“Over 30 percent of all clicks for all search terms visit the first result,’’ said Jonathan Allen, director of Search Engine Watch, an online trade publication. “The second position might get only 15 percent; the third might get less than 10 percent; and the fourth less than 5 percent.’’ So a company that gets into the top tier of search results could see a big increase in traffic and sales.
A site’s position on the search page is determined by mathematical formulas, or algorithms, which give high rankings to sites that are most likely to be useful. The search engine optimization firms are playing a kind of computer game. To win, they must convince the algorithms at Google or Bing that their client’s website deserves a high rank.
http://www.boston.com/business/technology/articles/2011/04/18/businesses_look_for_ways_to_achieve_top_placement_in_web_searches/?page=full
