We looked at 1000 keywords in the same keyword niche (to isolate external factors like Google Shopping and other SERP features that can alter CTR characteristics). The keywords are all from my own. Advertising Continue reading below I compared CTR to ranking for one- and two-word search terms and did the same for long-tail keywords (search terms between 4 and 10 words). Notice how long-tail terms get much higher average CTRs for a given position. For example, in this dataset, the leading term in position 1 achieved an average CTR of 17.5%, while the long tail term in position 1 has a remarkably high CTR, at an average of 33%. You're probably thinking, Well, that makes sense.

You expect long-tail terms to have higher query intent, hence higher CTRs. That's true, actually. But why are long-tail hair masking service keyword terms with high CTRs so much more likely to land in the top position compared to organic footer positions? It's a bit weird, isn't it? OK, let's do an analysis of paid search queries in the same niche. We use organic search to come up with ideas for paid search keywords and vice versa, so we search for the same keywords in many cases. Why You Need to Increase Organic CTRs | Search Engine Journal Advertising Continue reading below Long-tail terms in that same vertical get higher CTRs than leading terms. However, the difference between long-term CTR and long-term CTR is very small in positions 1-2, and becomes huge as you move to lower positions.

So, in summary, something unusual is happening: In paid search, the long tail and lead terms do roughly the same CTR in high ad spots (1–2) and see huge differences in CTR for lower placements (3–7). But in organic search, long-tail and leading terms in points 1-2 have huge differences in CTR and very little difference when you go down the page. Why do the same keywords behave so differently in organic and paid mode? The difference (we think) is that pages with higher organic click-through rates enjoy higher search rankings. Advertising Continue reading below How to beat the expected organic search CTR CTR and ranking are co-dependent variables. There is obviously a relationship between the two, but what causes what? To get to the bottom of this chicken versus egg situation, we’re going to have to do a bit more analysis.