Marketers can see how well their strategies and campaigns are performing by using performance metrics. Key Performance Indicators (KPI) are metrics that show you how successfully your content is performing across your channels. Common KPIs include engagement rate, lead generation rate, conversion rate, and click-through-rate, or CTR. Metrics allow you to measure your content’s success, which, in turn, lets you estimate your return-on-investment (ROI).
CTR refers to the number of times an ad has been clicked on. Organic CTR refers to the number of times your organic search content has been clicked on. The performance of digital ads, published content, and emails can be better understood by finding your CTR. If you have a low CTR, then it is unlikely that your content will bring in much ROI. A high CTR means that your content performs well and moves users further along in your marketing funnel, increasing your chance of a high ROI.
Search Engine Optimisation
You can improve your CTR by implementing an informed SEO campaign. With search engine optimisation, you increase your chances of ranking higher on search engine results pages (SERPs) (MichiganTech). The top search results on a search engine such as Google get the majority of clicks, and clicks drop drastically as you move down the rankings. By improving your content for SEO, you rank higher on SERPs and have a better chance of receiving more clicks.
You can improve your SEO by adding highly relevant keywords to your content. Here’s an obvious example; if you work in medicine, then ‘treatment’ would be a great keyword to use. People searching for topics and needs related to your business are likely to type ‘treatment’ or a variant, such as ‘how to treat…’ into a search engine to find what they are looking for. This is an example of a short-tail keyword.
Long-tail keywords are highly effective at improving rankings on SERPs. Long-tail keywords, such as ‘mechanic open near me’ or ‘addiction treatment London’ are more specific and are usually searched by users who intend to convert. (MonsterInsights) They are more than worth using, as data shows that long-tail keywords make up about 70 percent of all searches. (SmartInsights)
Use a Good Meta Description
The meta description is the short body of text that appears under your link on SERPs. This piece of text, when written well, informs the searcher about the content of your link. Sometimes, the meta-description can be the text’s opening lines, such as when the link leads to a blog post or article. This type of meta-description gives some insight into what’s to come. The meta-description can also be a brief outline of what to expect from a website. This is often seen under links to website homepages.
Create an Attractive Google Profile
You can use Schema markup to neatly outline your organic pages under your link on Google SERPs. Users are generally knowledgeable and cautious about unsafe websites, so it helps when a site clearly outlines what you can find within it. Schema markup also makes your Google profile look more attractive, which positively impacts your CTR.
Target the Right Audience
Target the right audience to get your content seen and clicked on by those who are actually interested. You may focus on your efforts on reaching as wide an audience as possible. Still, these efforts will be in vain if most of the audience you reach is uninterested in what you have to offer. Instead focus on targeting a higher quality audience, even if that audience is small in numbers. A well-targeted audience drives high-quality traffic to your site, which significantly boosts your CTR.
You can ensure your efforts are not wasted by investigating the habits and behaviour of the audience you want to target. Analytics tools such as Google Analytics can provide insight into the online activity of your audience. You can even gain insight into when they are most active and which keywords they search most often. With this information, you can schedule social media content to be posted when your target audience is most active.
Feature a Strong Call to Action
Use one or several calls-to-action (CTA) throughout your ad, email, and blog content to guide prospective customers further along your marketing funnel. You could have highly relevant, well-written, and persuasive content, but your readers may not know what to do next without a clear and strong CTA. A CTA informs the reader about the next step they should take to learn more about what you can offer.
Conclusion
CTR is a useful metric you can use to measure your content’s success and gain insight into the areas of your content that are under-performing, and those which are serving you well.
All marketers should be implementing the above tips optimise their organic CTR. When you optimise your CTR, you are likely to witness a significant improvement in your website traffic volume and quality.
Ultimately, if your content is not worth clicking through, people are unlikely to enjoy it and seek more. However, if you can publish content that is relevant and speaks to your audience effectively, readers are far more likely to engage with it and even navigate through more pages on your site.
