Do CTR manipulation services actually work to improve rankings?
-
I've seen a variety of services on the fringe of the SEO world that send a flow of (fake) traffic to your website via Google, to drive up your SERP CTR and site engagement. Seems gray hat, but I'm curious as to whether it actually works.
The latest data I've seen from trustworthy sources (example and example 2) seems mixed on whether CTR has a direct impact on search rankings. Google claims it doesn't. I think it's possible it directly impacts rankings, or its possible Google is using some other metric to reward high engagement pages and CTR correlates with that.
Any insight on whether CTR manipulation services actually work?
-
No problem, hope it helps!
-
I can't figure out if they are really that ignorant of the rules or if they are just lying.
Probably both! And, they say anything that makes the best story to gain a client, hold a client or make themselves look innocent when things go wrong.
-
Also Googlers a) have to fight pretty much only with algorithms and b) have to minimize collateral damage. That gives black hatters an advantage, and makes it impossible for Google to completely win. What annoys me is the fact that almost every single SEO company claims to be 100% white hat and Google-approved, while many are buying links, doing link networks, etc. I can't figure out if they are really that ignorant of the rules or if they are just lying.
-
**We have competitors who are using very shady SEO tactics and winning with them. **
I think that it is more Google being slow to identify problems and conservative about what they penalize. When SEOs go into the manuipulative zone they are taking their chances that Google will not find them or penalize them. SEOs who do this often do not fully inform the client that risks are being taken and that they could be slapped with a penalty that will permanently ban them from google, or in the case of Penguin, have their site demoted in the SERPs for nearly two years.
-
Good info, thanks!
-
I've definitely heard of this working with people using crowd-sourcing websites (such as Crowdflower) to pay next to nothing for thousands of people to Google a keyword and click on a specified listing.
Whilst the effects of CTR manipulation are pretty instant and it definitely works, it's often short lived and Google is quick to pick this up as an anomaly, rather than data of statistical significance.
In short, it works and it works pretty quickly but if you can't sustain the CTR metrics, you're going to fall back down the rankings.
-
I think you over-estimate how smart Googlers are and how dumb shady SEOs are. I've seen blatant tricks that have been working for years. I don't use such tricks because they are very risky, but I don't think we should dismiss them as useless - I think it's worth understanding which work and which don't, especially if our competitors are using them. We have competitors who are using very shady SEO tactics and winning with them. Understanding what they are doing and what is working helps us determine which white hat tactics to deploy against them. That's why I'm asking for data on CTR manipulation.
-
Google is really smart about manipulation. They have teams of PhD engineers looking out for it and racks of servers watching for it. These guys are so into it that they don't go home at night. And, the guys who offer these clicking services are not very smart. If they were smart they would be making big bucks in cushy jobs like Google Engineer and riding hoverboards around their offices. The intersection between really smart people and really dumb people isn't a good place to get involved.
-
Yeh, I think this is a good topic to be aware of, even if we wouldn't use it. That way we can respond correctly if our competitors use it, figure out white-hat ways to combat it, have a better understanding of Google's algorithms, etc. All else failing, it wouldn't be expensive to test them out.
-
I generally agree with you that Google is getting better at detecting tricks, but Google is far from perfect and there are a lot of tricks that still work. I'm looking for specific results/data specifically on the CTR manipulation services...
Have you done any tests with CTR manipulation services work?
This is not a tactic white hat SEOs would use, but it's still good for us to know whether it works, so we can respond correctly if our competitors use it, to figure out white hat ways to combat it, to answer client questions, to have a better understanding of Google's algorithms, etc.
-
Generally speaking, these types of schemes don't work, as Google is quite aware of people trying to do this. With the latest Google algorithm updates in the past few years, we've seen it become tougher and tougher for black hat SEO or gray hat SEO to be successful by trying to manipulate clicks, etc. and faking traffic.
We are aware of other techniques that have been manipulating Google suggest, though, and while that doesn't specifically influence rankings, it can lead to people searching for keywords that they wouldn't normally search for.
-
Hi there
No idea if it works or doesn't, but I'd be interested in hearing about it from a curiosity standpoint. My thought is if someone has thought to make a service / try it, Google is five steps ahead in preventing it from working in their algorithm. But yeah, would love to hear thoughts if someone has used it as well!
Thanks for starting what could be a really interesting discussion dude!
P
Got a burning SEO question?
Subscribe to Moz Pro to gain full access to Q&A, answer questions, and ask your own.
Browse Questions
Explore more categories
-
Moz Tools
Chat with the community about the Moz tools.
-
SEO Tactics
Discuss the SEO process with fellow marketers
-
Community
Discuss industry events, jobs, and news!
-
Digital Marketing
Chat about tactics outside of SEO
-
Research & Trends
Dive into research and trends in the search industry.
-
Support
Connect on product support and feature requests.
Related Questions
-
Search engine keyword rank - easiest way to check the keywords that rank across website
What is the best keyword ranking tool you have used? I have used various tools by which I am expected to identify and input the keyword I want to track... However, recently I was introduced to Searchmetrics, which I think automatically pulls in the keywords a website ranks for, without the need for manual input from the SEO (I haven't used this tool yet, so apologies if I am incorrect!). Do any other rank trackers work like this? Thanks, Luke
Intermediate & Advanced SEO | | McTaggart1 -
Hiring A Linkbuilding Service
What would be your take on how to hire a link building service. Specifically, but not limited to: Finding one whose methods/links achieved won't later destroy the domain? Define the cost for the service? What is a typical cost for such a service? Reasonable expectations? Any other tips for dealing with same. Thanks!
