Do Search Engine Rankings Still Matter?

Great article, and I agree 100% that rankings do matter despite the variations from personalised search (which are quite small on the grand scale of things).

Re the lack of heat on the google search bar – my theory is that people search from their in-browser search bar (which weren’t really around in 2005) and probably go back there to refine their search, thus bypassing the on-page search bar altogether. Could this explain it? Finally, I want to second Eduard’s comment in pointing out Avinash Kaushik’s comment in the article, which is spot on. No permalink but I’ve reproduced it below:

Two things to be very cautious about (when looking at any piece of data):

1] Methodology.
2] Sample size.

In this case, from the Think Eyetracking blog, the search term that was used was Oasis. If you were looking for the band the first few results are actually so strong that you would be silly to scroll any further.

The search term influences where people look, what they do. The "map" for "digital cameras" might be very different (actually is very different).

The sample size is 30. Hardly enough to make the kind of extrapolations that we are making in 37 prior comments about global customer behavior.

So: (Methodology and Sample Size) + Relevance to you = Magic. : )

-Avinash.

PS: Let me hasten to add that I am not saying the first three results are not important, I am not arguing against the need for a robust SEM (SEO + PPC) strategy. I am simply trying to caution against jumping to conclusions without a proper internalization of what is behind the data.

Seems to me that SEO is only becoming more important as we are now dealing with ever more people who grew up with reasonably good search than those who did not. As for perceived laziness, I think that can largely be explained by a large gap in consumer understanding of SEM in general in an ever faster paced world.

I think part of it depends on the user… it’s not realistic to look at everyone on the web as one large demographic and expect them to behave the same.

As advanced internet users, we probably automatically behave differently than new or less experianced users do.

I personally scan the first 5 or so results, and if nothing that I like appears, I refine my search.

Nice study, but I think Avinash has a very valid point in the comments there at when it comes to making conclusions without taking in account the methodology and the sample size.
Besides that I think search engine listings have definitely lost their importance as a KPI for measuring the succes of SEO. I just wrote an article about that at Yoast.com "Measuring SEO: why rankings are worthless":
http://yoast.com/measuring-seo-rankings/

I am actually not the least bit surprised that people interact less with the search engines. Most people who use the internet aren’t aware of the changes that have occured in search, nor do they care, to them number one for the search term means that this site must have exactly what I’m looking for. Plus people are generally becoming smarter with their search terms as well. More targeted search leads to better results and often times. One and Two will be your best bets.

I don’t believe that being #1 for one or two keywords is all you should be concerned with. Search phrasing is getting more complex, long tailing is more important.
I do agree 100% that people don’t continue looking past the first page most of the time. They will just change the search parameters.
Great Article.

Guy, pleeease do not look at your own behavior! What is the percentage of the internet/search savvy people of the whole searches? Yes. Thank you.

I think that in reality the searchers are getting lazier. Searchers are not scanning results, but rather making assumptions that top results are on target. Google’s personalized search results are creating tunel vision for many searchers. I think the eye patterns prove that out.

I think that this report may be somewhat misleading… if I look at my own behavior, it’s true that I will only look at the first 3-4 results when search. If I see that my search hasn’t brought relevant searches to the top three, I start again with a new search… once my search has been interrupted by relevant results… I then begin to scan the page further.

It all depends on the search results though! :)