Being number one helps in PPC

July 13, 2004

Atlas DMT released research demonstrating the impact of paid search listings rank on traffic, and how marketers can better model and forecast paid search campaigns.

"What does being number one in search really mean to your business?" asks Young-Bean Song, director of analytics and the Atlas Institute, Atlas DMT. "Just like any other marketing channel, success for search is about balancing cost and volume. Understanding those trade-offs is the focus of this research."

The research conducted by Atlas DMT provides traffic forecasting benchmarks by quantifying the trade-offs between the top 10 ranks in paid search.

The insights will be used to inform strategic decisions for search marketing campaigns and advise tactical executions for specific keywords.

In addition to paid search, the principles of the study also apply to paid inclusion and natural search. To view the complete Atlas Institute Digital Marketing Insight on "How Search Engine Rank Impacts Traffic," go to: http://atlasdmt.com/insights/.

"Paying for the number one ranking may not be the best strategy for all advertisers," commented Song. "For some marketers the cost of traffic associated with the top ranking may be too high.

On the other hand, some marketers are forgoing the top spot, without really knowing how many customers they are losing to their competitors. Most advertisers don't know whether they are paying too much, or needlessly missing out on sales."

The research found that overall, advertisers should expect about a 10 times difference in potential traffic between the top and 10th rankings.

The research further revealed significant differences across the two leading search providers. One major insight included the strength of Google's number one ranking.

The amount of potential traffic drops more than 40 percent between the number one ranking on Google and the search engine's number two ranking. This statistic highlights Google's reward to advertisers willing to pay for the top position.

At Yahoo's Overture, the drop is more gradual, as it delivers to advertisers increased traffic potential for rankings one through four compared to its rival.

Utilizing data from Atlas Search, the industry's first integrated search marketing and online campaign management system, the performance of hundreds of millions of impressions and clicks for tens of thousands of keywords were analyzed.

To learn more about Atlas DMT's search offerings including Atlas Search for agencies and large advertisers, and Atlas OnePoint for small and mid-tier advertisers, go to: http://atlasdmt.com.

Source: Atlas DMT

        

Read Serge Thibodeau's daily blogs on search engines at Serge Thibodeau Live. We strongly suggest you bookmark our web site by clicking here.

Get your business or company listed in the Global Business Listing directory and increase your business. It takes less then 24 hours to get a premium listing in the most powerful business search engine there is. Click here to find out all about it.

Rank for $ales strongly recommends the use of WordTracker to effectively identify all your right industry keywords. Accurate identification of the right keywords and key phrases used in your industry is the first basic step in any serious search engine optimization program. Click here to start your keyword and key phrase research.

You can link to the Rank for Sales web site as much as you like. Read our section on how your company can participate in our reciprocal link exchange program and increase your rankings in all the major search engines such as Google, AltaVista, Yahoo and all the others.