• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Facebook
  • Flickr
  • Instagram
  • LinkedIn
  • Twitter
  • Vimeo
  • YouTube

TopDog PR

Bournemouth

  • TopDog PR
  • Home
  • About
    • Testimonials
    • Experience
    • Bill Hunt in PR Week
  • The Shop Front
    • Communications Strategy
    • Creativity
    • Digital PR
    • Media Relations
    • Website Design
    • Content Creation
    • Guerrilla Marketing
    • Event Management
    • Training
  • Work Showcase
    • Turning Heads to Help Launch the Peugeot 308cc
    • A Taste Of Fame for Walkers
    • The National Year of Reading
    • Bigging up Bertie for Trebor Bassett
    • National Drugs Helpline
    • Anti-jargon Campaign for the Village PR
    • Streakr Bares all for BETA
    • Building Loyalty for Blueback
    • Targeting Teens for Piczo
    • Schindler’s List – Universal Pictures
    • Putting The Photo Imaging Council in the Picture
    • A Campaign with Attitude for The ACF
    • Hope & Homes for Children
    • Dishing it Out for Kellogg’s
    • W1 by Raymond Weil
    • Hitting the Right Note for Deutsche Grammophon
    • Bridget Jones’ Diary Goes SMS
    • FHM’s High Street Honeys
    • Simply The Best CITV
    • Nikon’s Twisted Sister
    • Getting TIME on TV
  • CV
  • News
  • Get in Touch
    • Links

quora

January 19, 2020 By Bill Hunt 8 Comments

Does paid traffic help SEO?

Does paid traffic help SEO?

I’m a frequent visitor to Quora, a website where people post questions on anything from how to write a business plan to tips on feeding three-legged lactose intolerant llamas on the island of Bermuda between the months of April and May.

However, a question I came across today was – surprisingly – unrelated to llamas. It centred on SEO, and specifically the difference between attracting ‘paid visitors’ versus organic visitors.

It’s a well known fact that CTR (Click Through Rate) does greatly affect search engine rankings. A good value provider of ‘clicks’ is the California based company SerpClix, which allows you to specify the keyword phrase you want to be ‘known for’, and then you can actually choose the geographical location of your human – yes, human(!) ‘clickers’, which is a bonus, as gone are the days when google can be fooled by a warehouse full of workers in India fervently clicking to boost the rankings of a doll repair shop in Birkenhead. 

Here is the Quora question, along with my answer:

What specific advantages do people searching on Google have on my website's search ranking have over paid visitors?

Does a llama help with SEO?

A website is like a brochure you’ve spent a lot of time writing and designing, that is left on the floor of your office. If no-one knows it’s there, no-one will look at it. It needs to be put in the hands of the right people who are interested in what it has to say.

So, the answer to your question depends what you mean by ‘paid traffic’. If you’re referring to ads, then in the long term they have no significant effect, and could, in fact, do a great deal of harm if visitors click on your ad leading to your website, and then don’t find what they are looking for, and leave immediately. This increases what is called your ‘bounce rate’. A big no-no for google.

This is like a celibate monk finding your leaflet which turns out to be a small-form Kamasutra – one would imagine that it wouldn’t hold a great deal of interest for him, and would be discarded (to his recycle bin), in haste.

Yes, a llama really does help your search results!

In 2015, Google released something called RankBrain, which is now the most influential ranking factor, based mainly on ‘user’s behaviour signals’- that is how they react with your content, how long they spend on your website, what they click on, and what page they leave from. RankBrain is designed specifically to understand a user’s intent in order for google to serve them the best possible results.

The factors that google takes into account has changed over the years, from on-page content – specifically relevance related to the user search, then it gauged popularity – ie the number of backlinks. In 2011 this changed. Now, the RankBrain algorithm is based on user experience – it is designed specifically to figure out what the user wants. Google wants to provide a good experience, providing exactly (or very close to) what your visitor is searching for.

