Ifultech

 

The domination of mobile Internet browsing is practically on the rise. With almost all new devices and gadgets nowadays being made Internet-capable, people are given the privilege and convenience of accessing the Web through their mobile devices such as smartphones and tablets. This is the reason why all website owners should consider the possibilities and options tied to this trend. If you are an owner of a business or company that rely on Internet marketing, it would be best to look into how you can cater to the consumers who exploit the advantage offered by mobile browsing.

There are a number of factors that a website owner should look into if he or she wants to make the most out of the opportunity presented by mobile web browsing. One of the primary considerations that must be looked into is whether to opt for a responsive web design or build a separate mobile website. If you are making do of a tight budget as well as limited resources and personnel, you are probably eyeing a responsive web design as the best option available. But if you are to look deep within the advantages of getting a separate mobile website, you may decide otherwise.

But before you finally get into a conclusion, here’s a quick rundown of what’s in it for you if you pick a responsive web design over a separate mobile website, or vice versa.

What is Responsive Web Design?

Responsive web design is a relatively new concept and trend in the web design industry. Basically, this web design practice makes a particular website “respond” according to the screen size of the device where it is being accessed from. For instance, if a website is accessed using a cellular phone, one can view the website as it is when you view it via a computer. It will seem as if it was shrunk, and for one to be able to browse around the site conveniently (to be able to read the texts and click on the commands, tabs and links), he or she must zoom it in and slide or scroll down, up, left and right for a better and clearer view.

What is Separate Mobile Website?

As the title says, it is a separately built website that is meant for mobile device web browsing. It follows a different coding and programming principle and etiquette, one that is specifically made for mobile browsing. These mobile websites are made to ensure that the websites are compatible and accessible in most, if not all, Internet-capable mobile devices.

Now, to responsive web design or to separate mobile website?

Choosing to get a separate mobile website or not is governed by several factors, but the decision definitely boils down to your business needs.

To help you decide, the first factor that you should look into is context. There are different reasons why users would access a website through their mobile devices instead of simply powering on their computers. Unless your website is a social media site, you should think of the reasons why your typical website visitor would access your website. Thus, you might wish to have a separate mobile website that only offers content and pages that are normally accessed by mobile browsers.

Next consideration is the content. If your desktop website has a lot of content, it is likely that a mobile device and mobile browser may have difficulty in loading. Mobile Internet connectivity is basically slower than broadband connection. Mobile browsers are also normally slower than their desktop versions. Thus, it may be more practical to get a separate mobile website that offers nothing but the necessary details and content that are typically needed by mobile users.

Finally, the last but not the least important consideration is the current situation of your website or business. If you think you have a good readership and traffic coming from mobile users, it may be best to offer them something special. Moreover, if you are satisfied with how your responsive website is doing when accessed via mobile, then getting a separate mobile website can just be saved for later. Furthermore, if you think there is nothing else you can eliminate or change in your current website, it may be better to leave it as it is.

Bottom line is: you should know your business and website’s needs, as well as the preferences of your audience. You should also consider your budget and resources and if you are running on a tight one, see if your website can still perform well when accessed through mobile even if it runs on a responsive web design.

By Dorina Marie Elumbaring

I. Introduction

Everyone knows that the #1 spot on Google is where every website wants to be but not everyone knew how significant it is to be ranked there compared to being just #2. Close spot it is but based on statistics, there is more than 50% Click-through rate with the site in top 1 compared to top 2 sites.

A website on page 1 of Google will get around 20 times more traffic than a website on page 2 of Google, and 50 times more traffic than a site on page 3 of Google. If you are on page 4, you may as well be on page 100. Most searchers just don’t bother to go past the first page and in fact many don’t bother to go past the first 5 results.

II. Objective

Generally, this paper presents the effectiveness of Google Result Positioning.

Specifically this aims to:

· to raise awareness of the importance and value of SEO

· to help motivate businesses and individuals to optimize their web presence

· to encourage top ranked websites to improve the quality of their sites in an attempt to protect and improve upon their current rankings (and thus improve the quality of the web as a whole)

III. Google as Number 1 SERP

As shown in this image from Search Engine Land, most internet traffic rating services show Google to have 70% to 80% of the U.S. search market. Given the data below, it is no surprise that advertiser spend at large SEM companies are aggressively focused on Google.

 

I. Value of Google Result Positioning

It’s critical for websites to appear on Page 1 of Google, especially in one of the top three organic positions, as these spots receive 58.4% of all clicks from users, according to a new study from Optify.

