But your ultimate goal should always be to rise to the very top of the page -- preferably in the top three positions -- since this is when you really notice the benefits. A study carried out earlier this year showed that when combined these three slots get well over half of all the clicks from people viewing the results. Not surprisingly, there was significant variation between these three places also:
Websites ranked number one received an average click-through rate (CTR) of 36.4 percent; number two had a CTR of 12.5 percent; and number three had a CTR of 9.5 percent. Being number one in Google, according to Optify, is the equivalent of all the traffic going to the sites appearing in the second through fifth positions.
I have noticed this very effect in action just recently. I was sitting in third place for a nice two word phrase that was bringing several hits a day to the main domain of this site. Recently, I moved into second place for it. It's quite remarkable what a boost that change has given me. If I do get into the top spot, well, that will be fantastic!