How Much Does it Matter for Your Business to Appear on the First Page of Google Search?

Google Search has dominated the search engine market ever since it was introduced in 1997. The market share of Google Search was 89.44 percent in the first quarter of 2016, which makes it the most popular search engine worldwide. Therefore, it is important for businesses not just to be visible on Google but to rank as high as possible.

According to the latest studies, over 90 percent of users never look at search results beyond the first page of Google. So this makes Google’s first search result page (SERP) quite significant. The first 10 searches on Google Search get nearly 94 percent of all clicks. This means you’ve already lost half the battle if your business listing is appearing on the second page of Google Search. And your website doesn’t exist for users if it is positioned anywhere after the second page.

Attracting one-third of all the clicks, the number-one position on Google Search brings in lots of new visitors and helps increase conversions. The following are some of the benefits of appearing on the first page of search results:

1. Tremendous business growth: A higher ranking can bring thousands of visitors to your website every day. To accommodate increased traffic, you may need to expand to a larger web server for your website. Also, new customers may recommend a product or a service that they were searching for when they clicked your website. This may give you beneficial customer and keyword data that you can use to your advantage.

2. Increase in sales leads: Sales is all about numbers. So the more people click on your website listing, the more people will end up calling you. According to experts, the top search results attract 42 percent of total traffic. Being in the top position allows your customers to find you easily. Leads are golden treasures. All businesses want them. Salespeople chase them. And with potential customers calling your business instead of your sales team calling them, it just doesn’t get better!

3. More business credibility: An increase in SERP not only boosts your sales, it also makes your business more credible. In the eyes of potential customers, just because your website listing appears on the first page of Google Search, it must still be reliable. So whether you are the large business owner or a small local business, better ranking increases the credibility of your business.

4. Reduced advertising costs: Inbound marketers generate most of their leads from search engines. So a better ranking on search pages can reduce your advertising costs. Your ranking may have a significant impact on the social media marketing, as well.

5. Advantage over competitors: The fact that you are ranking higher on Google Search (as compared to your competitors) indicates that your website is better than theirs. It gets even harder for your competitors to beat you when you keep working to update your website and keep it SEO-optimized.