How To Make Your SA CTR Skyrocket!
And now we get to the real heart of this resource: how to improve your click-through-rate (CTR) for articles you submit to SA. I’m going to cover this topic in depth, as I think it is an element that has only been discussed in passing in WA, and as a result, many people have low CTRs. But as I have found out, you can increase your CTR if you employ the right strategy.
Using Links IMPROPERLY On Street Articles
As you are probably aware, Street Article has a certain way they want you to incorporate links in your articles. Generally, you are not allowed a Call to Action (e.g. click here for more information on...) and you are not allowed to be spammy or overly promotional with your links.
In essence, you cannot use language that overtly asks someone to click on a link in your article. So for example, if you were promoting the Asus Transformer Prime (a tablet computer) you cannot do the following (note, links are not real):
- I have put together a resource on where to get the best deals on the Asus Transformer Prime. Find out more by going to my Asus Transformer Prime Review Page.
- If you are looking for a durable carrying case for the Asus Transformer Prime, you will want to view this website on the 3 best Asus Transformer Prime cases.
Anything that calls on the reader to carry out an action (e.g. view, take a look at, find out how, etc.) is not allowed at Street Articles. Instead, you are supposed to incorporate links naturally in your article. That is, your links must fit in with your overall article content!
How To Link Naturally, But Still Get People To Click On Your Links
Although this may come as a shock to some, you can actually still get people to click your links without having a call to action. There are certain strategies you can utilize to make it more likely they will click your links.
What I want you to keep in mind from here on out, is that you are providing a RESOURCE for people. You are trying to help them by providing information. People are more open to clicking on a link if they think it will provide them with more information. There are certain ways you can frame your article to indicate to them that your links will provide them with more helpful information.
PLEASE NOTE: This is a very subtle process. You are NOT telling them you have more information in your links. You are INDICATING or IMPLYING to them that you have more information in your links. The former requires YOU to convince them to click a link. The latter requires YOUR READER to convince THEMSELVES to click a link.
Therefore, “indicating†means that the reader should realize without you telling them that your links provide more information on the topic.
@urn357: I understand where you're coming and you do raise some legitimate concerns. I'm not claiming these techniques will work for everyone, but I have certainly noticed a higher CTR on most of the articles I submit using these strategies. I'll upload some screenshots when I have a chance, but it's not uncommon for me to get CTR around 20 - 30% on my SA articles.
Part of a high CTR also has to do with the article topic and the quality of the article. Some topics are just not going to give you a high CTR for various reasons (e.g. not something people are passionate/emotional about).
In response to SA not coming up in webmaster tools, I have noticed a similar thing as you sometimes. However, webmaster also doesn't show ALL of the links going to your website. Just because it doesn't come up in webmaster doesn't mean Google doesn't recognize it. And no, SA has not changed their links to NF.
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And I've said this before in the forum. Google webmaster tools no longer recognizes my links from SA. They used to about 6-10 months ago, but nope not anymore. So if you are looking for Google to recognize your links from SA, then good luck on that. Yeah, your article may rank high in their search engine, but I think SA changed their links to NF or something. I will think this way until they clarify and show me I'm wrong anyway.
And I've said this before in the forum. Google webmaster tools no longer recognizes my links from SA. They used to about 6-10 months ago, but nope not anymore. So if you are looking for Google to recognize your links from SA, then good luck on that. Yeah, your article may rank high in their search engine, but I think SA changed their links to NF or something. I will think this way until they clarify and show me I'm wrong anyway.
