The Rate of Clicks and Search Ranking AOL Data Revisited

When trying to determine the return on investment for a search engine optimization campaign, an important factor is to know the click through rate (CTR) for each position on a results page of the search engine (SERP). One historically important sources of click through statistics is 2006 AOL data logs.

An unexpected result of the AOL data is the sharp drop in clicks between position # 1 with 42% of all clicks, and the # 2 position, with 12% of per click. To understand better click through rates and search patterns, the AOL data was reviewed and Web searches were divided into five different categories: navigation, information, products and research, comparison shoppers and the buyers.

An earlier study by Andrei Broder, web search classified into three basic groups:

    Navigation. The immediate intention is to reach a particular site.
    Informative. Transactional. The intention is to carry out an activity mediated by the Web, such as Web or download purchases.

The Broder study estimates that search as percentages of 3 groups: navigation: Transactional 25% 36% 39% and informative.

With this study as a guideline, the AOL data records were first divided into two categories: navigation and informative. The study was classified as a navigation containing one or more of the following: "http", ".com", ".org", ".mil", "edu", "WWW" or ".gov". Click through values ​​and statistics were determined for both groups. Of a total of 20,524,584 searches, 5,507,044 were considered navigation. This is 27% of all searches, which agrees fairly closely with the study number Broder 25%.

Another element confirmed in the Broder study is the "intent" of navigation researchers. They are not comparison shoppers. The first, "goods and services Searcher", selects searches such as "San Francisco dentist" or "Best restaurant in Seattle." The second category, called "comparison shoppers" select "goods and services" researchers "visit" (click), more than one site for search (The intention is to highlight researchers who are active buyers) . Finally, the third category, "buyers", select "comparison shoppers", who, after visiting several sites, return to a previously visited site, where the presumption is they make a purchase or conversion.

For all categories, the percentage of clicks declined steadily since the first position to the tenth, but the sharp decline between the first two positions seen in the search for "navigation" is less noticeable with "goods and services" and "comparison shoppers "and seems to disappear completely with the" buyers ".

In conclusion, the search patterns can vary greatly depending on what people want. Navigation researchers rarely look beyond the top two positions. The comparison of buyers and potential buyers are looking deeper. For an SEO campaign targeting new customers, this may imply that to reach the top position on a search engine results page is less important than previously thought.