SEO and Click Through Rate
Trying to estimate how much traffic each keyword phrase will bring in is difficult to do at best and practically impossible at worst. However, based on some of the tools that are available, this can be done with a decent amount of accuracy. The averages will only come into play when you have a few hundred pages ranked as an Internet entrepreneur focusing on only a few individual pages and “betting the farm” on how well those few pages will perform.
What is the Click Through Rate?
When you compare the amount of potential searches a keyword phrase gets on a regular basis, you may want to estimate how much traffic you would get if you were in the number 1 spot for that keyword phrase. It may help to identify some key behaviors of individuals doing a search. The first thing is that unless the topic is incredibly narrow and only a few pages exist for it, not too many people will browse past the first page. If they don’t see what they want in the first few results or even the top 10 results, many users will revise their query and search again.
The Numbers
How many people click through to a website after having searched is called the “click through rate” or CTR. The estimate for click through statistics on a number one listing as compared to the keyword data that Google provides through an “exact match” is about 40%. What this means is that if you have a keyword phrase that shows 1000 searches for “exact match” in the Google Adwords keyword tool, you can expect roughly 400 clicks through to your site.
The second position in the search engine rankings drops down to about 20% followed by the remaining 40% of clicks happening on the remaining 8 links and subsequent pages. In any case, the first position is where the majority of the traffic will come from.
How Titles & Descriptions Factor
Although 40% of the traffic will typically go to the first link, this isn’t always the case. Google will measure this over time and adjust accordingly in order to be consistent with their internal algorithm. It’s possible, however, that the second or third link may get more clicks due to the nature of the title and description. Testing your own pages will give you a more accurate idea as some results will be niche specific as well.
People don’t want to waste time and in today’s Internet-based “now” culture, even a mistaken click is a waste of time. Many people will take a few extra seconds to make sure what they are about to click on is what they were looking for. The description and title that you use should match as closely as possible to the content your page and get to the point to truly offer exactly what your potential visitor is looking for.
Marketing Titles
Using a strategic “headline” copy in the title in addition to the exact match keyword phrase may be a solid way of getting more clicks even if your page is not in the top spot. There are many sites out there that will give sales copywriting headlines that may provide some ideas for you. The important part is to keep the message on task and relevant. Once you move away from the relevancy, you may get a short-term boost, but long term you’ll be dropped. Google and the other search engines know when they get a bounced visitor. When someone searches for something and clicks through, doesn’t find what they need and clicks right back again to the search results, Google can track this and reduce the relevancy based on these assumptions. Keep it on topic and relevant and you’ll do very well with the search engines.
Jeff is an internet marketing consultant, a blogger and he often writes about SEO. He likes to share his knowledge and experience with others, and helps them with their online presence. At the moment, he is writing for a real estate agency in NY that has Queens condos for sale.
