August 5, 2013

Click-through rate, or CTR as many in the SEO community refer to it, refers to the volume and frequency at which people open and click through a specific online promotion.  It is most traditionally used to determine the success of an e-mail blast, social media promotion, or other online marketing campaign.  Determining CTR can be accomplished by dividing the number of impressions, by the number of times your promotion was clicked or opened.

As competition for top search result page position grew more and more heated, and populated, some of the major search engines like Google and others, began using click-through rate as a means of criteria used to determine and display more appropriate search results.  Today, it's considered fundamental to the success of any marketing campaign or long-term SEO strategy.

Increasing Your Website's Click-through Rate

In any campaign, the ultimate goal is two-fold: to attract the prospect enough to visit your site, and to keep them there and active, for as long as possible.  Of course this lends the question; what are the best ways  to increase your websites click-through rate?  Some of the most common methods include interactive features, breaking news, compelling graphics, sexually-themed visuals, chat rooms, open forums and many others.

One of things that makes CTR such a challenge to many, is the specific method used to "hook" a potential customer's full attention.  Once you have it, however, there is absolutely no limit to how innovative you get in keeping them entertained.  For many it means featuring information on topics they're actively interested in, including:

  • Video clips of celebrities, bands and athletes
  • Opinions & commentary on top current events
  • Invitations to local events and community activities
  • Special discounts on products or services they need/use
  • Exclusive customer-only sales & promotions

Overcoming Poor Website Traffic with CTR

Many companies have found that it takes more than a clever campaign, to improve your site's traffic and click-through percentage.  By researching your target market more thoroughly and extensively, you'll have a better understanding of what they're drawn to.  Of course, there's no way to research the likes and interests of every prospect in your database.

What you can do, however, is learn the trends and statistics on specific target groups, and market specifically to those groups.  Not only will this allow for more effective online marketing campaigns, you'll also be driving more traffic to your website, consisting of those who are currently using of looking for the products and/or services you're offering.  Interestingly enough, CTR is closely associated with Bounce Rate.

If you're interested in learning more about the similarities between bounce rate and click-through rate, we have a feature on our blog that you may find helpful in ultimately boosting your website's page rank.