How to Increase CTR in the Organic Search Results?

Table of contents:

• Why Should You Fight for Better CTR in the SERPs?
• How to Increase Your Click Through Rate in the Organic Search Results?
  • Complement Articles With a Table of Contents
  • Apply Emojis
  • Benefit from FAQ Sections
  • Optimize Title and Description
  • Use Images in Your Posts
  • Use Descriptive URLs
  • Benefit from Rich Snippets
  • Use HTML Tables
• How to Increase CTR? The Takeaway

Why Should You Fight for Better CTR in the SERPs?

It might seem to you that reaching the first position in the search results is synonymous with a CTR amounting to 100%. Unfortunately, it turns out that this indicator is affected by a number of elements.

The SERPs vary depending on the entered query. For example, you may see 4 Google Ads at the top, followed by a 3 pack of local results from Google Maps. In this case, a site that ranks first in the organic results is actually only in the 8th position in the list. Of course, many Google users skip the ads, but that doesn’t change the fact that their presence has a significant impact on CTR.

What an internet user sees in the SERPs has a huge impact on CTR. Advancedwebranking.com provides interesting data on this topic. Thanks to it, you can discover the correlation between CTR and the SERPs for a given query. Moreover, you can also check historical data.

Why should you fight for higher CTR in the organic search? Increasing this indicator means that more Internet users visit your website. Each visit is a chance to get an inquiry from a potential buyer, encourage people to order products in your web store, subscribe to your newsletter, and, therefore, achieve the expected results.

How to Increase Your Click Through Rate in the Organic Search Results?

Take a look at SERPs. Not every search result is the same. There are various elements that make certain websites stand out from the crowd and encourage you to click on the link, even if the pages aren’t displayed in top positions for a given phrase. Making your results conspicuous is the first step to achieving the intended goal. Check out how to improve your organic CTR.

Complement Articles With a Table of Contents

Perhaps you’ve come across tables of contents in articles, i.e. anchor links that usually lead to particular headers and paragraphs in the content.

When it comes to using a table of contents, apart from making it easier for users to navigate the site and find the expected content, these elements bring one more benefit – thanks to them, additional links leading to particular pieces of content may be displayed in the search results under a given page. This way, your search result will take up more space in the SERPs and will surely attract attention.

Apply Emojis

Emojis are pictograms, and graphics that may show up in the SERPs – we used the modal verb “may” because the search engine doesn’t guarantee to display them in the search results. However, it’s still worth using them.

Do you know that Google gives you the option to search by emojis? All you have to do is copy the pictogram and paste it into the search box. As a result, you’ll see pages with this emoji. Below you can find an exemplary search result with emojis:

But which emoji should you use to actually improve your CTR? First of all, those related to your activity. Thanks to medium.com you can learn about pictograms that are the most popular and may help you improve your CTR in the organic search results.

Benefit from FAQ Sections

You’ve probably encountered search results with several questions. You can click on them and check the answer without entering the page. This effect can be achieved with structured data.

The FAQ section needs to be properly embedded on the page. You can find guidelines for using this solution in materials prepared by Google. When it comes to implementing the FAQ section, there are various options. Using a generator is a relatively simple way to do it. All you have to do is add individual questions, then copy the code and paste it on the page.

What’s the expected result? You may see the following information in the SERPs:

Will it always have a positive impact on your CTR? Unfortunately not. Take into account users’ needs. If people find the answer to the question without visiting the page (by checking out the FAQ section), they’ll probably disregard your website and this will bring counterproductive results. So, consider answers and questions you want to put there.

Optimize Title and Description

Meta description isn’t a ranking factor (moreover, Google doesn’t always show the content we want), but it’s still worth optimizing it to encourage users to click it. Describe what can be found on the page and benefit from an increased CTR in SERPs.

It’s also worth optimizing the first descriptive element on the website, e.g. the lead of the blog entry, as it’s often displayed by Google as a preview of the website. Therefore, this content is ideal to ask questions that may encourage people to learn more about the site.

Title is another element. Until a few months ago, we could observe SEO titles that look the same as the ones we set in the meta tag, with a few exceptions. Now, according to the calculations prepared by MOZ, Google modifies 58% of these elements. However, you can take certain steps to reduce the risk of having your titles modified:

• Place the most popular phrase (the most frequently entered by users) in the title.
• Use short titles if possible – try to keep them below 650 px. Interestingly, Google is more generous when it comes to mobile results, as it displays titles chosen by site owners.
• Avoid repeating the same words in the title.
• Avoid fixed elements – if your titles are schematic, e.g. differ by only one word, Google will probably change them.

You already know what to do to increase the chances of Google displaying the kind of title you care about. Put relevant keywords in it – let the internet user see what they can find in your content and observe how your CTR increases. Remember to use long tail phrases, which are more descriptive and better depict the content that can be found at a given address.

Use Images in Your Posts

Apart from being displayed in Google Images, this will also allow you to increase your CTR in the organic search results. Note that photos are also shown as part of direct answers.

Moreover, Google displays pictures from Google Images for numerous queries.

Make sure that your photos are of high quality and encourage users to check out the content. This will also have a positive impact on your CTR.

Use Descriptive URLs

This is another element that may attract users’ attention. Make sure that your URL includes a relevant keyword that describes what can be found on the page. For example, WordPress allows you to conveniently modify URLs when publishing new articles.

Benefit From Rich Snippets

Thanks to this solution, your website may stand out from other search results. In the SERPs, users may see additional elements such as product prices, ratings, stock levels, or the number of reviews.

Depending on the content type, you may also find other information – when talking about blog posts, these may be the author’s data and the publication date. This is an effective way to improve CTR in the organic results. How to implement such a solution on your website? If you have WordPress, you may benefit from numerous plugins. Apart from that, you may also use the free Schema generator that will help you achieve the intended results.

Use HTML Tables

In the SERPs, you may also observe additional lines with information under particular results, and these lines aren’t displayed because of structured data. They’re shown as a result of using a table with the most important information. There is no guarantee that Google will display every table, data, and content included in it, but this may be an effective way to improve CTR.

This is what it looks like in the SERPs. It can significantly improve your website’s visibility in the search results.

How to Increase CTR? The Takeaway

There are many ways to improve your Click Through Rate. Nevertheless, it’s worth remembering that even if you apply all possible solutions, there is no guarantee that Google will display them in the search results. Test different options and see how they affect your CTR in organic search results. While emojis can be useless in a number of industries, they can bring outstanding effects in other sectors.

Without a shadow of a doubt, it’s worth working on your organic CTR as this can help you increase organic traffic to the site.