Golden Triangle (Internet Marketing)
The Golden Triangle in internet marketing depicts the triangular viewing pattern on a webpage which is created by tracking eye activity of users. It is an eye-tracking heat-mapping that shows that people look and click on a specific area on a page of search results, which gives rise to an F pattern.
Origins
This term relates to search engine marketing strategies and was coined in 2005 during studies conducted by Enquiro, Eyetools, and DidIt to show which area on search result pages drew the most attention from viewers.[1]
In search engine marketing, companies try to place their websites in the top results for searches. Previously, it was believed that a website appearing on the first page of search engine results, and ideally higher on that page, was crucial. However, a trend emerged showing that only the top three results on a search engine page had high click-through rates, while subsequent results had very low click-through rates.
Enquiro, Eyetools, and DidIt conducted a study to better understand average search patterns and identify what differentiated a result ranked first from one ranked sixth on a search engine page.[1]
The study revealed that during a search, the majority of eye-tracking activity occurs in a triangle at the top of the search results page, indicating that the areas of maximum interest form a "golden triangle".
Implications
The increased click-through rates on the top three search results are attributed to user viewing patterns. Studies, including Google's, showed that users typically read the entire title and description of the top three listings, then the title and some of the description of subsequent results. As users scroll down the page, they tend to read only titles, and toward the end of the page, not even that.[1] This implies that a website's position on search results can significantly impact its traffic.
Usage
The Golden Triangle is the area of the page where users read the title and description of each search result, ultimately leading to higher click-through rates. For marketing purposes, positioning a website within the Golden Triangle of any search results page is key to increasing site traffic.
The study's findings suggest that search engine optimisation (SEO) marketing is most effective when a website ranks in the top three for your primary keyword. The Golden Triangle forces internet marketers to focus on crafting concise and relevant titles and descriptions for websites. SEO marketers should also use long-tail keywords to increase their chances of appearing within the Golden Triangle for less popular keywords.
Evolution
In October 2014, Mediative released a study[2] supporting the idea that the Golden Triangle phenomenon has diminished as search engine results pages and user behavior have evolved since 2005.
Due to the rise in mobile usage, search patterns have become more vertical than horizontal, showing similarities between mobile and desktop searches. Mediative released another study[3] in March 2016, analyzing consumer mobile search behavior on Google, further supporting this theory.
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 Eyetools, Google Search’s Golden Triangle, archived version retrieved 4 September 2014
- ↑ [1]"The Evolution of Google's Search Results Pages & Effects on User Behaviour".
- ↑ "How do consumers conduct searches on Google using a mobile device?". Mediative. Retrieved 2016-03-14.
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