#SEOTips: Killer Strategies for Increasing Click-Through Rates

Holidays are approaching fast ‘n’ furious whether you like it or not! This has nothing to do with my SEO tips, but I think it’s important you know. There are many ways to lead to better click through rates, but I’m going to tell you about four simple methods to put on your tool belt.

First, let’s talk about the pros of increasing your CTR. The bottom line with improving your CTR results is site credibility. The higher your click-through rates, the higher your quality score will be in Google’s Ad Rank formula. But! Don’t get confused on the outcome or result of a high CTR score. While a high rank can increase your credibility, it does not measure business. High CTR will measure your ability to effectively speak to your intended audience. If you are gaining click-through rates, you are accomplishing step one of your business tactic, which is enticing people to click on your ads. Congrats 🙂

Let’s get to these strategies I was talking about now that we understand the benefits.

1. The impact of PageRank to CTR

In order to have good click-through rates, you must first work on your PageRank. If you’re not up to par in your PageRank, visit past SEO tips to catch up! There are lots of simple, gradual tweaks you can start making with your page to increase rank, starting with building keyword lists.

After you’ve started gaining some traction in PageRank and you begin checking CTRs, don’t be discouraged by the low numbers. Generally, first position rankings only score as high as 25% CTR. This is normal.

2. Organic and paid relationship results (oo-la-laaa!)

Have your paid and organic search met one another? They should! Google studies have shown when your organic and paid searches land on the same SERP, click-through rates rise naturally. The higher your organic listing is ranked, the higher your CTR will soar. In order to make a better connection with your paid and organic searches, Google AdWords has a feature allowing you to compare data between organic and paid. This way, you can see what works best in both areas and adjust accordingly.

3. Boosting rich snippets for increased CTR

In a recent SEO post, we discussed SERPs and how there are generally a mix of blog links, photos, directions, etc. on each SERP. A rich snippet is exactly this, images and people-related results on SERPs.

In the example above, I searched the new iPhone and rich snippets for Verizon show up on the right side. The most popular rich snippets include real people selling a product rather than a brand. If you can help it, when you publish any sort of blog or product, put a face to the brand and product. This will greatly increase your CTR.

4. Break out the copywriting strategies

When writing ad copy, keep these strategies in mind to best speak to your audience:

• Use action-oriented verbs to invite the reader to do something. Tell them what they can do, guide your readers.
• Offer perks (if you can and within reason). Readers are more likely to take action when you offer free shipping, free demos, free downloads….people like free things, that’s all you need to know.
• Be proactive in creating meta description copy. The meta description is the first selling point your readers will see. Think of it as your first impression, make it a good one. Be personable and friendly. After all, nobody likes talking to a robot!

A lot of SEO can be trial and error. My best advice is to be resilient and open to trying new things, often. Don’t give up and don’t be discouraged. There are endless steps to take to ace this stuff, you can do it, you’re smart. Keep it up!

The Branchers

We build the best damn marketing campaigns on the planet. And we do it for industries and companies you might not identify as easy to market (right away). Working here takes a very special kind of person.