Original 2011 study of organic clickthrough rate by ranking position, across more than a million Australian retail and e-commerce search queries. Position one took 43.2% of clicks, position ten took 8.3%.
Position one took 43.2% of clicks, position ten took 8.3%.
| Position | CTR |
|---|---|
| 1 | 43.2% |
| 2 | 30.7% |
| 3 | 23.3% |
| 4 | 19.7% |
| 5 | 15.1% |
| 6 | 14.3% |
| 7 | 11.4% |
| 8 | 10.1% |
| 9 | 8.9% |
| 10 | 8.3% |
In 2011 there was very little original research on position-based clickthrough rates in search engine result pages. Most SEO companies were still quoting figures that predated the layout of the results page they were being applied to. We ran our own study in May 2011 and published the findings.
The figures are separate averages across a range of 50 to 300 selected phrases for each position, so the column does not total 100%. Many factors move CTR beyond ranking position, and those were outside the scope of this study.
The drop from position one to position two is 12.5 percentage points, larger than the entire gap between position five and position ten. Position one alone takes more clicks than positions four through ten combined. Positions six to ten sit inside a nine-point band, so movement in the lower half of page one changes far less than movement at the top.
These are 2011 figures from a single vertical in a single country, taken before Google added the SERP features that now sit above the organic block. They describe the shape of the curve rather than the absolute rates a site should expect today.
Dan Petrovic ·
May 15, 04:14
