Ranking #1 in Google search is the best thing that can happen to your blog and it’s not impossible but it’s not so easy. Now, what to do when you are ranking on first page but not in top 3 search engine positions, how could you use that rank to get more click through rate than first few positions. There are few techniques and ways which you can implement on your blog post to get higher CTR from Google search. I have tried and tested few of these factors and it worked for me, and I’m sure it should work for you too.
Google search may seem like a normal search and find system for a normal Googler, but for us as a Blogger and Webmasters, we should be using latest search engine ranking factors to get the top ranking and also to get more CTR. Here I’m sharing few ways which I have implemented in past few months and it will help you to get more search engine click to your Blog. This is specifically for Google search, as it’s most popular search engine and probably most profitable.
Tips to increase Click through rate from Google Search Engine:
Google Authorship:
It’s been more than a year that Google implemented Google authorship, which will let Webmaster use the power of Google plus and show their image in Google search. Needless to mention, this let your blog post stand out from the other and increase the trust factor. Below is an example of such authorship from one of my article:
I tried implementing authorship almost months back but seems like according to Google authorship policy you need to have a clear image of your face and that’s one reason It took so long for me to get author image in Google search. I changed my Tattooed image almost a month back on Google plus and now I could see author image in Google search for my posts. Implementing authorship is quite easy and you can read official google guide here or my earlier guide for single authored blog here. It may take few days to get Google authorship, but once you have it, results from your blog will be stand out in Google search.
Star Rating in Google search:
If you are one of those who write review articles, that could be Webhosting or Webapps review, you can use Google Rich snippet star rating to make your review stand out. These star rating works as ranking the product you are reviewing and they easily stand out. With star rating, you can easily make your review article stand out even in competitive Keyword results. I use a WordPress plugin call Author H review, developed by Hesham from FamousBloggers.net, which easily let us add star rating in Google search.
Along with star rating, you can also add a nice call to action button at the end of the article which will help you to get more CTR to product you are endorsing. If you are a tech blogger or Blogging on any niche, and you review services, product, apps, mobile phones use this plugin and you can notice a great increment in Google search CTR to your Blog. This plugin is highly recommended for Affiliate Bloggers.
Remove date from Google SERP’s:
Dates are very useful for readers to know when a Blog post is written and it helps them to determine the recency of an article. But when you have an old blog and despite of writing ever green content, you may notice poor CTR from Google search due to dates in Google Serp’s. I have mentioned about the same in my Google Panda recovery guide.
You can make tweaks to show dates in posts but hide it from Google search. I use Thesis theme system to quickly remove date from Search engine results and it actually helped a lot to get more CTR for old posts too. If you have been noticing poor CTR for old blog posts, my recommendation would be remove the dates from Google SERP’s for your blog posts, and notice the difference.
Meta description and Meta title:
This should be first tip here but being one of the oldest, I put it in last here. Google and most of the other search engine uses your Meta title and meta description to show information in Google search. Writing a call to action Meta title will not only help to get better CTR, but writing a detailed meta description along with Keyword will help you to get better ranking.
You can use plugins like WordPress SEO by yoast or if your theme offers post SEO options, you can use it to write Meta post titles and description which will help you to increase Google search CTR.
There are other factors like Google plus likes, using video thumbnail, instant preview also helps in maximizing CTR from Google search. But for now, if you implement above latest SEO techniques on your blog, you will be making your blog post listing stand out in Google search.
Do let me know if you use any other technique which helps you to get better CTR from Organic search? If you find this article useful, don’t forget to share it on Facebook and Google plus.
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Article by Harsh Agrawal
Harsh has written 1206 articles.
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{ 10 comments… read them below or add one }
Nice tips and will implement them soon on my blogs…thanks for sharing
Awesome post! Well, implementing Google authorship is really a great strategy to increase credibility and using meta description/title is really useful for better search engine rankings. Thanks Harsh for sharing this excellent info
Here is an awesome plugin for Star Rating in Google search which is FREE of cost…
http://wordpress.org/extend/plugins/author-product-review/
Can you show how to hide dates from search engine, while keeping them visible for readers
This tips and techniques are seen useful. Specially date hiding technique from Google serp and going to implement on my own blog.
Thanks Harsh for this useful information. All the 4 tips were very useful. Your article motivated me to do the changes right now.
Hi Harsh,
I want to add one more post. Using breadcrumbs in Google search can be a good idea. I think it make search result more clear.
Thanks for the post!
Yet another worth reading post.
Harsh, I believe the correct usage of rich snippets in the search engine can also boost up the presence of links (ahead of Google Author Rank), and also improves the CTR.
do Breadcrumbs really help us in raking our page and making users to navigate our website ?
and is there any other alternative for Breadcrumbs where user can get Best Navigation to our posts ?
This article has said all basic techniques to increase your CTR. One point I liked too much, which is remove your post dates. Kindly share, how we can remove dates from Google SERP.