It can be frustrating to have a fantastic website, yet no one is visiting it. You work hard to generate what you believe is excellent content, yet are struggling for views. It, therefore, goes without saying that your ranking on the search engines will be very low. Websites that rank highly generally have higher click-through rates.

Click-through rates are critical for building organic traffic to your website. While Search engine optimization is a powerful tool for getting the search engines to notice you, people need to interact with the content. You must, therefore, have a strong strategy in place to improve low click-through-rates.

So what do you need to do to increase click-through rates on your website?

What Are Click-Through Rates?

When someone places an ad online, the hope is that people will click on the link and interact with it. You benefit as an advertiser because you get brand and product awareness. You also respond to a particular need that your audiences may have. Search engines also benefit from click-through rates. The more you click on the ad, the more money they make.

The simplest way to explain a click-through rate is the percentage of impressions that result in a click. You calculate it using the formula:-

Ad clicks divided by Ad impressions = Click through rates.

It is an essential metric because it tells you how relevant people find your content. So let us look at what you need to do to increase your click-through rates below.

1. Understand Your Current Position

Before you implement any changes, you should have a good understanding of your current position. Look at what your click-through rate currently is, using tools such as Google Analytics. You will get a good idea of what kind of information people are searching for on the website. Also, you will get a good indication of the Impressions, average search position, clicks, among others.

You get to understand what kind of content performs well, thereby giving you a place to start. Understanding your current CTR will also give you a benchmark from which you can determine how effective your efforts were.

2. Who Are You Talking To?

You will not find much success on the online platform if you do not have a proper understanding of your target audience.

When thinking about CTR, you must approach it from the audience angle. Look at everything from the audience’s perspective; how do they describe what they’re looking for and what kind of phrases they would use. How old are they, what is their point of need, what are they trying to communicate without actually saying it, among other things.

Do your market research and have a good understanding of your product or service offering. Most importantly, talk to your customers directly and find out what they want. Only when you truly understand what your customer profile is, can you leverage on the opportunities you have to increase your CTR rate.

3. Work On Your Page Titles

Every time you type in a search query, the first thing that comes up is the title. It is a good indicator of how important it is on the search engines. There are some fantastic tips you can use to increase the strength of your titles and include:-

• Grab Attention With The Headline

Put yourself in the shoes of anyone using the online platform. The amount of information can be overwhelming. There is so much choice, and you must grab the interest of the audiences from the very beginning. You must spend a significant amount of time coming up with your headlines.

You may often wonder why scandalous headlines attract so much attention.  Look at a local daily newspaper, and see how much they focus on attention-grabbing headlines to sell.  You must do the same for any content you generate. But even as you look for attention, do not stray too far away from your key messaging.  Also, ensure that it is natural and appeals to the end-users.

• The Use Of Different Headlines

Do not restrict yourself to one particular title. Give yourself options that aptly describe your content. The more options you have, the better.

• Get Emotional

People on the online platform may sometimes revert to emotions when searching for particular items. Focus more on the emotive aspects, instead of necessarily focusing on your keywords.

• Take Advantage Of Listicles

One way to improve your CTR is through the use of lists. Articles that start with the top 10, 20 best, among others, will rank highly on the search engines.

• Proper Formatting Is Critical

There are tools such as Yoast SEO that will give you a preview of how your title will appear on the search engine.  If, for example, it is too long, the SERP may cut it off. You, therefore, have fewer chances of people clicking on your item. Yoast will also work on mobile, making it a great tool to have.

The other alternative is to use the Google AdWords preview tool that has some similarities to Yoast. It gives you alternative descriptions and titles, making it a handy tool to have if you are struggling with the process.

4. Snippets

Search engines actively look for snippets when ranking websites. Your ability to craft rich snippets is essential. You draw in the readers and give them a preview of what to expect when they click on the link.

E-commerce marketers are taking advantage of snippets in their marketing strategies. It allows them to show the reviews and ratings around particular products they’re trying to push. A platform such as WordPress has the relevant plugins that will enable you to create rich snippets.

5. Headline Testing

You have so many tools on the online platform that can allow you to test your headlines. It is also essential that when you link your website content to your social media platforms, you use different titles.

A platform such as WordPress has the A/B testing title experiments that allow you to work with several titles for your articles. It will then allocate the titles randomly to your audiences. It allows you to determine which one gets the most clicks.

Also Read: 10 Best Headline Generator Tools For Better Post Titles

6. Descriptive URLs

Descriptive URLs work better than generic ones. According to Microsoft, descriptive URLs increase your click-through rate by 25%.