Encouraging organic website visits

It therefore looks for ‘trust factors’. It watches every move you make – every single link you click on, how long you spend on a page, etc. It is trying to anticipate the reason for searching. Bounce rate has a negative effect because it signals to RankBrain that a user has had an unsatisfactory experience. You have to show RankBrain that your website is trustworthy enough for google to hand over its visitors.

So, the user behaviour signals being picked up by RankBrain boil down to the fact that sites with more clicks are being pushed higher up the rankings in google. You therefore need high quality user signals to send to google – an increase in clicks, the time spent on your site and reduction of bounce rate shows you are keeping visitors happy and that they are getting what they are looking for. Decipher your user’s intentions, and show google your site belongs at the top. High quality user behaviour sends signals that feeds back to google’s RankBrain which, in turn, does your website enormous good from an SEO point of view.

Produce quality content and your visitors will come

Google very often carries out ‘split-testing’ – it will take a site from page two, place it on page one for a limited space of time, and if the site fails to attract clicks, it ‘loses’ – and without radical action from the website owner, it will never appear on page one again. Indeed, it may even be pushed to page three. You have to earn your search signals and reduce bounce rate in order to show your site is worthy of a high ranking. It boils down to figuring out what your users want, and working hard to provide it.

Making google love your website

There are a number of services, some that employ people to search for your site on google, and are paid to spend a certain amount of time browsing on random pages, exiting by a page you specify. There are other services that perform similar actions using a piece of software which can be installed on Macs, PCs and mobile phones. These services directly influence CTR (Click Through Ratio).

So long as you provide quality content, a user friendly experience, and most importantly, what users are looking for, increasing your CTR through one of these services is a ‘boost’ that many websites could (and arguably should) take advantage of.

Happy bull terrier, satisfied with his SEO

Pictured, a llama-like bull terrier looking very happy with his SEO strategy and click through ratio.

Share on facebook
Share on twitter
Share on linkedin
Share on pinterest
Share on stumbleupon
Share on email
Share on pocket

Filed Under: News Tagged With: Algorithm, bull terrier, click through rates, CTR, google, keywords, llamas, quora, RankBrain, search engine optimisation, SEO, SerpClix, user behaviour, Web Design, web ranking, web seo, website ranking

Primary Sidebar

News Brought to You by TopDog PR

Happy Clients

“Thank you very much for the huge amounts of effort which I know have been invested, and for sticking with one of the most difficult of all tasks – a year round campaign….the client will have been suitably impressed.”
David McLaren
Chairman, Hill and Knowlton

“…we have established a new level of awareness of the ACF among journalists – we couldn’t have done it without you – many thanks.”
Brigadier John Neeve
General Secretary, ACF

“Bill is one of the most creative people I know. Give him any project and he’ll come up with a range of ideas for PR campaigns, some of which are unusual, yet will always create awareness, capture the imagination and are do-able. Bill has an amazing mind and can look at a problem like no-one else I know. He is totally in tune with current trends and thinking. Oh, and he’s a great guy and fun to have around as well!”
Elaine Swift
Head of Press & PR, Nikon

“Bill is a delight to work with. He is creative, committed and a true team player. You can always rely on Bill to produce imaginative plans and execute to deadline and budget. He’s a great motivator and has a high work ethic. I’d be delighted to have the opportunity to work with Bill again.”
Gladys Elia
Managing Director, Cohn & Wolfe and International Communications Adviser

“Bill was talking all things digital long before most of us knew our blogs from our tweets. He has that rare knack of combining great creativity with compelling execution. I had the pleasure of working with Bill at Cohn & Wolfe and quickly realised that he was a rare talent indeed. Catch him while you can.”
Paul Maguire
PR & Integrated Communications Consultant

“Bill you are amazing, do you know you stand out among all those I work with, you’re conscientious, nice and professional; and you go way beyond the call of duty. You have really restored my faith in people.”
Amita Mukerjee
Author & Founder, Revenge Ink

“…an ability to come up with creative ideas that are not only quirky and original but also workable makes him a very unusual and valuable PR person. Bill is persistent, communicates well and has developed some close relationships with influential journalists.”
Virginia McLean
Professor of International Public Relations, Syracuse University