With the case of ifultech’s site, www.ifultech.com, a SEO/Web design Company. Statistics shown below that as the ranking goes up, number of clicks and visits also increases.

 

 

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.

Here’s Optify’s look at CTRs on the top 20 sites:

Basically, Optify concludes that moving up to the top spot in Google from second or third could triple visits to your website.

Optify’s study of U.S. Google search engine results pages, conducted in December 2010, analyzed organic keyword visits for B2B and B2C websites. Optify analyzed data from 250 randomly chosen sites and an initial set of 10,000 keywords.

Here are some of Optify’s other findings.

Importance of Page 1

The average CTR on Page 1 of Google was 8.9 percent, but the average CTR on Page 2 was 1.5 percent. Ranking first on Page 2 had a slight benefit over ranking in the last spot on Page 1 (2.6 percent vs. 2.2 percent CTR).

Optify concludes that, because predicting which position your site will appear in Google is basically impossible, your SEO efforts should first focus on getting on Page 1, and then on investing in working your way up to one of the top three spots. Also, ranking beyond Page 2, while good for tracking trends, has almost no business value, Optify noted.

I. Worth of Top Spot in Google

Optify looked at organic CTR in the hopes of updating one of the SEO industry’s long-time ROI calculators based on AOL’s leaked search records from August 2006, which Optify calls "old and dated," due to the evolution of universal search and integration of social search in recent years.

AOL’s data showed websites ranked first received 42.3 percent of traffic; second place got 11.92 percent; and third place had 8.44 percent:

Image via Red Cardinal

AOL’s data was based on 19,434,540 click-throughs, whereas Optify’s was based on 1,224,383. Optify isn’t the first using AOL’s data as a benchmark. Last May, two studies aimed to calculate Google’s organic CTR.

Neil Walker’s study, using Google Webmaster Tools data from 100 clients and 2,710 keywords, found position one gets 46.37 percent of organic click-throughs; position two gets 29.43 percent; and position three gets 19.81 percent:

Chitika’s study, which Jonathan Allen covered in "How Much is a Google Top Spot Worth?" reported that a top spot gets 34.35 percent of impressions; second position gets 16.96 percent; and third gets 11.42 percent. Chitika’s numbers were based on a sample of 8,253,240 impressions across its advertising network.

While the exact figures and data sets vary from study to study, they all confirm that ranking at the top of Page 1 on Google continues to be incredibly valuable. One of Optify’s final pieces of advice is to stay on top of SEO best practices and strategies. That’s something you can do by regularly reading Search Engine Watch’s Search Engine Optimization section.

 

 

I. Organic CTR by CPC

Otpify also tested the effects of the CPC (cost-per-click) value of a keyword on its CTR, comparing "expensive" CPC terms, over $1.50 CPC on AdWords, with "cheap" CPC terms, under $0.25 CPC on AdWords.

On page No. 1, position No. 1, expensive CPC terms register a lower organic CTR on position No. 1 than cheaper terms, 30% vs. 20%. In addition, cheap CPC terms will likely yield over double the CTR on the first page than expensive CPC terms:

For example, given two keywords with the same search volume where one is a cheap keyword and the other an expensive one, potential organic traffic is over 2 times greater on the cheaper CPC term.

I. Head Terms Vs. Long Tail

High-volume, more generic, head terms, (those with over 1,00 monthly searches (Google US)) perform differently than low-volume, more specific, long-tail terms (less than 100 monthly searches (Google US)).

For example, average CTR for head terms at position No. 1 is 32%, compared with 25% for long-tail terms:

Long- tail terms, however, deliver better overall CTR on page No. 1 (4.6% average CTR for head terms vs. 9% average CTR for long-tail terms):

The results suggest that if a brand is optimizing for head terms, it won’t likely register huge benefits until it reaches the top few positions. Brands that optimize for long-tail terms, however, can register relatively strong CTR almost anywhere on the first page, and there is less incremental benefit of moving up search results.

I. Conclusion

The benefits of ranking on the first search-engine results page (SERP) are more valuable than ever: 60% of clicks are generated by the top three SERP results, while the average CTR (click-through rate) for the top spot is 36.4%. It is therefore worth a ton – double the traffic of the 2nd to be precise.

When clients’ website reached the first page specially the top 3 spots, probability of being clicked, visited as well generate sales is far way better than any other rank on the search engines. In return, clients’ goal of being on the first which is to have their return on investment (ROI) is measurable, achievable, realistic and time specific.

Dorina Marie Elumbaring is an Internet Marketing Strategist for Creative Frappe Internet Marketing Solutions.