Traffic is the lifeblood of your website.
So finding ways to get more of it is essential.
And how can you get more organic traffic?
Increase your organic click-through rates.
How much do increased organic click through rates impact page ranking on google?
There has been a huge amount of speculation in the search marketing industry over the past couple of years...
We look to delve into the subject further, whilst also spreading our wisdom on exactly how to get more organic traffic to your website by improving CTRs.
What Is Organic Click Through Rate and Why Does It Matter?
Is there a definite answer to the question of how much organic click through rates impact ranking?
Nope!
However, there are clear signs that improving click through rates can have an impact on your rankings, indirectly.
If you can up your game, improve your rankings and increase organic traffic for free, who cares whether the impact is direct or indirect?
As long as you see the results, it’s well worth your time!
Just to reiterate then, Google (as far as we know) doesn’t use CTR’s as a direct ranking factor.
BUT if you increase search traffic via better click-through rate, it sends big signals to Google that your content is relevant and engaging, so this is something not to be ignored!
Are you ready to become an organic traffic generation master and start enticing those clicks and increase your website traffic?
Keep reading...
How to Increase Organic Click Through Rates: What Do You Need to Do?
1. Optimise Your Meta Title
Your meta title and description gives you a voice in the SERPs.
A voice that can connect you to a customer or an end user, so why would you not optimise it?
Think of your meta data as an organic ad!
Let’s start with optimising your meta title tag.
It’s usually best to lead with the main keyword you want to be ranking for, but ensure it’s mixed in with catchy, readable and engaging prose.
SEO is moving further away from emphasis on keywords and more towards engagement and quality on page content.
Keyword research is still vital yes, but don’t rely on it, there’s nothing worse than surfing through boring overly ‘keyword optimised’ headlines.
Stand out and engage your audience!
Try and make your meta title 70 characters or less, you don't want to run the risk of google truncating your message.
2. Optimise Your Meta Description
The same can be said for your meta description, this is where you can explain in more detail what your end user will find once they click through to your content.
Like the meta title, try to lead with your main keyword, Google will bold this if it matches a users direct search query, immediately making the start of your description stand out.
When writing your meta description, aim to keep it under 160 characters, that way there's no playing chance with what google will show and you'll avoid any truncation.
How else can you use your meta data to stand out in the SERPs? Use numbers!
Research by content marketing specialists 'Conductor' found that using numbers can boost your CTR rate by 36%! Including things like prices, dates etc can really make your title and description stand out from the competition.
Meta descriptions don't have the same ranking authority as page titles.
But if you make them as catchy and enticing as possible, they are an excellent way to help increase your organic click-through rates!
3. Get Emotional
We don’t mean blub uncontrollably, we mean use emotional hooks!
People will click like crazy when they’re engaged on an emotional level.
If you can instil high levels of joy, excitement, anticipation and others into your headlines and descriptions, you’ll see those average click through rates soar!
Take the title of this article for instance, “7 Crazily Effective Ways to Boost Organic Click Through Rates”.
It uses the below tried and tested headline template…
The Format (List, Quiz, Facts) – Emotional Hook (Crazy, Insane, Shocking) – Content Type (Click through rates, Strategies, Quotes) – Reason to Engage (Get your business seen, How to defeat Rankbrain) etc.
You see these templates used every day across the web, don’t mistake them for ‘clickbait’ articles, as long as the content at the end of the rainbow is engaging and relevant, you’re on to a real winner!
4. Use ‘Power Words’
A passive audience is the death if you want to increase organic click through rates!
Catch their attention and interest with ‘power words’ that highlight your content and it’s unique selling points like; Premium, Huge, Powerful, Discover, Instant.
5. Create A Strong Call to Action
Under the same remit of avoiding a passive audience, using strong calls to action will ensure your audience interacts with content.
Using phrases like “Buy Now”, “Discover Today”, “Get Your Quote Now” all inspire your audience to take an action and see much higher CTR’s compared to ad copy that doesn’t include them.
You don’t have to be Shakespeare to write a solid CTA.
Many marketers out there will attest to this, especially when testing copy for PPC ads.
6. Research Your Competition
There’s absolutely no point putting all that time and effort into writing your headlines and descriptions only to find out that it looks exactly the same as your competitors in the SERPs.
These days your competition can have a strong say in where your page will rank.
If they update their content and it’s much better than yours, guess who’s more likely to rank highest?
A good first port of call is to see who else is ranking for search queries you want to rank for.
For instance, perhaps you have a landscape gardening business based in and around London, do some research around the term “landscape gardening london".
Check out the below organic listings for the search query...
A first look at the above will indicate a lot of your competitors are trying to overly optimise their listings by keyword stuffing, which Google really hates.
There’s room for improvement, which means you’re in a good position to top them!
Did you notice how hardly any of the above companies are using any numbers in their listings?
Perhaps try placing some prices or dates in your listing to make you stand out.
Look at their titles too, not much to choose between them right?
Try the trick of using the ‘pipe’ symbol to segment your title, something like the below…
Beautiful Garden Landscaping | London | Affordable Prices
Not only does this technique make your SERP listing unique, it allows you to outline more than one unique selling point that’s concise and to the point.
Give it a go!
7. Test Your Headlines
Never put all your eggs in one basket.
The beauty of digital marketing is that it provides numerous platforms to test your content.
Facebook and Twitter are the ideal places to start.
Come up with 4 or 5 variants of your headline and test them out.
To compare data use Facebook’s ‘Insights’ and Twitter’s ‘Analytics’, both will give you fairly precise indications of how your content is performing.
Measure your engagement and google click through rates over a period of time and once you’ve found a winner, use that on your latest piece of content and watch those clicks roll in!
Conclusion
Improving your click through rates to grow organic traffic is a no brainer.
More traffic and higher engagement signals aren’t metrics to be sneered at.
All the above insights on how to increase organic click through rates are tried and tested methods that really do get results!
Now it's time to give them a go yourself...
Make low CTR’s a thing of the past today!
About Andy Jones
I'm an SEO and Digital Marketing specialist with over 10 years experience in e-commerce and online.
I have a wealth of knowledge in all Digital Marketing disciplines, including; PPC, SEO, email, affiliates and UX.
Over the past few years I have held the position of in-house SEO Specialist at household names such as Office Depot and Mothercare. I have vast experience in devising and implementing successful content and technical organic strategies, as well as being involved in 'hands on' on-page optimisation, content writing, keyword research, PR outreach campaigns and more.