Both first and last click play key roles in conversion rates

When it comes to online search, the first click may be as important as the last click in producing conversions, according to new research from 360i and SearchIgnite.

A study of 3.9 million users and 5.1 million clicks during the first quarter found that the highest conversion rate (9.3%) came when the user’s first click and last click on a marketer’s paid search ads were both brand terms. But when the first click is on a non-brand term and the last click is on a brand term, the conversion rate is almost as high (8.73%), according to the study.

In addition, the more times a consumer clicks on a marketer’s ad, the more likely that consumer is to convert, the researchers reported. When marketers run paid search campaigns, 25% of conversions from the campaign occur from consumers who click more than one of the marketer’s ads.

Purchasers click an average of 15% more of the marketer’s ads than consumers who don’t complete a transaction. And consumers who click a marketer’s ads 10 times are three times as likely to convert as consumers who click an ad only once, the study found.

Conversions also rise as consumers enter more unique keywords. Consumers entering multiple unique keywords accounted for 8.39% of the sample studied, but they accounted for 19.2% of transactions, the study found.

The researchers concluded that marketers may be giving brand terms far more credit for conversions than those keywords deserve.