SEO Mysteries Cracked PART 1

What happens when a local website design and development company puts Search Engine myths to the test…

Everyone knows that ranking #1 on Google is much better than ranking #20. But how do you make the move? Google evaluates over 200 search factors on a website (in mere seconds) before ranking it for search. Along with all of these factors come many myths and mysteries for content developers and website design and development agencies to consider. In order to gain insight, we did some research on one of these popular SEO mysteries:

Are Organic Rankings Affected by Click-Through Rates?

What is a click-through rate (CTR)? Click-through rates measure the number of people who click on a specific link against the total number of people who saw the link and had the opportunity to do so. High click-through rates are ideal for paid advertisements and other calls to action, but is the ranking of a website correlated to the number of times that the website link is clicked on?

In order to solve this SEO mystery, Rand Fishkin conducted an experiment. Via twitter, Fishkin called on his followers to search the keywords "IMEC Lab." After 175-250 people responded, the original "IMEC Lab" link on Google went from rank #7 to #1 in 3 hours. Not convincing enough? Fishkin decided to also Tweet a link to a different blog post that was originally ranked #10 on Google, and it got bumped to #1 overnight.

What does this mean for you?

When you or your website design and development company are creating your site and social media posts, it is important to have strong page titles, "clickable" social media content, and powerful meta descriptions – while implementing those popular search keywords. Optimizing for high click throughs is just the beginning; it is important to also optimize for a long click through. You need to keep a user interested once he/she clicks on a call to action (CTA). Spikes in click through rates are promising to see on an analytical report, but keeping these spikes constant involves consistent SEO tactics in order to sustain your high organic rankings.

Kirk Communications, a website design and development company based in Portsmouth NH, understands how to implement SEO tactics so that your site is brought to the top. Call 603-766-4945 or visit www.kirkcommunications.com for more information.

Holly Strand is a University of New Hampshire graduate. She holds her bachelor’s degree in Marketing & Business Administration and has over five years of experience in customer service. Holly takes a central role in creating SEO copy writing for