A Click through Rate, or CTR is the ratio of clicks to impressions on a digital advertising campaign. It is calculated by dividing the number of clicks by the overall impressions. The result is usually presented in percentages.
Importance of Click through Rates
CTRs hold extreme value for understanding digital advertising performance. It gives you the benchmark for measuring the marketing campaign and its performance.
CTRs are also useful in measuring how a campaign performs across various advertising channels, such as banners, videos and other types. Thus, you can determine the most suitable advertising media to invest in the next campaign.
Organic Click through Rates
We reside in an era where organic is every-thing. From organic food, to organic social media likes, people are becoming more concerned about what goes in their food and in their social media feeds.
Organic CTR is no different in importance. It refers to the percentage of users who have clicked on a search engine result, which in your case would be your website’s URL. If you focus on improving organic CTR, you will improve your Google search ranking.
10 Impressive Ways for Improving your CTR
Organic CTR is essential for the growth of your business. It helps you to improve your SEO and hence, increase traffic, and conversions on your website. Here are ten sound ways of improving your CTR:
- Using Long Tail Keywords
- Don’t Forget Meta Descriptions
- Use Visuals in your Posts
- Optimize your URLs
- Simplicity is the Key
- A/B Test your Headlines on Social Media Platforms
- Identify the Winners and Losers
- Speed is Essential for your CTR
- Build High Converting Landing Pages
- Localize your Content
- Using Long Tail Keywords
In one of my earlier blogs (please insert blog link) I mentioned the difference between long tail keywords and short tail keywords. While short tail keywords are suitable for generic searches, long tail keywords send the audience right to you. It is like an absolute bull’s eye. Using long tail keywords in your headings, and title tags will match the content to search intent. They are highly descriptive. For instance, if you sell pink polka dot hand bags for toddlers and use it as a key word, the person looking for such a product will be directed to your website, without having to go through a hoard of other options.
Long tail keywords have less competition which gives you a higher chance to shine.
You can use keyword research tools to find long tail keywords that meet the user intent.
- Don’t Forget Meta Descriptions
Meta descriptions are another great way of improving organic CTR. Meta descriptions are snippets of text which appear below the title tag in the SERPs. Optimize your meta descriptions by answering questions that might be lingering at the back of the user’s minds. Craft a meta description that is to the point and apropos. You have only 160 characters, make it count.
Language is the most useful and powerful tool in digital marketing. Use persuasive language which will charge the users emotionally to elicit fruitful responses to improve your Click through Rate.
Many use meta descriptions to describe their product. You need to take it a step further. Do not just write the details about your product, write something meaningful. You can even add a link saying “learn how”, to direct the people to a landing page, or customer reviews etc.
- Use Visuals in your Posts
We are visual beings. We enjoy watching movies, more than reading books. At leasti do. It is a common practice to include images in post. But only a few know the trick to improve the CTR and boost engagement.
By using images, and videos in your posts, you get multi thronged exposure on search engines: the search page, the image page and the video search results. Hence, the chances of your URL being clicked is also increased.
- Optimize your URLs
URL is one of the first pieces of information the user interacts with and is shown on SERPs. Using descriptive URLS can improve organic CTR. Make it natural, do not push words into the URL that do not produce. It should not be a hodgepodge of words, rather must look natural. It will reinforce the topic your post is about, and tell users that your content is relevant.
It does not mean that you should make your URLs unnecessarily long either. Keeping it short makes it easier for the user to read, and enhances its attraction.
- Simplicity is the Key
Your title tag is one of the pieces of information which is displayed on the SERPs. Take your time to format it properly. I suggest keeping it simple. People usually skim through search results to find the one they find most relevant. A simple title is clear, and easy to understand, resulting in more clicks on your page.
You can also include your brand name in the title to leverage your corporate. It is a great tip for people who have already developed an authority in their niche. But keep your brand name in the end of the title. Do not front load it. Because it looks more like an advertisement than a useful page.
Also, make sure your title is clear and visible in the search results. You can use Avid Demand to get a hint of what your content might look like on the SERPs.
- A/B Test your Headlines on Social Media Platforms
Newspapers always used to keep the most important piece of news on the forefront and used as a headline to drive their sales. Headline is the first impression, and your first chance to compel users to click on your article. Make sure it resonates and vibe with your audience.
You can test it on social media to understand how people will react to it. Publish the same article on various platforms, with different titles. The headline that attracts the most audience, is the headline to use.
- Identify the Winners and Losers
Assess your website and determine the winners and losers of your current page. Calculate which pages, titles and content is performing well, and poorly. It is not as difficult or complex as it sounds. You can use Google Analytics for this purpose. You will find all the information such as clicks, impressions, CTR and SERP of your page through Google Analytics without putting in much effort.
- Speed is Essential for your CTR
Site speed is essential. Google prioritizes Page experience as ranking factors. If your website takes more than 3 seconds to load, people will quickly bounce off, hence negatively affecting your organic CTR. With continuously increasing competition, you need to think on your toes. Use Ubersuggest to check the speed of your website.
- Build High Converting Landing Pages
Landing pages are an important part of your marketing strategy. They are an excellent source of traffic, granted they are designed well. You need to understand their anatomy and its important organs, such as headlines, quality images, quality of videos, calls to action etc. Also, optimize for UX.
- Localize your Content
Thanks to the increasing use of mobile devices it is easier to track the audience and their location. Use this to your advantage by creating localized content for SMEs. Localized content gives you the chance of efficiently targeting your audience and receive high intent customers. You can add location in your content, or meta description. You can also list your brand on Google My Business to put yourself on th map. Offer relevant information, and what is more relevant than seeing your location in a website.
It also puts a sense of trust in audience, and they might end up making a purchase from your brand even if they are not aware of your brand that well.
Conclusion
Organic CTRs are a great way of improving your business sales and optimizing your SEO. Just craft your CTR strategies that yield results and are not a waste of time. For many of the strategies, you do not have to put in extra steps. All you need to do is put in more effort to your work. For instance, meta descriptions are a must. Instead of going the typical route of using meta description box to describe your product, make it a way of interacting with your audience in a concise manner. Provide enough information to make them trust you, but not so much that they won’t click on your website due to lack of curiosity.
Similarly, understand your website, and all the elements related to it to reap the maximum benefits of CTR.
