HOW MANY PEOPLE CLICK ON THE SECOND PAGE OF SEARCH RESULTS? Teknicks surveyed more than 1,000 internet users to uncover their Google search behavior to determine just how far they'd go to find what they're looking for on the internet. More than 43% of survey respondents said they “wouldn't be very likely to scroll down the page to see additional results.” Roughly 56% said they would rather try a different search query or search engine than click on the second page of search results. In fact, page 2 and 3 of the search engine results get just 5.59% of the clicks on average for any given search.
Why you should care: Improving your content’s organic rankings on Google is important, but there’s a tremendous difference between ranking on page 1 or ranking on page 2 and beyond. People would rather type in a new search query than scroll down the first page of results, let alone click on the second page of search results. To have your program page move from position 57 to 34 in organic rankings for a program-related keyword is great, but likely will only result in an additional 2-3 clicks a month. Instead, focus on those keywords for which you already rank on page 2 or 3 and work hard to push them onto page 1 (top 10 results).
GOOGLE REVAMPS SNAPSHOT: Back in 2018, Google introduced Google Assistant Snapshot for Android and iOS devices, a tool meant to help mobile phone users stay on top of their daily tasks. Now, Snapshot is back with new features, like suggestions for new podcasts, restaurants, recipes, and more. Instead of Google-searching a dinner recipe, Snapshot could (in theory) predict that it's dinner time and as you swipe up on your phone, present you with a handful of dinner suggestions. Or, if you’re sitting on your front porch, Snapshot could suggest a new podcast for you based on your recent search history.
Why you should care: Search engines and automation are inching their way even further into our daily lives. Enrollment marketers need to realize that this is the type of convenience prospective students are growing accustomed to and are expecting. Since Snapshot utilizes search engine algorithms for its suggestions, there’s an even greater need for marketers to put out high-ranking content to recruit students to have any shot at showing up in Snapshot’s suggestions.
RANKING FACTORS FOR VOICE ASSISTANTS: With over 20% of the global online population using voice search, it begs the question, which types of content are most optimized for voice assistants? SEMRush uncovered that 80% of voice assistants’ answers come from the top 3 Google search results and 70% of answers come from featured snippets. The average word count of answers is 41 words. And posts with a readability that matches that of a 15-year old tend to rank higher for voice assistants.
Why you should care: Programs winning the SEO game will reap the benefits of more than just page traffic from the Google search results page. New technologies like voice assistants and VR that leverage Google’s algorithms will continue favoring top-ranking organic content. Content with clear question and answer formats and young adult reading levels will generally increase the chance that your pages will rank for voice assistants, which is especially valuable for when students ask about application deadlines, program requirements, and general campus information via a voice assistant.
You spend your life connecting people to their educational future—now, there’s an education community built for you, designed to give you the ideas, answers, and support you need to serve your school and your prospects better.