In our last post “What is Click-Through Rate and How to Improve it For Paid Search” we covered all of the ins and outs of click-through rate. What it is, why it matters to SEO, and how you can improve your click-through rate in paid ads but where does CTR matter in organic search?
You’ve probably heard the term click-through rate in relation to paid advertising many times but did you know that click-through rate is an important metric to non-paid search as well?
In the back end of your ad analytics, there is a number that tells you how much money you’ve spent per click but outside of paid advertising, click-through rate is important in measuring the success of a variety of outlets including organic search, social media, email marketing and more.
Not only does CTR offer you a higher look at the success of your campaign but also has the potential to get down to the very details, with the ability to track a specific keyword (if that’s helpful to your marketing strategy).
Here we will cover why organic click-through rate is important, a variety of areas where organic CTR can be measured, and what you can do to improve your organic search click-through rate.
Why is the organic click-through rate important?
CTR in organic search is an integral metric that helps you determine the success of your SEO efforts. The first reason it’s important is that when you have a high CTR you are generating and increasing traffic to a designated page and getting more eyes on your content (ie article, contact form, home page, shop page).
The second reason organic CTR is important is that it informs Google’s algorithm and may be an influence in ranking your website. The more your pages beat the expected organic search traffic for a given position the more likely you are to appear in prominent organic positions.
Click-through rate will help you measure how often people are clicking on your content.
From here you can decipher what your audience is interested in. This will give you the information you need to decipher what isn’t working and make adjustments to your content, meta tags, keyword targeting, page experience to cater to what is working.
How Can I Measure My CTR?
In order to measure your click-through rate, you’ll need to determine the keywords that your website ranks for. The good news is that there are many helpful programs and tools that will help you do this! Google Search Console and Google Analytics are just a few that will help you extract keywords.
In your Search Console, you can not only get insights on search queries’ CTR but also measure click-throughs to landing pages, CTR by device, country and more.
You’ll then want to filter out any branded keywords that are specific to you so that your data is clean. This means that you are using unbranded keywords to better accurately gauge where you stand in the SERPS.
By applying a filter to exclude any branded searches, ie. queries that include your brand name, you’ll be able to learn more about your organic search performance within your industry. Only focusing on non-branded searches is more reflective of your overall SEO performance.
How Can I Improve My CTR from Organic Search?
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Research and use more long-tailed keywords:
Long-tail keywords are SEO gold and really ensure that you are matching your business offer to the intent behind the search. Using long-tail keywords can improve the volume of the organic searches you can rank for. The more long-tail keywords you rank for, the higher your chances to increase your click-through rate.
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Optimize Your Meta Descriptions:
Great meta descriptions are used to entice users to click onto your page. Search engines use these to tell the reader what they can expect when they click the link. In about 155 characters, take this as an opportunity to engage users to click on your link. This great Yoast article covers all the angles to help you write the perfect meta description.
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Add Images to Your Posts
Campaigns with images had a 42% higher click-through rate compared to those without. Images can engage the attention of your users faster than words and when used together can vastly improve your click-through rate. Where you can, using images is a great way to grab the attention of a user and provide more context to your content. This is also a way to add interest to things like a newsletter, blog post to break up blocks of copy and keep users engaged.
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Optimize Headlines
As reporter Steve Lor put it “headlines are numbingly literal-minded”. Headlines, like descriptions, are bold titles that are used to engage users and provide context to what your link is about but Google also wants them to be as direct as possible. There is a way to have both and every great content writer knows this. A powerful headline can include things like gripping language and will entice readers to want to continue reading.
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Improve Site Speed
Site speed is an important part of ranking well in SERPs. Google is highly concerned about user experience, so if your site is loading too slowly,Google may favour competing results over yours and your page could be pushed down. Our free PageSpeed Tool helps you identify the elements that are slowing your pages down and rectify them!
Have more questions about SEO? Contact us today or drop us a line on Twitter. We’re always happy to chat about everything SEO!
