Key Takeaway: In this presentation, "How to Be Ahead of The (CTR) Curve", Izzi Smith shares that not all clicks are equal in value and Google uses them to measure the importance of a page. Marketers should be striving for an engaged click aka the long click.
What Kind of Clicks are my Pages Producing?
While still on a case by case basis, Google provides answers to short click queries with snippets.
To identify what kind of clicks your pages produce, you need to manipulate your data. To track your links and hurdle over Google Search Console’s limitations, Izzi recommends:
- Connecting to Google Search Console’s API to build a more actionable dashboard (you can do this using Google Data Studio, RYTE, etc.)
- Identity crucial patterns in your Search Performance Data:
- Relevancy,
- E-A-T (she provides a checklist here),
- Under-permformers: high impression but low CTR landings pages, this can be an indicator that your pages aren’t relevant for those terms. Izzi recommends grouping these keywords together to monitor and report on later.
- Keywords with strong research intent, leverage this data to conduct on-page and snippet optimizations.
Pros and Cons of Featured Snippets
There are a few things to keep in mind about featured snippets.
The benefits:
- Top organic position
- Brand trust
- Conversational search
The cons:
- Risk of loss of clicks
- Misinterpretation
- SERP confusion (user may think its an ad)
💡 Pro tip: know when Google is testing you on page one and exceed those expectations.
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