The Biggest Mystery of Google’s Algorithm: A Look Into Clicks, CTR, and Bounce Rate for SEO

Hey!!

Is it just us, or does October actually feel like?every day is a holiday?mood? But since it is not a holiday, here we are again!!!

?One of the biggest questions in every SEO’s mind is - Do clicks, CTR, and bounce rate matter in SEO? Let’s find out.

What is CTR and Bounce Rate?

?Clicks and CTR (click-through rate) are the metrics used to measure user engagement from search engine result pages.?

?The bounce rate is measured by how fast users navigate away from your website. If they navigate away from your webpage without visiting another webpage on your website, it is called a bounce.

Reasons to suspect Google uses CTR as a Ranking Factor

There are many good reasons to suspect that Google could use clicks of links into consideration when determining search result rankings. Here are a few:

1. Google tracks clicks on your website.
2. Google tracks clicks on ads.
3. Clicks affect?personalised search results.
4. Research ?showed that CTR does have an impact on SEO.
5. Bing uses CTR as a ranking factor.
6. Google has not officially announced CTR as a ranking factor to avoid artificial clicks.
7. CTR could be a deciding factor among many other factors.

CTR as a Ranking Factor still remains a Mystery…

Although there is no way of knowing how CTR affects ranking, we can make an obvious guess. User engagement is a major factor for Google to rank sites higher on the SERPs. CTR is the first interaction a user has on websites.?

?Danny Sullivan, former Editor-in-Chief of Search Engine Land, tweeted about the leaked??FTC Google Probe document's ?reference to rankings being affected by click data, stating:

Let us know your thoughts on this!

What else is happening in the Digi-space?

• Google Updates Image Structured Data:?Google has added three new structured data properties to be used with the Image Object type in order to add support for credit, copyright, and image creator information via structured data.
• Google Display Ads Get More Personal With New Targeting Technology:?Google is rolling out a way to utilize first-party data to deliver personalized ads via Display & Video 360, without third-party cookies.
• IG Stories just got longer:?60-second stories will no longer be split up into four 15-second stories. Keep calm and prepare for creators doing longer rants/reactions on stories!

Let iMark Infotech take care of your digital marketing worries. Not everything needs to be tough this Monday.