Last Updated on February 29, 2024
Like in other areas of life, success breeds success in online marketing. A link that gets clicked often will increase the page’s relevance, which improves its quality, which raises its position in search engine rankings, which leads to even higher click-through rates, and then the process starts again.
If this is going to happen, though, you need to make sure your marketing efforts are generating high click-through rates in the first place. Whether you’re marketing for the first time or want to perform better than before, here are seven ways to improve your click-through rates.
Pick Good Keywords…
You already know what the right keywords do for your search engine rankings, so apply the same principle to your marketing efforts. Choose keywords that match your offer and would attract the attention of your target audience. Do a little research to make the best choices.
Also, consider long-tail keywords. Your ads won’t appear in as many results as they would with more popular terms. Let’s take the pool safety company, Pool Guard USA for example; if you’re optimizing for a product like pool fences you should append the location, the result being; Miami pool fences.
When long-tail keywords do match the search query, the searcher is more likely to beinterested in the offer based on their niche expectations, so you can expect higher click-through rates.
…But Avoid the Negative
While niche keywords help target your market, broader terms may still be essential. However, these broad terms could lead to your ad appearing where it shouldn’t. You can avoid this problem by adding negative keywords to your ad engine.
If your ad relates to fashion tips for summer, you might appear in queries for teen fashion magazines or fashion tips for men. By turning “men’s fashions” and other terms into negative keywords, you won’t waste valuable money or ad space on uninterested consumers.
Extend Your Ad
When you’re doing a search, do you first notice the little 2-line ads, or the ads with four or more lines and a link to a website? When it comes to ads, bigger is better, so make the most of ad extension and give your links greater visibility.
These ad extensions do more than just give you a few extra lines – they help you customize your ad for specific objectives. Local extensions show potential readers that you’re from the neighborhood, while sitelinks allow you to give links more user-friendly names.
Make it Unique
Retailers know they have to distinguish themselves from the competition – so do you. Your blog might be informative and authoritative, but so is everyone else’s. Raise your CTR by letting people know what they can expect from you and not from anyone else.
Let’s say you write about antique cars. That’s a start, but what else can you say? Are you the most popular expert in your area? The only one? You only have a few lines to make your case, so make it with a unique proposition.
Write a Great Call to Action
You’ve delivered your message – now what? What do you want intended readers to do? Obviously, you want them to click the link, but they need to know what’s in it for them. Write a strong call to action that entices them to take that next step.
One phrase to not use is “click here” – that’s what you want, not what they want. Instead, turn your call to action into a promise. “Learn more” indicates they’ll get useful information, while “save now” promises a lower pricetag.
Increase Bids
“My ad at the bottom of the page did so much better than the ad at the top,” said no marketer ever.The tips that don’t cost anything can go a long way to increasing the number of clicks. If you want to do a little better, though, try raising your bid.
Proceed with caution on this one. A higher bid will definitely lead to a higher CTR, but if you spend too much you’ll end up sacrificing one gain for another. After raising your bid, keep a close eye on your ROI and make sure your efforts remain profitable.
Test, Optimize, Repeat
Your job isn’t done once you raise your CTR – in fact, it’s only beginning. You take steps to improve your rate, but were they the right steps? Could your efforts have performed better if something were different? You’ll never know unless you’re regularly testing.
Suppose you have two keywords that fit your ad. Test them both and see which performs better. Consider the following 11 analytics tools to help supplement this. Once you have the right keyword, test different extensions, headlines and calls to action. Keep repeating these tests over and over until you get the very best CTR – and then test some more.
Even if you’re happy with your click-through rate, you can do something to make it better. Follow these steps and you’ll get more clicks, and eventually a larger audience