Use appropriate keywords, categories, and subcategories. Also, pay attention to the length and path because it will determine the search results. It allows for broader search content and more variety for your audiences.

7. Use of Meta Descriptions

Meta descriptions allow you to summarize your content in very few words. It will typically be right beneath the title and before your main body. It will enable you to push the messaging you want, without depending on Google to pick out relevant key sentences to use as Meta descriptions. Think about the use of power words that appeal to the emotions of your audiences.

Your Meta description is a snippet, and should therefore not be too long. Try and stick to a maximum of 155 characters.

8. Schema.org Structured Data

Use structured data to create rich snippets that give audiences additional information on your web content. Such include images, ratings, and breadcrumbs navigation, among others.

Structured data is so useful that it will increase your organic CTR by 30%. It also allows the search engine to display your information on the results page.

9. Page Loading Speed

Ensure that your page loading speed is fast so that visitors click on the links. If you are on a slow website and are looking for information, you are not likely to click on a link because of the waiting time.

The search engines will penalize you if your pages are slow loading. Also, pay attention to the number of plugins and templates because they could impact the speed. The website visitors should be able to navigate your pages easily. If they click on any link, it should immediately take them to the right place.

10. Optimize for Mobile

Optimize your pages for mobile so that users have the same experience on their phones as they would on their desktop computers. Statistics indicate that more than 50% of internet users will use their phones to access information. You will lose out on a vast audience base if you do not optimize your pages for mobile.

You must also remember that other than page loading speed, search engines will rank your website depending on how mobile-friendly it is. One expert tip is to build your site for mobile and then apply it to desktop, and not the other way around.

Also Read: Top 7 Proven Tactics To Increase Mobile Conversion Rate

11. Focus on Ad copy

Audiences are more likely to interact with compelling or engaging ad copy. It must resonate with what they are looking for. Online users are also very visual, and you must pay attention to the design. If, for example, you are working on your portfolio, focus on design aspects that will draw people in.

The online platform has a lot of resources that can give you some fantastic tips. You may, for example, want to borrow a leaf from high-performing ads. Take a look at the type of words or phrases they use and how they structure their messaging. Also, look at the Call To Action, what kind of images they use, among others.

12. Think About Your Keywords

Many people struggle with how to make their blog content more engaging. You find yourself going through tons of internet resources on blogging tips and content generation.

One thing you will, for sure, come across is the importance of the right keywords. Luckily, there are tools that you can use to help with a keyword search.

Getting the right keyword is just the first part. If, for example, you sell cakes, an obvious keyword would be ‘cakes.’ Now, type in the search query into Google, and see the plethora of responses that come back. It shows you that it is a very common keyword, and you must, therefore, narrow it down.

Focus on your niche and target market to help you come up with the relevant long-tail keyword. You could, for example, how ‘Final Farewell Cakes’ as your keyword.

Also Read: How To Increase Average Time Spent On Your Website (7 Secrets)

13. Localization

You will significantly increase your search engine optimization and CTR if you localize your content. If we go on with the cake example above, include your location in the keywords. You could, for, instance have ‘final farewell cakes in Phoenix Arizona. It allows you to define your target audience further, and you will also get better quality leads.

Take advantage of local listings and Google my business to increase your rankings on the search engines. Include as much information as you possibly can, such as opening hours, location, contact details like email and telephone, among others.

14. Use Of Images And Videos

Audiences are more likely to interact with content that uses video and images. It makes your content more engaging.

Anyone who actively uses emails for marketing will see an increase of up to 42% in click-through rates if they use images.

It could also explain why social media platforms such as Snapchat, Pinterest, and Instagram have such a large following.

Marketers realize the importance of the use of images in their advertising material. 34% agree that photographs or visual content are the most critical element. Use high-resolution images and videos to ensure better interaction. No one has time for grainy or low-quality photos or videos. The sound quality should also be excellent.

Final Thoughts

To build an organic audience, you need to have the right techniques. While factors such as attractive website design are critical, you must put into place some effort to increase your click-through rate. You must come from the point of understanding the target audience, and what it is they’re searching for.

Ensure fast loading pages, optimize for mobile, use visual aspects, and think about your keyword use, among others. Use our tips about to increase your CTR and start to see your organic audiences grow. The quality of leads you will collect will be higher, and you will have a chance to make better conversions. Spend some time in really understanding what we have highlighted so that when you implement it, you do it well.