10 Ways To Increase CTR in SEO

CTR is an important indicator that measures the effectiveness of almost all marketing efforts. It is used to evaluate the performance of email campaigns, paid ads, and much more. In this article, we will focus on CTR in SEO.

We will explain this concept, calculate this indicator, and provide ten valuable tips to help you improve organic CTR in SEO. Check it out and find out what you can do to get the best results.

What is CTR in SEO?

CTR (Click Through Rate) is the ratio of clicks to impressions of a type of content like an ad, search result, email, etc.. In a nutshell, it shows how many people were interested in your material and wanted to learn more by clicking on the link.

CTR in SEO determines the number of website visits in ratio to its impressions as an organic search result. It is one of the main methods of measuring a site’s effectiveness.

How can you calculate this indicator?

CTR = (clicks / views) х 100

• clicks — the number of times users have clicked on a particular link
• views — the number of times your website displays on Google for a particular keyword

An essential tool for monitoring CTR in SEO is Google Search Console, where you can check the CTR score for keyword phrases on which your website is visible.

Source: Google Search Console

For example, if your website was displayed in Google 1,265 times for the keyword phrase “artificial intelligence,” which resulted in 55 clicks, the CTR is 4.3%

What high organic CTR can the site bring?

Although CTR is not an official ranking factor, we can see a strong correlation to it when determining a page’s position for a given keyword.

An interesting study on this topic was conducted by Backlinko company, which analyzed 5 million Google search results to find a correlation between CTR and position in Google. The results showed that the top 3 positions get as many as 75% clicks.

Moreover, according to this source, 31.7% of users click the first organic result. The higher the search engine result, the higher the CTR, with the most significant difference seen in the first several positions. The lower the position, the smaller the difference.

Source: Backlinko

There is much more research on these correlations. A similar number was reported by Sistrix, which analyzed about 80 million keywords and billions of search results. This source said that, on average, 28.5% of mobile users click on the first position in Google.

Source: Sistrix

Interestingly, both resources above say that ranking at position #1 gets a ten times higher click rate than a ranking at position #10. So, why does the first position have such a high CTR? According to a Moz survey, Google users usually click on the first organic search result in Google.

A relatively high CTR sends a signal to the Google algorithm that your website is attractive and should be higher in the search results. Moreover, the stats presented above show that the higher your page ranks in the SERP, the more clicks it gains, helping you find more customers through the search engine.

Therefore, if you want to increase your competitive advantage, you should regularly monitor your site’s performance and check SERP ranking using dedicated SEO tools. Solutions such as SE Ranking will allow you to better optimize your site for SEO and find any errors and correct them so that you can rank as high as possible in the search engine.

How SERP impacts organic CTR in SEO

It is worth emphasizing that SEO CTR results can vary significantly, depending on search intention. Click rates are related to the SERP (Search Engine Results Page) layout, which refers to the page containing the 10 organic Google results displayed in response to the user’s query.

According to Sistrix, depending on the SERP layout, the CTR for the #1 position varies greatly, from 13.7% to 46.9%.

SERP view after typing the query “artificial intelligence”

Now, let’s sum up key facts about Click-Through Rate SEO:

• The top 3 Google search positions can get as much as 75% of all clicks, ​​depending on the niche.
• The average score for the first organic search result is about 30%. However, it may vary depending on the SERP layout and range from 13.7% to 46.9%.
• The lower a link is listed in Google, the lower its CTR. On average, the #10 position has 10 times lower CTR than the #1 position.

10 Ways to Boost Your Click-Through Rate SEO

Are you wondering how to increase CTR in SEO? Here are 10 key tips to help you boost your site’s results and stay ahead of the competition.

1. Start by improving the pages with the lowest SEO CTR

Before you start implementing any changes, check how your current pages are performing. Use the possibilities Google Search Console offers and carefully analyze the results. Then, try to find the content with the lowest organic CTR that is undercutting your site’s average CTR.

To do this, follow these steps:

1. Click the “Performance” tab, and then “Search results”.
2. Select the “Queries” option.
3. Make sure “Average CTR” is selected.
4. In the table, click on “CTR” to see the pages with the lowest CTR first.

It is worth improving these pages at the outset, as this will affect the performance of your entire site. Use the tips outlined in the following paragraphs to learn what you can do to succeed.

2. Choose attractive meta titles

The page title is the most visible part of the search results. Therefore, you should focus on making it attractive to your audience.

So, how to create a good meta title? Here are some tips that may be helpful:

1. Create several alternative titles

When choosing a title, it makes sense to test different titles and look for the best solution. Do not settle on the first title that comes to mind. You can test which title fits best in different places like ads, social media and email campaigns.

2. Get emotional

The vast majority of online decisions, including clicks, are motivated by feelings. Therefore, focus on complementing your headlines with relevant emotions. Any emotional terms like “amazing,” “exciting,” or “best” in the title increase the chance of improving CTR.

