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Not to be confused with the Bermuda Triangle, the golden triangle, as it’s come to be known, illustrates just how Internet users scan pages of search results from a search engine.

Research into how users eye movements scan a screen of search results have revealed that, perhaps unsurprisingly, those results appearing at the top of the page are more likely to be read or clicked.

The image (left) illustrates a triangular or 'F' shaped pattern highlighting the areas of most interest in an average search result. Like a heat map, the red and orange areas indicate the more intensively viewed areas of the page, while the cooler areas in blue and green at the right and bottom of the screen are viewed less.

The top 5 natural search results are 3 or 4 times more likely to be viewed than those appearing lower down the screen – below the fold, so to speak (where you would have to scroll down the page to see them).

In a nutshell – the higher your placing, the more likely you are to be seen. Obvious really, but achieving that high ranking often isn't as easy as it might sound.

Optimising your website to maximise your position is the best way to achieve a high natural search listing, but in highly competitive areas, this can be difficult, with literally millions of pages vying for those top spots.

So, for companies in highly competitive markets or with limited budgets, how do you get to the top?

Many companies invest significant budgets in pay per click advertising in an attempt to gain a higher position, but the research shows that ads placed in the banner to the right of the screen, even those in a high position, do not get viewed as much as the organic listings. A viewer’s focus seems to trail off as they pan across the screen toward the paid listings. Only those paid ads that appear above the first natural results appear to command any significant attention.

Research into the words or phrases your customers might use in a search can yield valuable and often surprising results. A search term like website design delivers over 93 million possible results. You've better odds of winning the lottery than getting to the top of that page! Equally, for the user, how do they distinguish from those millions of hits which are the most relevant?

Savvy users will incorporate additional phrases or key words into their search to try to narrow the field - a location, a brand name, etc. You can improve your chances of getting close to the top of the search results by predicting these terms and incorporating them into the metadata of your website.

© Amatica 05/10/2008