When it comes to attracting potential customers to your website, the rule of the thumb is to appear at the top of SERP. But, as the core updates of Google roll in from time to time, it becomes impossible to retain that top spot. In that scenario, it is always a good practice to remain in at least the first page of SERP, if not on the top. Content is the main fundamental base and everyone has a doubt in mind these days writing content for a suitable website. The dilemma of this contemporary world is how to write a specific content to get the maximum number of clicks. The illusion which is prevalent is that if one ranks first on Google SERP’S they will get the maximum number of clicks. Somehow, there is a hidden partial reality behind this concept which will be discussed further in detail.
There are three fundamentals to when a query is converted by user:
• Awareness of the problem: The foremost step is when the user searches for something. Basically one is looking for a specific solution to its problem.
• Visiting Site: The searcher visits the specific sites and becomes acquainted with its products and brands.
• Conversion: The last step is when the lead is converted.
The key to understanding what the user requires lies in the “Keywords”. A mainstream application demands that the user’s needs be identified, evaluated and fulfilled. Hence, posing greater success at being in the initial page of SERP.
WHY SERP RANK HAS MINOR CORRELATION WITH CTR:
The ranking does bring a lot of traffic but that doesn’t mean that there aren’t other ways to bring traffic to your website. In a bid to come first, many businesses and websites make the mistake of optimizing only keywords, diverting themselves from the ultimate goal of user satisfaction, which leads to return clicks over a longer period of time. Have a glance at the Statistics.
IMAGES CREDIT – https://neilpatel.com/blog/more-organic-traffic-with-lower-ranking/
It clearly depicts that with the SEO ranking position there has been a general descent in Click through rate. Through the graphical representation, it can be judged that position having the lowest traffic is 9 which accounts for 5.52% and the position 1 has maximum traffic with 20.5%. But that doesn’t implies being on number one is beneficial much. There are couple of other ways through which one can increase traffic without ranking 1 on SERP.
1. Measure your industry’s average Click Through Rate:
- A thorough study and accurate knowledge of the average CTRs of your specific business industry not only provides you with reasonable expectations when it comes to growth, but it also helps you in planning and achieving realistically projected growth rates.
- Success lies in efforts and the leading tip to follow is to measure your trade’s average CTR and compare it with your present CTR.
- Below is a vertical bar graph depicting average CTR for different industries:
- The CTR varies according to the industry type. Hence one must have a practical approach towards increasing their CTR according to their industry. Instead of hoping for a whopping and exponential growth, a comparative study of it is preferable.
- There has been recent research for B2B and B2C which clearly indicates that CTR’S are higher for B2B Sites rather than B2C.
2. Content- a King for clicks:
Creating effective content is best approach towards CTR. Apart from ranking if your content is informative and effective enough then it can really affect the searches. The base behind this is to follow a strategy to create the best-in-class content. The approach to fulfill this is a catching headline. If your headline is strong enough to convey your hidden text and ideas, it will possibly lead to more searches. Using powerful and catchy words will make it even more impressive and the content writers need to determine what the target audience wants to read. Giving your content a nice heading will add a feather to the cap but then one need to focus on the body. Using effective keywords and taking help from references one is able to reach the mountain. One more thing to add in your content is effective and promising examples. The examples should be real and the data to be included should be relevant and accurate.
Look at these examples for SERP results for different types of washing machines. If I am looking for types of washing machines, i will be inclined towards first, fourth and fifth search. But the fourth search is most appropraite as it says types of machines with explanations. Hence, what matters is what type of information the searcher is looking for and it all depends on content.
3. Writing incredible content that uses high-converting link:
To make sure that your content is not vague, one must write about what they actually want to convey straightforwardly. Addressing your client’s needs is of the utmost importance. Titles should not be taken for granted as they hold the key to the user’s attention. Long-tailed keywords are hugely underrated as they are the fishing nets through which the short-tailed keywords are funnelled. This, ultimately, provides an accurate search result for the user in the form of your business website.
Suppose if someone is looking for “How to grow your e-mail list”? From the above searches and from the above- mentioned result definitely first one seems most effective as it is ranked no 1. But apart from that it has the most effective content How to get 1000 email subscribers in a day. One would definitely be curious to read that but going at the below searches down the result page there are couple of things which are effective too like guides and individual guides for specific industry.
So the suggestion here is for the content creators to create high quality and efficient converting links in titles, sub headings and descriptions.
There are some important distinctive features to follow while creating high converting headline.
- They have 16-18 characters. Keep the form of your headline active as it engages the readers more.
- They typically include headings and sub-headings.
- Numbers are included too. But don’t go for any random numbers to make your lists. Round them off to the nearest tens or hundreds.
Title tags are also eminent to be considered to increase CTR and ranking power. Creating powerful title tags will boost up the ranking and here we include some details about title tags.
- A title tag must always include the name of your website for brand building.
- A captivating title always works. A user will be interested to search the in-depth information.
- Including some keywords and SEO friendly words to enhance your search.
- Look for the length of title closely.
- Uniqueness is the key to good content. Think out-of-the-box when it comes to approaches and examples that you include in your content.
- An optimal format should be followed.
- It is mandatory to put important keywords first as it will improve your CTR.
Above mentioned are some of the important tips which can help you lead a great path to increase your CTR and ranking. So make use of time and write effective high converting copy.
• Focus on other elements of your links too: Reviving and publishing old content with a newer date. Copywriting it, editing and updating will refresh it.
• Including rich snippets: All of us write content for a different purpose. Some for advertising, marketing or some to answer some questions. If you are one who is writing content to answer a typical question or clearing doubts whether, in paragraph, list or table, Google can provide you with a premium feature called as the rich snippet.
Let us look at a typical example:
I need to search “How to write a cover letter”
As it is clearly seen Google sometimes picks the search directly from the first search. Here the rich snippet is from first search but thats not the case always. Google can randomly pick the search from any ranking.
Hence it is an additional feature which supplements your traffic ignoring the fact that whether you are on no.1 rank or last.
- Including publishing details is advantageous: Beneficial for SEO ranking. Naturally, everyone would be interested in searching for the information that is up to date no matter what your rank is.
- Publishing fresh date with old one will increase your chances of getting even the unexpected links.
- Substituting unattractive permalinks: Unappealing permalinks are the ones that include numbers instead of keywords. They are not at all capable of attracting traffic and SEO website. A typical example of a plain permalink is myblog.com/? t=678.It is called an ‘ugly’ permalink and can be replaced with a ‘pretty’ permalink, such as:My blog.com/my-life-as-a-hockey-coach
- A typical example of a plain permalink is myblog.com/? t=678.
Attractive and pretty permalinks are good, so one must focus on creating good looking permalinks. A very slow and time- consuming process but including keywords in your permalink will definitely boost your search engine process.
4. Addition of Paid Search: The outlook is that most searchers prefer normal searches rather than paid search. As it is seen through the below pie chart organic search accounts for 67.60% of the clicks whereas paid search only accounts for 6%. But not to ignore the paid ads as the in-depth research indicates something else. It implies that brand affinity affects the CTR. Suppose if in case a user is not able to get the answer to their query they will definitely go for paid ads. One can use various ads options like Face book ads. Social media adds which can help in driving the traffic.
CONCLUSION: To epitomize the above mentioned statement, one can see that ranking does matter to some extent for traffic. But what matters the most is written content. A well-mannered content with proper titles, headings and sub headings will definitely bring a surge on searches. If the written content is able to answer questions and able to solve certain queries, then it can help a lot.