Why does a #1 Google ranking get so few clicks for a home service website?
On local searches, a home service site's position-1 spot is usually its map-pack listing. Taps on that listing go to the Google profile and to calls, not the website, so Search Console doesn't count them as clicks. That's why non-brand searches where a site averaged position 1 to 1.5 were clicked 0.65% of the time across 38 sites (Aug–Oct 2026).
- 91% of those position-1 impressions (32,514 of 35,713) came from searches that sent no website clicks at all in three months.
- Searches for the company's own name at position 1 to 1.5: 31.97% (17 sites).
- Positions 2.5 to 3.5, all sites pooled: 1.55%, but one site was 30.7% of those clicks (median site 0.67%).
- Page two (positions 10.5 to 20.5): 0.16%.
- 75.6% of non-brand impressions came from below position 10. Those brought 19.8% of non-brand clicks.
By Justin Hubbard, who runs Adimize and has owned and operated a junk removal and dumpster rental company for over 12 years
Based on 39 home service websites in Google Search Console, 1,171,659 non-brand impressions, Aug 1 - Oct 31, 2026
Why position 1 looks low
Search Console counts a map-pack appearance as an impression for the site, at the pack's position. It only counts a click when someone taps through to the website. Calls, direction requests and taps on the Google profile don't show up in Search Console. So on a local search a site can sit at position 1, look like nobody clicked, and still get the call through its profile. Across 38 sites, 91% of non-brand position-1 impressions came from searches that sent no website clicks in three months. The biggest single case was a search for a service plus a town name: the site averaged position 1.0, got 872 impressions and 0 clicks. To see what those listings are doing, look at calls, direction requests and website clicks in Google Business Profile, not click-through rate in Search Console.
Non-brand click-through rate by average position
| Average position | Click-through rate (all sites pooled) | Median site | Sites | Impressions | Clicks |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 to 1.5 | 0.65% | 0.75% (33 sites) | 38 | 35,713 | 233 |
| 1.5 to 2.5 | 0.8% | 0.63% (32 sites) | 38 | 32,986 | 263 |
| 2.5 to 3.5 | 1.55% | 0.67% (32 sites) | 35 | 23,669 | 368 |
| 3.5 to 5.5 | 0.93% | 0.85% (34 sites) | 38 | 38,773 | 360 |
| 5.5 to 10.5 | 0.53% | 0.45% (37 sites) | 38 | 154,659 | 822 |
| 10.5 to 20.5 | 0.16% | 0.14% (36 sites) | 38 | 225,029 | 349 |
| 20.5 and lower | 0.02% | 0.03% (37 sites) | 39 | 660,830 | 155 |
Where the non-brand clicks came from
| Measure | Value |
|---|---|
| Non-brand impressions | 1,171,659 |
| Non-brand clicks | 2,550 |
| Non-brand click-through rate, all positions | 0.22% |
| Share of non-brand clicks from positions 1 to 3.5 | 33.9% |
| Share of non-brand impressions below position 10 | 75.6% |
| Share of non-brand clicks from below position 10 | 19.8% |
What the numbers say
Ranking #1 for a non-brand search doesn't mean you get the click. At position 1 to 1.5, the median site's click-through rate was 0.75% (33 sites).
The curve isn't smooth. Positions 2.5 to 3.5 beat position 1 on the pooled number (1.55% vs 0.65%), but one site was 30.7% of the clicks in that bucket, and the median site there was 0.67%. This data doesn't show why, so don't read it as "position 3 beats position 1."
Page two is mostly impressions. Positions 10.5 to 20.5 got 225,029 impressions and 349 clicks. Below position 20, 660,830 impressions brought 155 clicks. If your Search Console impressions are climbing but clicks aren't, check where those impressions rank first.
Brand searches are a different game. When someone searched the company's own name and the site sat at position 1 to 1.5, the pooled click-through rate was 31.97% (17 sites). That number is concentrated: one site was 56.1% of those clicks. More on that split in brand vs non-brand clicks.
What to do with it: judge rankings by clicks and calls, not by position alone. Getting from page two onto page one is real work (pages built around the jobs and towns you actually serve, kept current), and it's how we approach AI search and SEO and website builds. For the bigger trend, see are organic clicks dropping.
How we got this
- Source: Google Search Console (Search Analytics, query level) for home service websites Adimize manages or audits.
- Window: Aug 1 to Oct 31, 2026. Sample: 39 sites, 63,828 query rows.
- Position is Google's average position for each query over the window, grouped into buckets. A query counts as brand when it contains a distinctive word from the site's own domain; everything else is non-brand.
- Zero-click share: impressions on non-brand position 1 to 1.5 query rows that got no clicks over the whole window, divided by all non-brand position 1 to 1.5 impressions (5,265 query rows, 38 sites). Search Console doesn't label which impressions were map-pack listings, so this is the closest signal in the data.
- The pooled click-through rate is clicks divided by impressions across every site in the bucket. The median site uses sites with 20+ impressions in the bucket and is shown only when 5 or more sites qualify.
- Exclusions: Removed clients and never-feature sites; a gym site, a non-trade site and Adimize's own sites. Rows with no query (anonymized queries) are not in query-level data, so totals are lower than site totals.
- Caveats: Query-level GSC data omits anonymized (rare) queries. Average position per query mixes days and devices.
FAQ
Why is my click-through rate so low when I rank #1 on Google?
On local searches, position 1 is often your map-pack listing. Search Console counts the impression but only counts taps through to your website, so calls, directions and profile taps don't show. In this data, 91% of non-brand position-1 impressions came from searches that sent no website clicks in three months. Check calls and direction requests in your Google Business Profile to see what those listings are doing.
What is a good click-through rate for a #1 Google ranking?
For non-brand searches in this data, the pooled rate at position 1 to 1.5 was 0.65% and the median site was 0.75%. For searches of the company's own name at position 1 to 1.5 it was 31.97%, but one site was 56.1% of those clicks.
Is ranking on page two of Google worth anything?
Not much in clicks. Positions 10.5 to 20.5 had a 0.16% click-through rate across 38 sites. Below position 10 as a whole, 75.6% of non-brand impressions brought 19.8% of non-brand clicks.
How do I check my own click-through rate by position?
In Google Search Console, open Performance, then Search results. Turn on Average CTR and Average position, then look at the Queries tab. Filter out searches for your own business name so brand searches don't inflate the number.
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From the Desk of Justin Hubbard
One move a week, every Sunday.
Short, useful, written from inside a $2M home service company. Read by 2,000+ service business owners.