“Bertie was a heroic campaign – fun, targeted and very effective. This campaign generated great exploitation of a human interest idea.”
Beverley Kaye
Chief Executive, The Rowland Company

“Bill has his finger on the pulse. His imagination is and drive are rivalled by few. Anyone who has the opportunity to work with Bill is very lucky. He is an asset to any team or company.”
Julia Hanley-Gordon
Engagement Manager, Equal Experts

“Venerable publishing house Penguin Group … made a tech-savvy move through a partnership with teen-oriented community site Piczo.”
CNET.com

“The stunt was judged to be an unprecedented success by Trebor Bassett and the media. It captured the imagination of the media, fitting in well with the requirements of news desks for light stories.”
Hilary Freeman
PRWeek Magazine

“Bill’s ‘practical creativity’ has hugely impressed me. He consistently comes up with interesting, imagination-grabbing ideas. His ability to combine big thinking with practical effectiveness strikes me as pretty rare.”
David Taylor
Head of Thought Leadership, Siren Communications

“Many thanks for all the great work you have done for us. If we are able to come back to you with more work as a result of new account wins we will do so immediately.”
Sally Fearfield
Founding and Managing Partner, Starfish Communications

“…one of only 20 decent PR people in the industry.”
Tricia Phillips
Business & Careers Editor, The Mirror

“You played an important part in creating ‘Get Some Attitude’. You showed great determination, for this I am immensely grateful.”
Lt Steve Thomas
Marketing Officer, ACF

“Thank you for all your hard work on Simply The Best CITV. I and the team especially appreciated your enthusiasm and ideas, and it was a pleasure working with you.”
David Alpin
Editor, LWT

“I want to say a big thank you for the excellent work you have done in gaining such quality coverage for Bertie at Sotheby’s. It just goes to show what hard work, persistence and a belief in the character can achieve.”

– * –

“Congratulations on the excellent coverage achieved with the balloon during the London Marathon. I believe the media value alone would have more than paid for the cost of the balloon.”
Bruce Burnett
Marketing Director, Trebor Bassett

“Bill really showed initiative and refused to be beaten (by me or the system) and found a way…the result was the most brilliant branded TV coverage. A delighted client – even their MD noticed it and was enthusing.”
Pippa Sands
Managing Director, Sandpiper Communications

“Lovely to work with you and you’ll certainly be top of my list for any future freelancing.”
Wendy Akers
Managing Director, Wendy Akers PR

“Bertie at Sotheby’s was an excellent piece of opportunism, showing an originality usually lacking in PR companies. The idea to hold live radio interviews with ‘Bertie’s Manager’ was in a different league to press releases.”
Ian Jowell
BBC Radio Sheffield

“I was intrigued and amused by your ‘flannel’ promotional pack … it has certainly registered.”
Patrick Barrow
Managing Director, Public Relations Consultants Association

“The beauty....is it is a PR agency that has the balls to address our industry’s bull. When more agencies and independent PR pros start doing the same, we can fall out of the police lineup and into the bank line.”
Editor
Cornerbarpr.com

© 2021 Images and words TopDog PR / Bill Hunt Public Relations Sitemap
This website uses cookies to improve your experience. We'll assume you're ok with this, but you can opt-out if you wish. Cookie settingsACCEPT
Privacy & Cookies Policy

Privacy Overview

This website uses cookies to improve your experience while you navigate through the website. Out of these cookies, the cookies that are categorized as necessary are stored on your browser as they are as essential for the working of basic functionalities of the website. We also use third-party cookies that help us analyze and understand how you use this website. These cookies will be stored in your browser only with your consent. You also have the option to opt-out of these cookies. But opting out of some of these cookies may have an effect on your browsing experience.
Necessary
Always Enabled

Necessary cookies are absolutely essential for the website to function properly. This category only includes cookies that ensures basic functionalities and security features of the website. These cookies do not store any personal information.