So you followed all the previous articles and you have got to number 1 on Google but you are not seeing the traffic you would expect. So what could be wrong?
CTR (Click Through Rate)
Using the Google webmaster tool you can see the CTR for terms that your site has featured in the SERPs (Search Engine Result Pages). It will also show the average position that your site featured. The higher the result, the higher the CTR you should expect.
So what is it that makes the searcher click to your site? Google picks out text from your site to display, most often this is the META description. Think of it as a 150-160 character advert. This is a result for my site when searching for Dorset Photographer.
Search Results CT & Bounce
Notice how the search term is included in Bold in the description and the Title of the page is featured. As we all know, the better the advert, the more chance of attracting customers. Do your research as better descriptions increase click through rates.
Bounce Rate
So now we are at No.1 and people are clicking through but do they find what they thought they would? If they click the back button very quickly because the page loads slowly or they get to your page and it is visually unappealing they are telling Google that your site was not relevant. As photographers we should understand presentation. We have already talked about page speed and having good content.
There are different beliefs about CTR and Bounce Rate and my personal one is that why would Google rate a site highly that people do not like or do not visit? I am not alone in this belief see here.
Stub Postings
Many bloggers pick a subject and therefore postings can be linked to other internal content. This should mean people stay on your site and hence reduce bounce rate. Think of it the other way, you write a really good article and people are taken direct to that and then leave the site. That would be a stub posting. The solution may be to think that when writing on a new subject that you write 2 postings and link to each other i.e. a series of articles could help your bounce rate.