is highest for the first page—1 through 10 results or the top 10. And just as intuitively, the industry believes that time-starved, distracted users don’t drill down past page three. How does that behavior affect business?
In January 2005, Oneupweb collected website traffic and conversion data associated with keywords entered into Google. The intent was to determine what happens to traffic and conversion rates once a site is listed on Google’s second or third page. And then determine if there is another change when a site reaches the first Google page. We divided data into two categories: the first category covered data from Google’s second and third pages; the second category covered data from Google’s first page. For the first category, Oneupweb only evaluated data from site listings entering Google’s second and third pages for the first time. Sites that previously or routinely appeared on those pages for a particular keyword search weren’t included in order to pinpoint an immediate change.
And for the second category (data from Google’s first page listing), data is from the first time the site appeared in the top 10 for that keyword. In our study, traffic is defined as new unique users —returning customers weren’t tracked as traffic. Traffic increases represent new Customers or first-time visitors. Additionally conversions were defined as online sales. The study focused on businesses selling to consumers online.Several companies were reviewed in a variety of industries.
Oneupweb reviewed traffic and conversion data for three separate time periods:
_ the month before a site appeared in one of the two categories for a particular search term
_ the month after the site was included in one of the two categories for a particular search term
_ the second month after the site was included in one of the two categories for a particular search term
While a typical SEO campaign sells for a year or more, not just two months, our study focuses on this time frame to show the most immediate changes position brings.
Some keywords had monthly traffic figures as high as 780 unique visitors per term; other terms didn’t get a single visitor. Some had conversion rates as high as 50 percent and as low as zero. Some clients requested optimization for narrowly focused niche products they had in inventory. The company’s site is positioned very well for these keywords but consumer demand is extraordinarily limited.