Best position for sales conversion

[bostonseo]

Just curious what people think is the best position for conversion.

I market a website where people request free information via a form. My competitors basically have the same free offering as well. I've tried to stay #1 all the time, but am always curious if maybe the #2 position converts better.

It's hard to due a true test on Google because you cannot really control your position - you can get very close if you want to be #2 or #3 - but you cannot totally control your position like you can with Yahoo.

Any thoughts based on your experience what is the best position? Especially if your website just captures information and you product-service is free.

[poster_boy]

Positions lower than #1 have converted slightly better - as they're more qualified 'shoppers' at that point - but, more often than not, I'll take more traffic that performs slightly less well over trying to maintain a higher ROI.

[bostonseo]

Yes lead volume is the primary focus so we really need to maintain a position in the top 3 ad spots. Was just curious if anyone had done any testing that supports that
#2 is better than #1, etc.

[poster_boy]

In my industry, testing has shown that it is.

[Robsp]

I second that for a wide range of industries. On b2b the best conversion spot is on average slightly lower than in consumer campaigns.