Tire kickers & ranking

Kind of the opposite of what I'd expect

[eljefe3]

I've been tracking conversions on a number of different sites/products for the last couple of years and I've noticed a trend lately that is the opposite of what I would have thought. When I have a rank in the top 3 the conversion ratios are much higher then when the site ranks in the 5-10 area.
I would have thought that there were more tire kickers looking at the first three SERP's then when they finally make it down to the 5-10 spots. Instead it seems to be the opposite in that the first three spots the surfer finds their product and orders, whereas when they make it down farther they want to keep looking to compare prices, etc.

Anyone else have any info/data to share about rank and conversions?

[DaveN]

eljefe3,

totally agree we ran a 3 site plan same product and database different front end and prices.

#1 - 3 most expensive site target "single keyword"

#5 - 10 competively priced target "discount keyword"

#10 - 99 rock bottom prices target "cheapest keyword"

DaveN

[mfishy]

It doesn't seem like it would be the case, but I find the exact same thing.

Pages that rank higher seem to convert better.

I once read a study that said search engine users consider sites that are ranked at the top of results to be "better".

[FleaPit]

Sounds fairly logical that the higher the serps the more traffic you get and the higher conversion rate. As the saying goes, it's always better to get your shot in first!

[MrSpeed]

On a related note it's a little surprising how many #20 results get clicked on.

My theory is that by the time they're at page two they're open to just about anything. By the time they've scrolled down they would rather click on #20 than to scroll back up.

I have not gathered any data to see what this means in conversions though.

[Robber]

I guess it could be that if the user is clicking on a lower rank result it is because the search engine's relevancy was not as good so they had to drill down. The website they arrive at may still not be exactly what they after hence the poorer conversions.

Perhaps!