17 Ways to Improve Your Organic Click-Through Rate (CTR)

Showing up on the first page SERPs isn't enough if the audience shows no interest in your content. Instead of concentrating all your efforts on producing local SEO content to achieve the top position on SERPs, you need to fathom what converts searchers into readers, and readers into customers. We know the answer - you achieve this when you work towards improving your organic CTR.

Organic click-through rate (CTR) is the percentage of searchers clicking on a search engine result - the result we are talking about here is your URL.

Increasing organic CTR means gaining more traffic for your website. You need to get every bit of traffic you can as the share of clicks being distributed by Google is on a continuous decline (because of SERP features and paid ads looking less similar to paid ads).

If you concentrate your efforts on increasing organic CTR, you can also improve your Google ranking. When your URL is frequently clicked on and visited, the search engine algorithm considers your page as relevant and valuable for future queries that contain your content keywords.

Organic CTR, although primarily dependent on ranking position (the more individuals see your content, the more the likelihood of them clicking), is also influenced by a number of other factors.

It is now time we discuss the different ways in which you can improve your organic CTR. Let's start:

1. Structure Content for Featured Snippets

Featured snippets are rich search results appearing in the form of a content box on SERPs. These brief excerpts attempt to provide relevant answers based on the user's query. Placed at the top of the SERPs below the paid ads and above the organic search results, featured snippets content is automatically extracted from webpages that Google has indexed.

According to a study by HubSpot, the organic CTR for their high-volume keywords rose by over 114% when the results appeared as featured snippets. So, for the purpose of increasing your CTR, you can think about structuring content for featured snippets.

When you check the SERPs of your primary keyword and a featured snippet appears, make it a point to structure your content similar to the way the featured snippet is showing their answers.

For instance, if a list-based snippet appears, ensure your content is also designed in a numbered list format.

2. Pay Attention to Your Titles

People don't see much on the SERPs other than your titles. If you want individuals to click, you must make it a point to get creative with your titles.

The different ways to improve your titles are:

• Use Brackets in Your Title: Brackets in headlines are known to increase clicks.
• Make it a Numbered List: Numbers in titles contribute to an increase in CTR.
• Don't Use Heavy Title Tags: They are simply boring and don't encourage more clicks.

3. Use Title Case

In sentence case, most major and minor words are lowercase. On the other hand, in title case, major words are capitalized and most of the minor words are lowercase.

Use title case because it makes the heading stand out, leading to more clicks.

4. Improve Page Load Time

When you ensure that your website loads as quickly as possible, it helps you to drastically improve your organic CTR. This is because a click is considered only if the visitor lands on your site. In case your page load time is lagging, the click may not occur.

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Note: SEO-friendly website is optimized for speed and fast loading time. So, ensure your website is SEO-friendly for the purpose of boosting your organic CTR. In case you need an SEO-friendly, professional, niche-based website, then you must know it takes several days to build one. However, if you use DashClicks' site tool, you can make an SEO-friendly, custom-branded agency website in just a few seconds. Pretty cool, isn't it?

5. Get Emotional

When you incorporate emotion, people notice it. Emotion works as a powerful psychological tool that can encourage clicks.

You can always use emotional words in your titles or descriptions, such as instant,ā  proven,ā  best,ā  secret,ā  etc.

6. Optimize Your Page URLs

Your page URL is one of the pieces of information displayed on the SERPs. So, you must optimize it to boost your organic CTR. Here's how you can do this:

• Make it as descriptive as you can.
• Incorporate your keyword naturally in your URL (so that the core topic is highlighted to the users).
• Keep it short to make it look attractive and easy on the eye.

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7. Use Long-Tail Keywords

One of the most simple ways to increase organic CTR is to use long-tail keywords, particularly in your title tags and headings.

Owing to their highly descriptive nature, long-tail keywords match your content to search intent.

When users see a long-tail keyword that can answer what they are looking for, they click on the URL.

Now, how do you research long-tail keywords?

Use keyword research tools such as Ubersuggest. Enter the seed keyword in the search bar and click on search.ā  Then select Keyword Ideasā  located in the left sidebar. Now, you can choose the relevant keywords for your post from the list of keyword ideas.

8. Write Effective Meta Descriptions

Meta descriptions are the snippets of text shown below the title tag in SERPs. When you write attractive meta descriptions, you tell users about your page and compel them to click on the result.

Here's how you can optimize your meta description:

• Use keywords to communicate to the users that your article can provide an answer to their problem.
• Make it as relevant and specific as you can.
• Use powerful and persuasive language.
• If possible, add a CTA such as find out howā  or learn more.ā
• Answer the user's question in the meta description itself.

