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The key location on
Google for visibility
per concessione di
www.eyetools.com
New EyeTracking Study
verifies the importance of page position and rank in both Organic and PPC
search results for visibility and click through.
A joint eye tracking study
conducted by search marketing firms Enquiro and Did-it and eye tracking firm
Eyetools has shown that the vast majority of eye tracking activity during a
search happens in a triangle at the top of the search results page
indicating that the areas of maximum interest create a "golden triangle."
The first phase of the
study was conducted with 50 people in Eyetools' eye tracking lab in San
Francisco, California and presented panel participants with 5 distinct
scenarios that would require the use of a search engine. Google was used as
the search engine in all of the instances.
Key Preliminary Findings
of the Study included
The key location on Google
for visibility as determined by the eye activity in the study is a triangle
that extends from the top of the results over to the top of the first result,
then down to a point on the left side at the bottom of the "above the fold"
visible results. This key area was looked at by 100 percent of the
participants. In the study, this was referred to as the "Golden Triangle".
Generally, this area appears to include top sponsored, top organic results
and Google's alternative results, including shopping, news or local
suggestions.
Visibility dropped quickly
with organic rankings, starting at a high of 100% for the top listing,
dropping to 85% at the bottom of the "above the fold" listings, and then
dropping dramatically below the fold from 50% at the top to 20% at the
bottom.
Organic Ranking Visibility
(shown
in a percentage of participants looking at a listing in this location)
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%
Eye scan and click through
behavior changes dramatically as users moved "below the fold" to the section
of results that required scrolling down. At the top of the page, the amount
of eye movement declined rapidly through the top 4 or 5 results, and then at
the bottom of the screen, tends to become more consistent through to the end
of the page.
In searches where top
sponsored results are returned in addition to right sponsored ads, the top
ads received much higher visibility, being seen by 80 to 100% of
participants, as opposed to 10 to 50% of participants who looked at the side
sponsored ads.
On side sponsored ads, the
top ranked results received much more in the way of both eye activity and
click through. About 50% of participants looked at the top ad, compared to
only 10% who looked at ads in the 6, 7 or 8th location on the page.
Side sponsored ad visibility
(shown
in percentage of participants looking at an ad in this location)
1 – 50%
2 – 40%
3 – 30%
4 – 20%
5 – 10%
6 – 10%
7 – 10%
8 – 10%
There seems to be a "F"
shaped scan pattern, where the eye tends to travel vertically along the far
left side of the results looking for visual cues (relevant words, brands,
etc) and then scanning to the right if something caught the participant's
attention.
These results come from an
initial analysis of the results and were presented during sessions at the
Search Engine Strategies conference in New York. While interesting, the
study's main findings are still to come and will required detailed analysis
of individual behavior patterns.
Did It's Kevin Lee said,
"At this point, we weren't too surprised at what we've seen in the study. We
suspected much of this to be true prior to conducting it. However, there is
tremendous value in confirming these suspicions, especially in a way that's
so visually compelling. It also proves that our methodology will hold up for
phase 2 of the research. On the sponsored search side, data indicates that
it is the clear branding and visibility advantage offered by gaining top
positions, especially Google's top sponsored links. Unfortunately, these
aren't always presented with a search. Google is a little fickle in this
regard."
Enquiro's Gord Hotchkiss
added, "We see a marked difference in how people say they search and what
they actually do. Previous research had indicated that people were
considered searchers and spent some time before choosing a link. The past
few studies we've done, this one included, shows that there's a huge
importance placed on where the eyeballs end up on the page. Clicks happen
pretty quickly. It just shows that search marketing is a real estate game.
It's all about location, location, location."
Eyetools' CTO Greg Edwards
also commented, "Eyetracking is the enabling tool that fills in the gaps to
understand why people click or don't click — by quantifying what people
consider before the decision to click or leave is made, companies can start
to better anticipate and design to satisfy people's needs. Applying this in
the search results arena enables companies to better plan their marketing
communication and increase conversions."
This research is ongoing
and the phase 1 results are highly encouraging. After further analysis is
done, the results will be made available to the public through white papers.
Further findings will be announced as they become available.
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