In 2021, CTR is the most important but most overlooked factor by many SEOs.
Here’s why?
People just want to rank for their main keywords, but they don’t notice after ranking their SERPS are not even clicked deservingly.
In this post, I’ll share some useful
What is CTR in SEO:
In SEO, Click-through rate (CTR) is the percentage of people who click on your page after seeing your page on SERP (Search Engine Results Page). CTR is calculated by Clicks/Impressions. A higher CTR determines that your page is ranking high on Google and hence getting clicks.
Why Focus on CTR in the first place?
There are three main factors that make your CTR game.
- Rankings
- RankBrain
- Machine Learning
Past & Future SEO Ranking Signals
Here’s a glimpse of what are current Google ranking signals as compared to the old Google.
Goal Completion is the satisfaction of the needs of the user after clicking on a result through SERP.
PRO TIP:
“Go through your query’s SERP and come up with a similar but more awesome title by focusing on user search intent.”
UX signals are essential; they are satisfied when CTR, Bounce Rate, and dwell time come into place.
CTR + Bounce rate + Dwell time = Users Signals Satisfied
If you already know, there is always an expected CTR for every position on SERP set by Google.
Let’s explore it with an Example:
Suppose Position #2 gets 950 clicks on average compared to position #3, which is 340 on average for a primary keyword.
Google measures how users interact with search results according to each position they click on, and that’s how google decides the repositioning of the SERP.
The more your pages beat the expected organic CTR for a given position, the more likely you are to appear in more prominent organic positions as before.
Suppose your pages fall below the expected organic search CTR; then you’ll find your pages in lower organic positions on the SERP.
Your goal with content + links should be to beat your competitors when it comes to CTR.
6 Killer Tips for Setting Up your Titles for a Higher CTR
The rule of thumb is simple; Create a more compelling title than those ranking before us.
Here are a few tips for setting up the Page title that can help you to take your CTR to the next level
1.Get Personal
So here’s come the first established hack! GET PERSONAL!
You have to simply go and figure out the user intent and go after that.
Question: What is the problem your product is trying to solve?
Answer: Get the solution in the title.
Here are some best Examples to get more personal.
- 9+ Best (but cheap) <product> – No more back pain!
- A Complete 70+ xx xx xx to Impress Your Clients
- Product x vs. Product Y — which one is most worth it?
- Product x vs. Product Y — which one is right for YOU
- (Cover your ass) With our essential list of 17 bulletproof contracts
Headline Template
- The Format: List, Facts, Tips, Strategies, Infographic
- Emotional Nook: Amazing, Insane, Shocking, Powerful, Unreal
- Content-Type: Images, Quotes, Pictures, Facts, Strategies
- Your Subject: Cats, Weight loss, Skin, Health, Marketing
2. Use Power Words/Emotions
In the real world, emotions Cause People to Click Like Crazy, and emotional hooks are irresistible and dramatically increase CTR!
Use Power Words like:
- Awesome
- Essential
- Ultimate
- Amazing
- Boost
- Stunning
- Best
- Top
- Fantastic
- Improve
- Boost
- simple
- Actionable
- Quick
- Step-by-step
- Today
- Right now
- Fast
You can get a handful list of 800+ Essential Power words from here:
Another tip is to use emotionally charged terms (Positive/Negative):
- Impress
- Successful
- Relief
- Easy
- Sucks
- Terrify
- Annoy
- Lose
Make it Clickbait:
Headlines that push people’s emotional buttons are something like:
5 Tips for Weight Loss
vs
5 Stupidly Easy Tips for Burning FatWhich one is better?
3. Use (Brackets) and Year + CAPS
If you didn’t notice, Brackets, Year and Letters in CAPS helps with traction
Here are some handy ideas you can copy:
- [Case Study]
- [How to]
- (Updated 2018)
- (MOST)
- YOU!
Why does it matter?
- It signals content has been recently updated
- People search for “keyword + year.“
According to a study by Hubspot, the CTR of a Headline with Brackets is 38% higher than the headline without Brackets.
4. Add a Number to your Title
No debate headlines with numbers are expected to be more clicked as compared to without numbers.
PRO TIP: Odd numbers are 20% more likely to work better than even numbers
So,
- Use: 5, 7, 9, 17, 21, 25, 101
- Don’t use: 2, 6, 13, 22
PRO TIP: Go for more numbers than your competitor 😉
Use Year + Month: This makes a lot of sense when ranking reviews because people want to see the latest updated content.
You can even use it in non-listicle articles (23% OFF, or 517 happy clients served, etc.)
SEO-focused title: How to Easily Improve Your Website Loading
Numbered Version: “27 Hacks to Make Your Website Load Like
Lightning”
5. Description:
- Use a Power Word in the description tag
- Include a keyword in your description (it’s get bolded in SERPS), shows user relevance
- Use a cliffhanger—”we compared these two products; you’ll be surprised by which one came out on top.”
6. Test/Optimize Your Headlines
Once you’ve started implementing some above cool tips with your titles, don’t forget to see which ones are performing better. You can definitely look for the target page’s CTR in your Google Search Console Dashboard.
Here are more ways to test and optimize your page’s headlines.
- Create ten options
- Create a Facebook Ad / Google Adwords campaign with ten options
- Make sure they get a significant number of impressions
- Make sure they get identical “exposure.”
- Pick up the outlier
PRO TIP: AdWords is ideal because you can mimic SERPs and take suggestions from them. 😊👌
How to check your CTR in Google Search Console?
- Find your average CTR
- Fix all headlines performing lower than average
- Change and monitor (don’t keep changing)
If you’ve enjoyed reading this guide, don’t forget to share it with your friends and subscribe to the upcoming content. Cheers!
Resources to Learn More:
Power Words List
