Why Being Near The Top Of Search Results Is Not Enough

Hardly a day goes by where I don’t search for something on the Internet and I don’t think that I’m unique in this. According to www.marketingsherpa.com, 65% of consumers use the Internet to find local businesses. Once we have done our search, we may not necessarily choose the first entry, but chances are that we’ll choose from the first page. 96% of search engine users choose sites that are listed on the first page. If your website is not listed, you simply don’t stand a chance of getting new business through that channel, and while it may not be important to you, consider that some businesses, including the ones that I do online marketing for, have achieved sales deep into the 6 figures from a click on a website.

65% of consumers use search engines to find local businesses.
96% of search engine users chose the sites that are listed on the first page.

Those figures make for a compelling argument to put in all effort to appear near the top of page one for your chosen search terms.
A good ranking does not guarantee customers. What about a good snippet.
Now for the bad news: after all that effort (and money) to get you onto page one, that is not a guarantee of gaining customers. There is a lot more that has to fall into place. For instance, what makes us choose one listing over the other can only be the text that appears on the screen, called the Meta Data Description, or the “Snippet”. Since you’re competing against an entire page of listing for a search term, suddenly that “Snippet” becomes very important. Below is an example of two snippets, the first with a call to action and specific useful information. A phone number could have been added in this case.

Compare that to the less detailed snippet below. We still know what the business does, but we don’t get the call to action.

Keep in mind though that Google determines where that snippet comes from. Sometimes it may be the Meta Tag descriptor and sometimes Google chooses text from that webpage.

Finally, the web site has to perform as well
Once you have a good ranking and a compelling snippet, there is a good chance that potential customers will click the link to your website. You now have a captive audience and one that already has a need for your services. Be sure that you don’t scare them away with a low-quality website.

Your recipe for success
If someone goes to the trouble of searching on the Internet, then they already have a need and are qualified potential customers. Those are usually very hard to find otherwise, so if a high ranking on search engines filters them out, then what better channel to find new business.

IF SOMEONE FINDS YOUR LINK ON AN INTERNET SEARCH, THEN THAT IS ALREADY A QUALIFIED LEAD.

Three things need to come together
If you make sure that three things come together:

1. a high search ranking with good SEO, AdWords, and digital marketing
2. a compelling reason to click on your website link with and finally
3. a good website design

then you have your recipe for success.
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