3. Avoid difficult and complex titles

The title should indicate to your audience that they will find what they are looking for on your site, so avoid vague sentences and long titles that will not be fully displayed in the SERP. Try to have the title give the user a clue about what they will find on your page.

3. Create interesting meta descriptions

According to Backlinko, pages with filled meta description get 5.3% more clicks than pages without them. Just after the title, the meta description is the second most crucial element that influences whether a user will click through to your site.

The meta description should contain the page’s most important keywords and clearly describe its content. Including call-to-action phrases in it can significantly increase the CTR and encourage users to visit the site.

Do not forget that the description should contain enough information to attract the users’ attention but not answer their questions directly, as it may cause them to abandon the site.

If you use Wordpress, it is worth using plugins such as Yoast SEO, which will help you create a title of the right length and check how it will look in the SERP results.

4. Use descriptive URLs

The URL of your website is of great importance. When structured properly, it gives the impression of a more reliable and secure source that users will be more likely to go to. Add a keyword to it, and remember not to make it too long.

Pro tip: If you create a page that you will want to update, do not add a year or number to the URL. For example, if you are creating an article titled “10 Best SEO Books for 2022,” you are better off creating the slug: the-best-seo-books instead of 10-the-best-SEO-books-for-2022. Then, when you decide to add new books to the list and update it the next year, you will not have to change the URL.

5. Optimize your content to Rich Snippets or Answer Box

When planning or optimizing the structure of your website, try to focus not only on achieving the best possible organic CTR by position but also the greatest possible exposure in search results.

Example of a Rich Snippet

The more information-rich snippets you provide, the easier it will be for the user to find the most valuable pages among the results in the SERP. Rich snippets attract users’ attention because they contain more data than standard snippets and provide rankings, addresses and dates.

How to create a rich snippet? First, if you are using Wordpress, you can activate a dedicated rich snippet plugin such as Schema, Taqyeem, or SNIP. You can also manually code this information.

It is worth mentioning Schema markup here — a structured data vocabulary that allows you to add code on your website to search engines to better understand the meaning of your site. Thanks to adding special markups, search engines provide more informative results for users, showing this information via rich snippets.

Schema markups allow you to indicate various types of content such as articles, products, books, movies, people, organizations, reviews, recipes, local businesses, and more.

Another eye-catching sight in the SERP is the answer box. It shows users that they will find what they are looking for on your website. To get this option, you need to prepare your content to briefly answer the critical questions related to the topic of the search phrase.

6. Add structured data

Implementing structured data allows you to create more engaging content (such as rich snippets) suited to search engine algorithms. Sounds complicated? You do not have to be a software developer to do it.

You can use such vocabulary as mentioned before from Schema.org that enables you to create proper schemas for structured data, and modify your content into code that search engines can process. Search results with additional data are more attractive than simple URLs, so they will encourage more people to visit your website.

7. Implement long-tail keywords

Using Long-Tail-Keywords in headlines and title tags guarantees the audience will find what they are looking for on your site. Remember, you should make the best use of your space in the SERP and make it match your users’ intent.

For this, you can use free tools such as LSIGraph and Answer The Public that show you the most popular phrases and questions related to your keyword. With this information, you will be able to create the most attractive title that matches the most common queries from your potential customers.

8. Analyze SERP and competitors

To create an effective SEO strategy, you should regularly analyze your competitors’ activities and check SERP ranking. Look at your competitors’ meta titles and descriptions that rank higher in the SERP. It is a valuable source of information and inspiration to help you optimize your content better.

For example, if the keyword “Artificial intelligence books” in the first place in Google is an article “5 AI eBooks to Read in 2019”, why not create an article “10 AI eBooks to Read in 2022”? This way, you will show your audience that your text offers more choice, and on top of that, it is more actual.

If you create a lot of content, you can use a tool that allows you to monitor keyword rankings in different countries and languages. Providers such as SE Ranking collect information from different sources such as search engines or social media platforms.

9. Analyze top Google Ad snippets

Another source of inspiration can be checking Google ads for a specific keyphrase. Ads are usually well prepared and tested for search results on different devices, so they can also provide you with valuable tips. The Google AdWords Preview tool is helpful for this.

10. Make notable and fresh snippets

Make your snippets stand out by adding elements that Google users like.

First of all, people love titles that contain numbers. According to Conductor, numbers increase CTR by 36%. A listicle, which is an article in the form of a list, offers information that is easily digestible and predictable. An example is the title of this article: 10 Ways to Increase CTR in SEO.

Second, you can use characters like vertical bars and square brackets to make your title or description even more precise and emphasize your message. It will work great for content for download, such as free ebooks.

Summary: How to increase CTR in SEO?

There are many ways to increase your site’s clickthrough rate, and each of them can help increase traffic from organic results.

But will applying all these tips guarantee success? You have to remember that every industry is different, so it is worth testing various solutions and seeing how they affect CTR.