Your click-through rate is one of the most important metrics to monitor. In fact, many people see their CTR as the most important measure of their online marketing campaigns. But what impact does your CTR have on your SEO? Conversely, how does your SEO affect your click-through rate?
With so many aspects to consider, we take a look at the relationship between click-throughs and SEO success. Read on to find out how to enhance your SEO and increase your CTR…
What is CTR?
Your click-through rate, or CTR, tells you how many people have clicked on a link to your website. If 100 people see your advert and 10 people click on it, for example, you would have a click-through rate of 10%.
A well-executed marketing campaign includes persuading users to visit your website or landing page. The first step is getting your advert in front of your target market. A high number of views or ‘impressions’ means that your adverts are being displayed in a good position.
The second element involves increasing the number of people who actually click on your link. With well-written adverts, for example, you can enhance your CTR and see an increase in your traffic.
Increasing your click-through rate means that more people are clicking on links and, therefore, visiting your site. Furthermore, high click-through rates are linked to better rates of conversions too. As well as sending more traffic to your site, a higher CTR should mean that your sales increase accordingly.
Ultimately, a healthy CTR indicates that your online marketing campaigns are working. By hooking prospective customers with your marketing content, you’re enticing them to visit your site. At this point, you can deliver substantially more content and persuade them to engage with your brand.
Does SEO affect click-through rates?
Absolutely. Search engine optimisation determines where your webpages rank for specific keywords. If you’re the first result when people search for ‘bakeries in London’, for example, more people are going to see your advert. When compared to ranking on the third or fourth page, for example, the number of impressions you will receive is dramatically different.
When your adverts receive fewer impressions or views, less people will be clicking on your links too. On one hand, this isn’t too problematic. Consider the following example:
Advert on page 1 of Google receives 10,000 impressions and 1,000 clicks = 10% CTR
Advert on page 4 of Google receives 10 impressions and 1 click = 10% CTR
Statistically, your CTR remains the same in both instances. This means your content is working well and is persuading 10% of users who see your ad to click on it. In reality, however, there is a significant difference between getting one click and getting 1,000!
By increasing your impressions, you can, therefore, increase your CTR too. To achieve this, you’ll need to enhance your SEO and improve your rankings.
Fine-tuning your marketing content will, of course, have an impact on your click-through rate but, if no-one is seeing your ad, then they can’t click on it. By using SEO to rank highly for relevant keywords, you can increase your organic CTR. As a result, your web traffic will increase, as will the potential rate of conversions.
Does CTR affect search engine optimisation?
This one is a little bit trickier but bear with us and we’ll explain. Google is notoriously secretive when it comes to their ranking algorithms. We know that some factors, such as the quality of your content, undoubtedly affect your SEO rankings.
However, Google has been reluctant to confirm or deny all the factors they take into account when ranking sites. This has led to differing opinions over what really matters when it comes to SEO. Despite this, most SEO experts now agree that your click-through rate does have an impact on your rankings.
Search engines set a baseline of how they expect a webpage to perform in terms of CTR. If your ad is current halfway down page two of the search results, for example, Google might expect you to have a click-through rate of 3%.
If your advert starts over-performing and your CTR soars to 15%, for example, Google is going to start wondering why. Furthermore, it will be keen to capitalise on your success and should, therefore, rank your webpage more highly.
Conversely, if Google expects your advert to have a CTR of 3% and you’re only achieving 1.1%, this could send you further down the rankings.
Whilst this hasn’t been confirmed by Google itself, the latest data does appear to show that your CTR will impact on your SEO rankings. Due to this, it’s important to keep your CEO to the baseline level or above it.
Increasing your CTR
In essence, SEO and CTR have a symbiotic relationship. They are innately linked and typically perform best when they are both fully optimised. Due to this, it’s important to implement effective SEO strategies. Similarly, you’ll want to monitor your CTR to determine how successful your SEO campaigns are.
Whilst the relationship between CTR and SEO is important, don’t lose sight of the value of CTR as a single entity. When people are clicking on your links, it means they’re visiting your site. This is the main aim of any SEO activity, so a high CTR should always be welcomed.
To achieve consistently high CTRs, however, you’ll need to put the effort in with your SEO. Fortunately, help is at hand. If you want to learn more about improving your SEO performance, why not get in touch with us?
With in-house SEO experts ready to answer your burning questions, we can provide all the info you need when it comes to enhancing your SEO, boosting your CTR and increasing your ROI! To talk to a member of the team, contact ClickSlice now on 020 3287 3638.
