Search Engine Marketing: The Truth About Organic Results

Most search engine marketing strategies are based on the fact that organic traffic is better than PPC traffic in terms of the quality of leads they generate. If your goal is to increase your organic reach, then you need to understand exactly how users find your website through Google.

It’s true that the majority of clicks come from organic links, as opposed to paid ads on search engines. But when you break it down further, you’ll find that the overwhelming majority of the “organic” clicks come from the very top of the page.

According to a recent Business 2 Community article, 71% of people will click one of the top three organic links:

“Of those people who actually click organic results, around 40% will click result number one, with second and third receiving around 18% and 13%, respectively. Click rates diminish rapidly down page one with result number 10 achieving only around 2% of clicks (less than result one on page two!).”

What matters here isn’t why people are drawn to the top three links, but rather the consequences thereof. In other words, we’re going to ignore the psychology of Google users and instead focus on the impact of this dynamic.

If you’re basing your entire search engine marketing strategy on organic traffic and you’re website isn’t among the top three links associated with your keywords, then you’re in trouble. This would be like spending your entire marketing budget on a TV ad that comes on at 4:30 AM during weekdays.

There’s nothing wrong with focusing on organic traffic, but if you do so, then you absolutely need to make it to the first page of Google’s search results. Otherwise, most users won’t ever see your link, even if they’re the perfect candidates for your target market.

There are plenty of ways you can increase your PageRank on Google, including creating original content, optimizing your site for mobile devices, and building your site’s credibility. If chose to go down the organic path, then you need to prioritize these objectives.

To talk more about search engine marketing, or anything else, contact us today.