Does relative CTR affect organic SEO efforts?

[SproutDigital]

Hello fellow MOZ'ers!

Like many of you, I've been reviewing the Search Engine Ranking Factors 2015 Expert Survey and Correlation Data. My SEO Specialist position requires me to create positive SEO results for our clients' organic search ranking campaigns.

As I understand it, "Relative CTR is a valuable number that can show users how their ads are stacking up compared to their competitors ads appearing on the exact same websites."

My question is...Does relative CTR affect organic SEO efforts (positive or negative) in anyway? The campaigns I'm working on do not include AdWords efforts.

Is this a factor I should ignore/look over? Or is there something I can do "organically" to influence this ranking factor in a positive way?

Thanks!

[BeanstalkIM]

You're bringing up a subject that's much disputed in the SEO community as I'm sure you well know.  I note this so you'll take my answer as educated opinion rather than fact.  Before we get into the exact question you're answering it's worth noting a hangout recently in which John Mueller answers a different but related question.  In the hangout he was asked whether Google uses onsite user actions as a factor.  His answer was "no" and noted that he doesn't believe they know what people are doing in the context of filling out a form or making a purchase and that it's not used as a ranking factor.  Conversion and goal tracking aside I choose to believe him as factoring this in would force Google to compare apples and oranges with sites that use Google Analytics sending different signals than those that do not.  The reason I mention this is that while he answered that questions and I believe he did so honestly, there's a bigger point in there that ties to your question.  So let's get to that ...

Does Google Use Clickthrough Rates?

To answer this we have to answer two things ...

1 - can clickthrough rates provide a positive signal on a site's likelihood in addressing the searchers need, and
2 - can this create false positives?

The answer to both of these questions is "yes".  If a site appears in the search results and is clicked by a user that is a signal that the site likely matches the users need.  If I searched for "blue widgets" and a site with a title like "Exclusively Red Widgets | OnlyRedWidgets.com" appeared in the results then it would likely have a low clickthrough rate and that can be used as a signal.  The signal shouldn't count as an overall quality-of-site signal, just a signal based on that specific query as the site might be a great supplier of red widgets.  Now, this leads us to the second question, can it give false positives?

Let's image that red widget site used the title "Red & Blue Widgets Galore" but still only sold red widgets.  This is where functions to address the second question would be necessary and that is tracking the user's site behavior.  Since John has said they don't do that in Analytics or, by extension, Chrome, etc. use (and again - I believe him) then we have to look to Google themselves.  We can see in the SERP URLs themselves that Google is tracking which sites get clicks.  Past that they also know (just like you or I do) when that user is back at Google.  So while they may not be tracking the users behavior on a specific site for the SERPs it's certainly possible (dare I say "probable") that they are tracking the time from the click to the site to the searcher's next appearance at Google.  Whether said searcher has remained on your site or simply read a blog post there and followed a link to a different article is irrelevant, they have found what they wanted.

What I see is four core scenarios:

1 - the user clicks a link in the SERPs and returns quickly to Google and selects another site under the same query.  This would be a negative relevancy signal.
2 - the user clicks a link in the SERPs and after a good deal of time returns to Google and selects another site under the same query.  This would indicate a positive experience where the user was simply seeking additional information or options.
3 - the user clicks a link in the SERPs and after either a short or long period of time returns to Google and adjusts their query to a related but different one.  This would indicate the user needs to refine their search to find what they want and send neither a positive nor negative signal.
4 - the user clicks a link in the SERPs and after either a short or long period of time returns to Google and adjusts their query to a completely unrelated one.  This would indicate the user found what they were looking for and has moved on to another task sending a positive signal.

So to your question, I believe the answer is a conditional "yes".  Clickthroughs can send a positive signal to Google however that requires that the user found what they wanted to boost the relevancy for that phrase.

The real perk here is this, whether you believe this explanation or not (and again - this is opinion) the actions you need to take are the same.  Regardless of whether clickthroughs or even onsite time are a ranking signal the purpose of your site is to attract clicks and satisfy the users so the actions you need to take are the same regardless.  One has to love those types of scenarios.

[SproutDigital]

Sorry for the late respond Dave.

Incredible response and answer to my question.

I appreciate the time and effort that went into your response. I will share this with our development team and discuss.

Best,

Randy

[BeanstalkIM]

My pleasure Randy.