A theory was put forth that Google uses click through ratios to help determine rankings. This has been bounced around for years, making a reappearance again this weekend, and the debates have already begun.
Many respected SEOs claim that it would be ridiculous to assume that it doesn’t. Charts are already making the rounds showing that a site ranked sixth on the SERPs with an ‘abnormally high’ click through rate should really be ranked higher. They point out that this holds true for ads, the ones with highest click through getting moved to the top of the heap.
So why not do the same for content and search results? If you have a high click through rate, doesn’t it naturally follow that your site has the most relevant information and should therefore be more highly ranked?
Not at all. It could be a good hook, good advertising, any number of things! Better usage of keywords in a meta tag, or a heavy dose of link bait gone viral. A high amount of click through traffic just means people are taking that initial look.
If you don’t have the content that they are really looking for, that click through becomes devoid of meaning. You have to look at conversion rates and ROI to really get a feel for what you are supplying in the way of customer satisfaction.
Google themselves have stated that your click through rate has no bearing on your rankings, your Quality Score or any other aspect. Click through is more closely tied to ROI than anything else, and ‘dead’ clicks do you no good, particularly if you are running a pay per click campaign!
You need clicks, it’s true – got to get people to your site, tight? – but that is not the be all and end all of the whole game. You need to have conversions, and click through does not automatically equal conversion, however you slice the pie.
As Google continues to tweak their algorithms, more and more facets come to view, and the SERPs continue to fluctuate. Flash, spam, geolocation, demographic targeting; all of these are definite factors to be considered, but as a whole. Concentrating on just one aspect, like CTR, is certain to lead you down the garden path! Make sure you run a well balanced campaign, and that your ROI bears out your CTR, and you should do fine.
Tags: CTR, ranking SERPs, ROI