All rich results in Google SERPs are not created equal – at least not when it comes to click-through rate – a new study finds.
Milestone Research, the research division of Milestone Inc., analyzed over 4.5 million queries to find users click on rich results 58% of the time, compared to a CTR of 41% for non-rich results.
Perhaps it’s not shocking that users are more likely to click on rich results compared to regular organic results.
What is eye opening about this study is how much CTR can vary depending on the type of rich result.
For some types of rich results the CTR can jump as high as 87%.
The study also looks at branded versus non-branded results and which is likely to generate more clicks.
Here are some takeaways from the study that can help marketers earn more clicks from organic search results.
Google SERP Study: Key Takeaways
The average CTR of all rich and standard results on page one is 49.5%.
That means roughly half of all searches will lead to a click on an organic result.
The remaining 50.5% is comprised of no-click searches, clicks on paid ads, and voice searches.
As mentioned, rich results have an above-average CTR of 58%, and non-rich results fall below average at 41%.
Rich results with branded keyboards tend to do slightly better with a CTR of 60%.
Two types of rich results, AMP and FAQ, are analyzed individually in more detail.
AMP = Highest & Lowest CTR
AMP is simultaneously responsible for both the highest and lowest CTR included in the study.
Non-rich AMP results generate the greatest amount of clicks per 100 searches, with a CTR of 92%.
AMP articles, on the other hand, have the lowest CTR of only 15%.
An AMP article is the rich version of an AMP result. So it’s far more beneficial to get an AMP article indexed in standard results compared to the top stories carousel.
FAQ = Highest Performing Rich Result
FAQ rich results, including branded and non-branded keywords, have an average CTR of 87%.
Milestone Research says that’s the highest of any rich result type studied.
If you take branded keywords out of the equation, the CTR for FAQ rich results climbs to 91%.
Video Rich Results Also Perform Well
Video thumbnails are showing up in more than a quarter of search results, according to the study.
The CTR for video rich results, including brand and non-brand keywords, is 62% making it one of the top performing rich result types.
In contrast to FAQ rich results, videos get more clicks in Google Search when there’s brand keywords in the query.
The CTR for video rich results with brand keywords is 65%, compared to 50% for results without brand keywords.
Milestone Research notes that videos in Google’s thumbnail carousel come from YouTube over half the time, making it the top recommended platform to upload videos.
In Summary
An effective strategy for implementing structured data, and earning rich results in the process, has the potential to double your performance in organic search results.
For more information on how to implement FAQ structured data, and on structured data in general, see the resources below:
Download the full study here.
