The best place to hide a dead body is page 2 of Google--perhaps the reason we SEOs find that meme so hilarious is because it is so unbelievably true.
You know you are desperate for a solution when you find yourself clicking over to page 2 of Google.
Here are the facts that show that you are still in no-man’s land even if you’re the top result on page 2.
- Page 1 of Google captures a whopping 95% of all traffic.
- The top result on page 1 of Google receives about 32.5% of the overall traffic; the second entry receives 17.6%, while the 7th entry on page 1 of Google sees only 3.5%...and the downward slide continues all the way to page 2 and beyond.
- The top 10 queries on the SERPs enjoy an average click-through rate of 208%, meaning searchers click more than twice on average on the first page.
- Traffic drops by 140% when you move from the 10th position (bottom of page 1) to the 11th position (top of Page 2).
According to research carried out in 2014 by Advanced Web Rankings, 67% of searchers don’t go beyond the first 5 rankings of page 1 of a search engine results page.
It’s not hard to imagine why this is the case. Google and other search engines place what they perceive as the best results up top, and once a result grabs a user’s attention, they click and leave the SERP.
Most people only have to click no more than a few results at the top before they find what they are looking for. A lot of people are also unwilling to scroll too far down or they may not have the time. That’s why CTR increases as your website rises to the top.
So the bottom of page 1 of the SERPs is also an unenviable position to be in--but even that is many times better than the top position of page 2.
How to Get off Page 2 of Google and On to Page 1
So now you know that nobody wants to be on page 2 of Google, you might be wondering: How do I get on page 1?
Here are a few tips that can help with that:
- Analyze Your Competitors on the First Page
Analyze their backlinks using Ahrefs, and see how many they have. It may appear daunting to surpass their number of backlinks, but you can get started by outdoing the pieces of content with the most links and promoting them through Facebook. - Prioritize Long Tail Keywords with Low Competition and High Traffic
The more competitive a keyword, the harder it is to rank for that keyword. You want to stick to industry-specific long tail keywords that are more likely to be used by users in search of your specific product or service. - Identify Key Questions Which Your Audience Is Asking
Giving in-depth answers to important questions in your field is a great way to get featured in the knowledge snippet, commonly referred to as position 0. - Optimize Your Title Tags and Meta Descriptions
Title tags and meta descriptions are featured on the SERPs and give users a reason to click. CTR plays some role in determining your position on the SERP. Incorporating a primary keyword in the title tags and meta description can help you rank higher for relevant search queries, as well. - Work with a Web Development Team to Make Technical Improvements to Your Website
Features like website speed, mobile-friendliness, and ease-of-navigation, and many others play a strong role in determining how favorably the search engines will look upon your website.
You want a web development team that is experienced enough to give your website the technical upgrades it needs, without scaring your audience away.
We here at Eternity are passionate about helping businesses get the best ROI for their websites (something which will be hard to do when you are stuck on page 2 of Google). We would love to hear about your business and how we can be of help. Reach out today!
