A New F-Word for Google Search Results

A joint study conducted by search marketing firms Enquiro and Did-it and eye tracking firm Eyetools examined the eye movements of users viewing Google search result pages.

It was found that most viewers looked at results in an "F" shaped scan pattern, with the eye travelling vertically along the far left side of the results looking for visual cues (relevant words, brands, etc) and then scanning to the right, as if something caught the participant's attention.

With both organic and sponsored search results, higher ranking results were thus viewed more often. This may explain why people continue to favor organic listings over paid search listings, unless the paid search listing is at the top of the page.

This suggests that a well-balanced search marketing campaign should incorporate both well-crafted search engine optimization efforts as well as paid listings to capture the full range of searcher behaviour.

Read the full article at http://searchenginewatch.com/searchday/article.php/3488076

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