By Neil Ford of Ely Website SEO, Ely, Cambridge
Yes, page 1 on Google is the place to be, and if you are in the top three on that page so much the better!
Statistics consistently indicate that having your business website listing on page 1 is massively beneficial in various ways:
- More website visitors. More sales. More business enquiries
- Improved authenticity
- Increased presence and brand awareness
Some Of The Page 1 Figures
So what do the figures say about searching and searchers?
- 71% click sites on page 1 (Advanced Web Rankings 2022)
- 9.5% click on page 2 (Advanced Web Rankings 2022)
- 64% of business transactions start from search engines
- 1.59% click on paid search (Similarweb)
- About 49% of searches are made on a mobile device (Statcounter)
The researchers have been providing us with information like this for some years. Google’s own recommendations make it absolutely clear that if you want to sell more, or encourage more business enquiries via your website, your pages need to be listed on page 1.
It’s a tough call but the message is clear, unless you list on page 1 or near the top of page 2, you are unlikely to get the level of business your website deserves.
Moving Your Pages Upwards And Onwards
Quite clearly it is not a simple, straightforward and guaranteed process that will move a site up, however given time and, yes, a bit of luck, and it is generally possible to encourage, sometimes, quite a gradual rise.
Factors like geographical breadth, page quality, industry competition, local competition and market conditions all play a part in advancing or hampering the progress of a page. One piece of research found that achieving a page 1 position can take anything from 9 to 26 weeks – if it makes at all! (Ahrefs) In my own experience working with a tradesman based in Leeds, page 1 took about 15 months because of the intense competition we faced. It was a case of a month-by-month gradual rise.
What Is The Impact Of Achieving Page 1
Another area of insightful UK research by Advanced Web Rankings relates to the impact, once on page 1, of the page position in the list on click-through rate. At number 10 it was found to be 1.03% and in the one spot it was a massive 30.59%. Clearly, with gradual progression up the page 1 rankings comes the likelihood of an enhanced return.
#10 – 1.03%; #9 – 1.29%; #8 – 1.67%; #7 – 2.23%; #6 – 3.04%; #5 – 4.25%; #4 – 6.11%; #3 – 9.84%; #2 – 15.04%; #1 – 30.59%
A Little Bit Of Help
Achieving a page 1 listing is not the be-all-and-end-all for every business or organisation, however, for those seeking frequent sales or new enquiries, it has to be high on their list of priorities. Whether you are looking for help to ‘get you up there’ or you just have one or two particular pages that need a boost please contact me. I offer no promises and no guarantees, but I am confident that I can improve your page performance.
For further advice, guidance or suggestions, do please get in touch.
Neil Ford
Ely Website SEO
https://ely-website-seo.co.uk
June 2023
Neil Ford of Ely Website SEO – I started working on website promotion in 2001. My key focus is local and regional SEO, and website promotion, including Google Ad’s support. The SEO business area is not regulated; however I have always followed industry best practice guidelines in my dealings with my clients and their pages or websites.