In early May I ran across an article on Daily Blog Tips that left me wondering. The article, "Why You Must be the First, in Google’s Search Results at Least!", shows some actual numbers at what people click on on just the first page of Google results when searching for, well, anything. It's extremely difficult to argue with numbers, and so I read the article at least twice. Nowhere in the article was there any reference to increased leads or sales. My guess is that there was some assumption that more clicks meant more leads and sales, which to be frank, may very well be true. But something told me that that's not always the case. Additionally, it felt very much like the article was contributing to the idea that when it comes to Google, you've got to be #1 or you're nothing. (The title itself is an indication of this thinking.)
In thinking about the article and its argument, I thought about how this very site (and other sites we've developed for clients) don't rank #1 for certain key search terms and yet, we've fared very well. And thus, I was left wondering what was wrong with the picture being painted, and why it just didn't seem 100% accurate. So, being a fan of the SEO Guru, I thought I'd ask him his thoughts on the article.
Basically, it's the SEO Guru's opinion that the title is misleading. And he explained to me what my gut was essentially telling me. In fact, his opinion makes absolute sense (bold / emphasis mine):
To me, you MUST attain your objectives, you MUST hit your numbers but being first in Google's search results is not necessarily a guarantee that you'll hit your numbers. It has never been about placement to my mind, it has always been about sales or at least getting a visitor to take an action I desired them to take.
If I were at the bottom of the first page and only got 1% of the total clicks for a specific term but that 1% converted to 5 sales a day BUT you were #1 and got 45% but only got 1 sale a day, I would much prefer to be #10.
I do agree that the #1 spot will usually get the lion's share of clicks but it has to come down to economic realities, as it always does. What if the cost of moving from #10 to #1 was so great that you had to raise your prices to maintain your margins and now the #10 listing was outselling you because they could afford to offer the same product at a lower price point? Would you still feel you MUST be #1?
The holy grail of course is when you get that killer title that attracts clicks, the killer copy that converts the click AND the #1 spot for your target term. But you can hit your numbers without being #1. In fact you CAN hit your numbers even if you are not on the first page at all. Remember that search engine placement without conversions is the epitome of futility and don't let yourself fall into the trap of believing that without being #1 you can not succeed.
If the SEO Guru were to write that article, the title would have been: "Why you MUST Make Sales to Survive Online - and How a #1 on Google can Help"
I just can't put it better than that.
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