The Click Through Rate is a metric that Google uses to measure how many people click on an ad after seeing it. Advertisers set their maximum cost per click bid and the Quality Score for their ads, determining where they show up in search results – from top to lower positions below. This post will discuss the Click-Through rate by position and provide some insights about what you can do to improve your CTR.
#1 Breakdown of Google CTRs by ranking position
Every ad has a maximum bid price they can pay per click. This is determined by the Quality Score, which factors your ads’ relevance and keywords to users’ search queries. Google calculates this score based on historical data about how well all their advertisers have performed for each keyword over time – so it’s not just one metric but rather an average of many. Advertisers who want to be at the top of organic listings will need better quality scores than those who aim to place highly on paid results with lower bids. However, the higher you rank above competitors generally means more traffic from searches because there are fewer people below you ranked ahead of them! If two ads or web pages show up on top of each other, there is a chance that the one above will get more clicks.
#2 What drives people to click?
Google themselves have said that CTR is a good indicator for Quality Score, which drives your ad rank position. Google says, “Your quality score is an estimate of how relevant and useful users find your ads”. It’s pretty straightforward to see the connection between relevance and clicks! If you are ranking higher up on paid results with better bids than competitors, it will make sense people will click more often if they know what they want or are interested in clicking through. Searchers can use their voice to search rather than type may also drive more searches by typing shorter queries into the search bar, leading them directly to content instead of scrolling down long lists looking for it manually.
#3 The best ways to improve your CTRs
The best thing you can do to improve your CTRs is different test headlines and ad copies, dedicated landing pages for ads or post-click page experiences. A/B testing has been shown again and again to be the most effective way of determining what works vs what does not work in driving traffic, leads and sales at a particular cost per acquisition (CPA). But, of course, this requires knowing how much you are willing to pay for each lead or sale – so that even if there is only a marginal improvement with one headline over another, it’s worth purchasing more traffic on those terms instead of wasting money on sets of keywords which aren’t building brand awareness as expected at their bid prices!
#4 Focus on implementing Googles’ E-A-T
When you decide to test different headlines, ad copies, and landing pages (and post-click page experience), make sure that whatever Google ranks at the top of your SERP is relevant and trustworthy. What are E-A-T-S? They stand for Expertise, Authoritativeness, Trustworthiness and Subject matter expertise; all things which will help people trust what they see on their screens. This can be done through outreach with influencers in your space who have large social media followings, among other ways like writing guest posts or even hosting webinars. When you apply these strategies, it’s important to note whether there was a statistically significant improvement based on how much you spent vs the results you got.
#5 Include text, video and images to boost CTR
Including video, images and text all help to provide content that’s easier for people to read and find what they’re looking for. Because it takes a longer time to consume a video or watch an advertisement than skim through written words or quickly glance at an image. This means your visitors may be more likely to click on something visually appealing instead of getting stuck scrolling down long lists of search results trying to spot the one they want quickly!
#6 Optimize your SERP snippets
Another way to increase CTR for organic results is by optimizing your SERP snippet. Making sure you include the correct title tag, meta description, and other important information that would make people want to click on your result will help Google understand what users should expect when they land on your page. For example, if someone searches “organic dog food” and all of the listings have pictures of different types of organic foods instead – it could cause them not to want to visit any site listed there since their initial search goal is fulfilled!
CTR is an important stat to pay attention to as it can reflect how relevant and valuable your site’s content is, driving more people through the sales funnel.
