Do CTR's Really Affect Organic Rankings?

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www.climb-online.co.uk
© 2015 Climb Online Limited. All Rights Reserved.
Do CTR’s Really Affect
Organic Rankings?
@SAMTHOMASSEO
https://uk.linkedin.com/
in/sam-thomas-seo
Sam Thomas

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What Have Previous Tests Told Us?
My Test
The Results
Too Summarise
What It Means For Your Clients
The End!
The Agenda.
Why I Did This Test

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About Me.
• SEO’er for around 5 years.
• Currently Head of Organic Media at Climb Online.
• Specialise in Technical / Onsite SEO.
• Worked With Clients in a Range of Industries.
• Working with Budgets from £250 - £10’000 per month.
• Those of you who follow me on Twitter will know I
tweet more about delayed trains than SEO..

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Why I Did This Test.
• It has been on my agenda for a few years.
• Other similar tests.
• How it works in a common SEO environment.
• Could it provide a new value for clients?
• Is it a viable part of an SEO strategy?
• How much resource would it take?

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Previous Tests / Reports
• Moz – May 2014
• Search Engine Land – August 2015
• Moz - April 2016
• Forums
Google – Every Month, Every Year

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Moz – May 2014
• Rand Blog – Search Term – IMEC Lab
• Position 7 6:03pm
• A tweet asking people to click – around 200 clicks.
• Position 1 9.01pm
• Evidence suggests clicks increase rankings.

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SEJ – August 2015
• Bartosz Góralewicz – Search Term – Negative SEO
• Position 2.
• Bot traffic with engagement of 2-4 minutes including
clicking on internal links.
• Stayed at Position 2.
• Two Months Later – Ranking started to drop.

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Moz – April 2016
• Larry Kim Blog – Rank Brain
• If You Beat the Expected CTR – You Rank Higher
• If CTR is Lower than Expected – You Rank Lower.
• Want to Move up a Position? Increase CTR by 3%.
• Evidence suggests Rank Brain takes into account CTR
and can increase rankings.

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Wordstream CTR Averages

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So.. Does it?

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My Test
• Keyword: FREE SEO AUDIT.
• Bot Traffic With Engagement.
• Initial Ranking: 29
• Real World Environment – Minus Backlinks.
• We Also Shared This on Social Media.

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Round 1!
• Traffic: 150 visits.
• Time on site: 1 minute +
• Internal Clicks: 2 pages
• Bot Instructions:
Go to Google.co.uk -> Search for “Free SEO Audit” ->
Search through top 5 pages -> find http://climb-
online.co.uk -> click result -> stay on page for 30
seconds -> click an internal link -> stay on page for 40
seconds.
Position 29
Position 23

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Round 2!
Position 25
Position 19
• Time on site: 1 minute 30 seconds.
seconds.

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Round 3!
Position 19
Position 12
• Time on site: 1 minute 15 seconds.
seconds.

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SURPRISE TEST!
Position 11
Position 1
• John Bull appears on Dragons Den last Sunday
• Showcases a tablet stand called Plinth
• Pocket Design Stand – Very Simple
• Notes in pitch about rankings at the top of page 2 /
bottom of page 1
• I check on Sunday night to see if claim is true
• By Monday the website is position 1 for search term
“Tablet Stand”

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The Answers.
• Is it sustainable?
• Is it a viable part of a strategy?
• Does increasing CTR actually increase rankings?
• Should you use a bot to do it?
• How can it become a natural part of an SEO campaign?

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How Can You Apply It?

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Naturally Increasing CTR
• Where you rank is one thing; getting people to click is another.
• Page Titles & Meta Descriptions are EVERYTHING.
• Good:
• Bad:

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What Makes an Engaging Result?
• All Text Displays in Full.
• Snappy and to the point – relates directly to the search intent.
• Where Appropriate – Use Emotive Words.
• Features a competitive call to action.
• Eases an issue for the searcher.

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Don’t Forget to Tweet!
Thank you
@SAMTHOMASSEO
https://uk.linkedin.com/
in/sam-thomas-seo

Do CTR's Really Affect Organic Rankings?

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