Intermediate & Advanced SEO | | 945011 -
Is Google Certified shops a ranking factor?
Hi This is to spark a debate, rather than an answer which has a specific answer. While Google may claim that being on the certified programme doesn't increase your ranking, but part of their algorithm looks into whether a website is trustworthy. To get accepted onto the certified shops you have to prove your a trust worthy reliable business that constantly gets audited. So surely this must be directly / indirectly be a ranking factor? Just thought I would throw it out there for a debate.
Intermediate & Advanced SEO | | Andy-Halliday1 -
Can't understand our Ranking; DA, PA and On Page all better than Competiton; Ranking no where
Our rankings are up and down but our domain is clean, DA and PA good
Intermediate & Advanced SEO | | AlexSTUDIO18
and there is really in depth content which is all original. We are at a bit of a loss; The site is
http://www.fightstorepro.com I can use the phrase "Boxing Gloves" as an example
http://www.fightstorepro.com/gear/gloves/boxing-gloves.html PA 26 , DA29
Good original content; Video content, On page grade A
Not ranking in top 50 places?? The competitor in Pos4 is not matching our placing Anyone shed any light on this?0 -
After Ranking Drop Continue SEO or Focus on Improving User Experience Instead?
Six months after starting a marketing campaign and spending a lot of money on SEO audits, link removals, wire frames, copywriting and coding my web site (www.nyc-officespace-leader.com) traffic dropped significantly after I launched a new version of my site in early June. Traffic is down about 27%, but most of the traffic from competitive terms is gone and the number of leads (phone calls, form completions) is off by about 70%. On june 6th an upgraded version of the site with mostly cosmetic changes (narrower header without social media buttons, streamlined conversion forms, new right rail was launched. No URLs were changed, and the text remained mostly the same. But somehow my developers botched up either canonical tags or Robot Text and 175 URLs with very little/no content were indexed by Google. At that point my ranking and traffic. A few days ago a request to remove those pages was made via Google WebmasterTools and now the number of pages indexed is down to 675 rather than the incorrect 850 from before. But ranking, traffic and lead generation have not yet recovered. After spending almost $25,000 over nine months this is rather frustrating. I might add the site has very few links from incoming domains and those links are not high quality. An SEO audit was performed in February and in April a link removal campaign occurred with about 30 domains agreeing to remove links and a disavow file being submitted for another 70-80 domains that would not agree to remove links. My SEO believes that we should focus on improving visitor engagement rather that on more esoteric SEO like trying to build incoming links. They think that improving useability will improve conversions and would generate results faster than traditional SEO. Also, they think that improving click through rates, reducing bounce rates will improve ranking by signaling to Google that the site is providing value to visitors. Does this sound like a reasonable approach? On one hand I don't see how my site with a MOZ domain authority could possibly compete against sites with a high number of quality incoming links and that maybe building a better link profile would yield faster results. On the other hand, it seems logical that Google would reward a site that creates a better user experience. Any thoughts from the MOZ community???? Does it sound like the recent loss of traffic is due to the indexing of the 175 pages? If so, when should my traffic and ranking return? Incidentally, these are the steps taken since last November to improve SEO: SEO Traffic & Ranking Drop Analysis and Recommendations (included in-depth SEO technical audit and recommendations). Unnatural Link Removal Program Content Optimization (Audit & Strategy with 20 page keyword matrix) CORE (also provided wireframe for /visitor-details pages at no-charge) SEO Copywriting for 10 pages New wire frames implemented on site on June 6th Jump in indexed pages by 175 on June 10th. Google Webmaster Tools removal request made for those low quality pages on June 23rd. Thanks, Alan
Intermediate & Advanced SEO | | Kingalan11 -
Is it normal to initially rank low in the SERPs, then over time gain rank?
We just released a very targeted page for a specific item about 18 hours ago. For the main keyword as well as multiple variations, we currently are ranking around # 40 to # 50 depending on what the exact query is. Is it normal to initially rank lower in the SERPs and then as the page ages, gain? Thank you for your insights!
Intermediate & Advanced SEO | | DJ1231 -
Keyword Ranking Question
I have recently hired a SEO company to help with our keyword. My question is what are the best tools to use to verify what that are reporting. I can do an unpersonalized search, but I am likely still getting the my local results. I have been using the SEOmoz rank tracker in the past but for some reason it is not able to retrieve results over the past day or so. Are there any other good tools to check ranking for an exact url at the for non-localized, non personalized results? Thanks for the suggestions.
Intermediate & Advanced SEO | | fertilityhealth0 -
One brand 5 services. How to optimize?
We have a client that provides 5 different services all under one brand and one site. The challenge is getting good web popularity to each major brand. It looks like this: Brand ( No real Internet traffic to Brand keywords) Service A Service B Service C Service D Service E All the services are displayed on the home page. The SEOmoz scores are now (in general) as high or higher than the competition in the service keywords, but, of course, we are only ranking on the top for one of the services. It's a local business. We are just finishing a re-design of the site so that each service has an internal "micro site" within the domain. Each of the services is linked from the home page to its micro sites Anchor page. The anchor page is linked to 2 to 4 other pages all directly related to that services information. SO my question is, should we continue to work on building the home page popularity, or focus a mix between the Home page (Brand) and the Micro sites Anchor pages. or just go for popularity of the Internal Anchor pages for the services? Hope this makes sense. And thanks in advance for your thoughts.
Intermediate & Advanced SEO | | MBayes0