Eyetracking 2016: Death of the Golden Triangle

March 8, 2016: A new study by analytics company Mediative, summarized on Moz.com, contains some eye-opening insights for marketers seeking visibility on mobile devices.

Eyetracking studies are valuable tools for objectively assessing user behavior. Didit was one of the first companies to conduct one, in partnership with Enquiro, and this study revealed the existence of the “Golden Triangle” representing maximum user interest.

While mobile users continue to focus the bulk of their attention on the top left area of the page, the radically diminished real estate on small devices is killing the traditional “F” pattern of scanning and clicking. Scrolling — or “vertical swiping” — is changing the game. And the traditional “fold” (originally defined as a 640×480 desktop browser window) is much smaller, forcing a larger proportion of SERP content below it. All of these new patterns are making themselves felt.

Here are some findings from the new study that illustrate the features of this new marketing environment:

1. A Google SERP on a mobile device is a completely different animal. Google’s SERPs are collapsed into a single column on mobile devices. There is no “right rail” sidebar. Consequently, right rail elements (which were pared down a couple of weeks ago) are stacked above the top organic results. These additional elements steal clicks from the “traditional” organic results subject to so much SEO competition. For example, when local or map listings were present above organic listings, almost 50 percent more clicks went to them.

What it means:
While traditional organic rankings still matter, having a presence in the Knowledge Graph listings, local listings, and map entries matters more than ever. Marketers must check to see that the information they submit to Google through Google Plus, Google My Business, and other products is accurate and complete.

2. Scrolling is often mandatory to even see organic results. While the top organic listing continues to account for 87 percent of clicks, this listing isn’t visible immediately on mobile devices. Because it’s replaced by right-rail items from the Knowledge Graph (AKA the “Knowledge Panel”), users must scroll to see any organic listings. Put another way, on mobile devices, organic listings are now completely invisible for many commercial queries unless the user takes action. And when users do finally scroll to view organic listings, they’re not going to scroll far: according to the study, only 7.4% of clicks were below the 4th organic listing versus 16% on a desktop.

What it means:
As Google demotes organic listings on both desktop and mobile devices, the paid alternative becomes more credible for marketers who must meet sales or lead quotas.  Marketers relying exclusively on SEO for traffic may have to revisit this position. At the same time, however, it’s clear that Google’s recent termination of the right rail as a spot for ad inventory is causing click inflation – at least for some verticals. Marketers must make sure that their conversion paths are smooth, offers are clear, and also market-competitive. Some may need to up their technology game in order to be able to bid aggressively enough to be visible without going broke.

Should you panic?

While mobile traffic continues to increase — and mobile searchers are now exceeding desktop searches — people are going to be using desktops for a long time ahead. Many business decision-related tasks – including research and due diligence – will continue to be performed on desktops during 9-to-5 weekday hours. If you’ve worked long and hard to get your business ranked well for certain business-driving terms, this traffic isn’t going to disappear overnight. Odds are that B2B firms will begin to feel any changes in mobile user behavior much later than B2C marketers will.

At the same time, however, it’s clear that marketers need to take inventory of visibility opportunities that they’d ignored before because they weren’t really material. Marketers need to be in the Knowledge Graph, they need to be in Google Maps, and they need to be in Google Plus. Some may profit from experimenting with paid listings, even if their initial forays weren’t successful, and despite the fact that Google’s recent UI changes have caused CPCs to rise for certain high-value keyword phrases.

As the world moves increasingly to mobile access, the winners will be those who best understand how this change affects search behavior, get out in front of it, and outcompete those who are less nimble in terms of adapting