9. Create Posts With Images

A lot of people use images in their posts. But did you know it can boost your organic CTR? Images in your content are a great way to increase engagement. They are also a necessary ingredient to your content popping up in infoboxes and featured snippets on the SERPs.

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Apart from this, your URL is more likely to be clicked when users check search results in the images section of Google.

For this to work, make it a point to follow image SEO best practices such as adding alt text and precisely naming your images.

10. Use the Listicle Format

Listicles is an article made of a list that is readable and snackable - our brains just love them! So, make sure to include them in your content strategy to boost organic clicks. Ensure you include numbers in your title tag and headlines. We say so because the users get convinced that they are about to open an easy-to-reach article.

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Tip: Listicles also increase the likelihood of appearing in featured snippets.

11. Check for CTR Winners and Losers

Another step you should take to boost your organic CTR is to calculate the winners and losers of your existing pages. This will show which pages, content types, and titles are top-performing and which are performing poorly. For this, you use Google Analytics.

First, visit Acquisitionā  then Search Console,ā  and then Queriesā  and know which Google searches lead to your existing pages.

The report will display important information such as impressions, CTR, clicks, and the average SERP position of your current pages. It also displays sessions, bounce rates, conversions, and other useful data. You can also check your landing pages in the same menu.

Using these reports, you can check what is working and what isn't. Then, you can visit old web content and pages to optimize them to boost your organic CTR.

12. Learn Copywriting Basics

The art of copywriting studies psychology to fathom the reason people click and how to optimize content so that they click. Quality copywriting is known to increase conversion.

Some copywriting hacks you should know in order to boost your CTR are:

A. Make Your Title a Question

We all know that the use of voice search is increasing. Individuals are speaking full-sentence questions into Google. So, ensure you make your title a question to increase CTR.

Use a tool called Answer the Publicā  to find popular questions on your subject and select the relevant ones as your title.

B. Check Out Title Templates

Research about how to create intriguing and clever titles. Here are some examples:

• The Seven Benefits of Aloe Vera (Number Five Will Shock You!)
• Most People Have Trouble Naming 17/25 Of These Things ā€” Do You?

13. Update Your Title Tag to Include the Current Year

A step that automatically increases your CTR is when you add the current year to your title tag. Google tends to show results that have the year in the title, specifically in industries that change at a rapid pace (such as marketing).

Whenever you add the year to your title tag, ensure you also update the content to match the ongoing trends.

14. Add a Personal Touch

Take a look at this title of an article: We Tried 5 Slack Alternatives during 5 Weeks (Our Team Feedback)

The article appears to be human-friendly and opinion-based. These types of articles grab a lot of eyeballs and hence improve your organic CTR. So, share your experience and opinion in your articles wherever applicable. Also, make it a point to add words such as our team,ā  we've tried,ā  our feedbackā  in the article titles.

15. Use Yoast Preview (in WordPress)

For WordPress users, Yoast is an SEO tool that helps boost your organic CTR. Before publishing your post, preview your snippet the way it will be displayed on SERPs. Then, make any changes based on the recommendations provided.

When you preview your snippet, you can see if it actually makes sense!

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16. A/B Test Headlines on Social Media

Craft such a headline that it compels users to click on your article. But, how to know if your headline will resonate with your target audience?

We know the answer - test it on social media platforms.

Once you optimize your headline, test it by sharing your article with your audience on social media. Wait for a few days and then change the headline and re-publish the article again. Wait for the exact number of days you waited for the previous post. Then, when the time is over, check the engagement rates for both the posts.

The headline with the most engagement is the one you should choose! This A/B test works even better if you have a large audience base on social media.

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17. Use Negative or Positive Sentiment

The use of titles with either negative or positive sentiment is known to increase organic CTR, but even today, you can see titles with a neutral sentiment.

To understand what we are saying, check out these examples:

• Positive: 15 Incredible Ways to Increase Sales Tremendously
• Neutral: 15 Ways to Boost Sales
• Negative: 15 Terrible Mistakes That Kill Sales And Ruin A Business

Note: The average organic CTR is between 3-5%. But, it is important to note that a good organic CTR is benchmarked against your own CTR curve and not against industry standards.

Conclusion

Organic click-through rate is a crucial metric that you should track as it impacts the amount of traffic that comes to your site and your rankings.

Having a high CTR is great for your business as your website gets more traffic. It also means more brand awareness because your rankings improve.

Today, with so many ways to improve organic CTRs, business and website owners can easily get the desired outcome.

Now, it is our turn to ask a question, which of these strategies will you use to boost your organic CTR?