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We're #1! We're #1!
September 27, 2005
The fascination with a number one ranking has been part of the American psyche since the AP first named Minnesota the top hit in 1936. The fact that it was Minnesota likely wasn't the primary factor in catapulting rankings to the forefront of the collective mind, I'm guessing, although some allowance has to be made for a potential disproportionate preponderance of Minnesotan thought-leaders influencing the culture of the time, however unlikely that may seem today. Rather, and more likely, the phenomena of having a third party point to a single entity as the best of a list was the rub that our competitive spirits just couldn't help but notice, and immediately believe to be legitimate.
Almost 70 years later we find the same inability to ignore a top ranking digitally, and not just by the companies who covet that spot; it is the fans here too, the searchers searching for the most efficient route to the best answer to their queries, who seemingly cannot look past the top spot. 42% will click nowhere else but there, according to the latest study amplifying what most search marketers routinely see in client logs.
I believe this phenomenon stretches back to polls like the one I mentioned because I have seen it to be this way digitally across the lifespan of this industry and across every industry that we have ever tried to help gain a top spot at Intrapromote. When we have succeeded we really never even needed the confirmation of a rankings check the traffic surge was so obvious, and when a top spot slips even to number two there also is the same obvious reason to try to quickly regain, as the likelihood of a click plummets to 8%. 42 - 8 is a point spread Minnesota circa 1936 would even have had a tough time surmounting, black hat or non.
see all posts by John Lustina
posted by John Lustina at September 27, 2005 12:21 AM
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