How to Improve Your Website Click-Through Rate

Click-through rate is such an important factor for marketers whose primary goal is to connect with and further understand their potential customers. It gives you a basic blueprint that shows which types of webpages and campaigns succeed and which could use revision.

Furthermore, click-through rate can help increase your SEO success. A good CTR shows search engines that your pages are useful for visitors, validating the recommendation of your content and strengthening your authority.

It’s worth noting that although a good click-through rate can help you climb up SERP rankings, clicks alone aren’t the sole indicator of SEO health; bots and clickfarming are underhanded techniques that can artificially boost a website’s CTR, so major search engines like Google consider clicks important, but not the ultimate ranking factor.

Think of CTR as one of many contributing elements for SEO as well as a signpost for an SEO strategy that’s trending in the right direction.

What ends up boosting or hurting a CTR? Here are some of the most common factors to consider:

• URL structure. When someone performs a Google search, their results include a page’s URL. The recommended length is 75 characters. If the URL is too long or unhelpful, that person might conclude that it’s not what they’re looking for, or that the site is untrustworthy. Keep your URLs tight and on topic to indicate that your page is what visitors are looking for.

• Meta descriptions. A meta description, which is the text that describes a webpage on a search result, is more than just a brief rundown of a webpage with some important keywords placed in it. Think of it like a chance to capture your target audience’s attention while explaining what they’ll experience if they click on to your page. It’s one of the key factors in making an impression directly on the SERP. Recommended length of a meta description is 105 characters.

• Rich snippets. In a search result, a rich snippet lands underneath a specific result, often adding extra information such as a starred rating. These additions give visitors further incentive and peace of mind to click a result. Ensure that your site’s structured data is set to signal to Google which type of rich snippets you wish to capture.

• Mobile optimization. Website traffic across the internet has gone increasingly mobile. People have grown accustomed to the convenience of an internet browser in their pocket. As such, your website should be structured to deliver a mobile-friendly experience.
  Content quality. They say content is king and this still holds true. If you consistently create well-researched, creative and insightful content, that is on-topic and relevant, your CTR will get a boost. This is particularly important for organic CTR, which measures how well your non-paid SERP listings are performing; the higher you rank your content in search engines, the larger your share of clicks for specific keywords and search queries will be.

• Headline efficacy. A good headline can turn heads, as it’s a way to creatively signal to potential visitors that the content you’ve created inside your page is what they’re in need of. Make sure headlines are direct and to the point that they discuss, and don’t be afraid to use questions in headings to direct visitors to the questions they need answered. Once visitors land on your page, heading hierarchy is important too, with subheadings nesting logically in overarching sections where appropriate.