Before we can get into what makes a CTR manipulation tool good, (and what tool we think is the absolute best CTR manipulation tool in the market right now), I thought it would be best to start from the beginning and explain, in detail, exactly what CTR manipulation is, what it means, and how you can implement CTR manipulation techniques into your own SEO campaigns and really benefit from it.
What is CTR Manipulation? Why Use a Tool?
CTR is an acronym for “click through rate”. Your click through rate is the percentage of people/searchers who click on to your web properties compared to the number of times your web pages we’re actually presented as an option to those searchers.
It is expressed as: (Clicks รท Total Page Impressions = CTR%)
If your click through rate is bad, the algorithms in the search engines like Google RankBrain will start to rank other web pages with higher click through rates ahead of yours.
So as someone who is in charge of SEO, it would be very wise to take note of your CTR percentages and do anything you can to get those numbers up.
CTR manipulation is simply the process of making sure your CTR numbers are where they need to be. And there are many successful ctr manipulation techniques you can implement to get the best search engine results.
But contrary to popular belief, it will not suit you well to send a ton of traffic to your website using only your main keywords.
There is a process. And there is a right way and a wrong way to go about CTR manipulation using sound SEO strategies. More on this later…
Leveraging Information From Google Search Console
There is a right way and a wrong way to manipulate CTR when it comes to ranking in Google.
As mentioned before, if your CTR is too low, Google will show your website less and others with higher click through rates more.
This can work the opposite way as well where if you’re sending too many clicks and your CTR doesn’t look natural, then Google will also reward other websites before they show yours.
So the goal is to find out exactly what your percentages are for exactly which keywords. And you can do this by going to Google Search Console and viewing your Performance reports.
Simple Organic CTR Manipulation Technique
The easiest way to raise your CTR is to write compelling titles and meta descriptions.
If your page is already being shown and getting impressions, then a simple tweak to your title and/or your meta description may work to entice some of those searchers towards clicking over to your website.
You can also use something like AdWords or any other type of paid ads to skip the waiting time it usually takes for Google to index your site and start showing impressions in the search results.
NOTE: Be careful to make sure your title and description are still optimized for your target keywords. The meta description doesn’t hold as much SEO weight as it once did, but the title is a very important ranking factor in all search engine results pages.
CTR Traffic Bots
Tweaking your title and meta description may not get you where you need to be.
In this case you now have the option to take matters into your own hands and look into some CTR bots to perform the CTR manipulation automatically.
Pros and Cons of Using Bots To Manipulate CTR Search engine Results
Not all CTR traffic bots are created equal. They just aren’t. And we’ve tested enough of them to know which are garbage, which seem good but don’t actually work, and which ones actually do a really good job of manipulating user generated signals enough to see results.
There are many decent tools to choose from today; CTR Booster, CTRify, Viper, WebMagic SEO and GMB Crush, just to name a few.
There are also a lot of absolute junk bots that do not work at all. Before we get into which we’re using, let’s go over a few pros and cons of using a traffic bot over something like MicroWorkers.
5 Reasons Why CTR Bots Are Great
- You control the numbers. You control how much traffic is sent for which keywords. This control will allow you to perfectly tweak the variables enough to get your click through rate exactly where you need it to ultimately boost your rankings in Google and other search engines.
- You control where the traffic goes. With click through rate bots you can also choose which web page to send the CTR to, like Google Maps, Google Business Profile Posts, YouTube videos, Web 2.0, or any web page you want.
- You control where the traffic comes from. Good CTR manipulation bots allow you to set geo location points and a radius from where you want the traffic to come from. These traffic bots will then use random GPS latitude and longitude points around the middle point which will allow you to boost proximity of rankings for Google Business Profile listings.
- You control the CTR actions. There is a difference between traffic generators and bots, and good CTR manipulation bots actually click on buttons and interact with your chosen web properties. You can have them click on your call buttons, share buttons, driving directions, and really anything you want. This is the action you need if you want your SEO ctr manipulation strategy to be successful.
- Low cost, cost-per-click. Comparatively speaking, the price you pay per click with bot CTR manipulation is very low considering real traffic could cost you several dollars per click or more. Sure you have to spend money to set things up properly, but in the long run if you are running a lot of traffic, you are going to save a lot of money by using a CTR manipulation tool.
Drawbacks of CTR Bots
The most obvious and somewhat troubling drawback of trying to use traffic generators to emulate CTR, is that if you do it wrong it can have serious negative consequences on your website.
Most of the time Google and the other major search engines just ignore and discount bot traffic, but there is a fine line and you don’t want to cross it.
One of the most important aspects of getting your CTR manipulation right is to make sure you are using good proxies. You cannot get away with using cheap data center IP ranges, or scraped proxies that are unreliable and slow.
The best proxies are real mobile 4G and 5G proxies from real carriers like T-Mobile, AT&T, Verizon, etc. Good and real residential proxies also work, but they are hard to find. And the drawback is that these good, reliable, real proxies are not cheap.
And don’t forget you will need a VPS (virtual private server) to run the bot on so it stays on all day and night. These are relatively cheap, but all the setup costs sure do add up quick.
CTR as a Ranking Factor
There are many upstanding blogs, SEO journals and websites out there that will swear that CTR is not a ranking factor and does not affect search results in Google. There have been many public case studies done that shows CTR works to increase search rankings, but they will tell you that those results are nothing but a simple case of confusing causation with correlation.
So the question is, are the results of the CTR manipulation studies (like this from Rand Fishkin) direct or indirect?
After studying and testing many CTR manipulation SEO strategies, I can say, with confidence, that SEO CTR manipulation works without a doubt! But with a caveat.
As mentioned above, if you don’t have the right tools of the trade with the right proxies, performing the right type of CTR actions, and your SEO onpage and offpage are garbage, CTR will not work for you. Period.
To sum it up, CTR is absolutely a ranking factor. And if you are doing CTR manipulation correctly and have everything else in place, tweaking those click through rate numbers, and sending user generated signals to various places is like adding fuel to your SEO fire.
Is CTR a black hat SEO technique?
Who cares! Seriously. It doesn’t matter what you label this search engine ranking strategy as. White hat SEO or Black hat SEO. Just know that serious search engine optimization pros are regularly using CTR manipulation to rank their sites and properties in the search engines.
So if you want to compete with them, it’s best to understand this process and implement as needed. Don’t worry so much about what hat SEO ctr manipulation or the SEO process you’re using as long as you’re not hurting others and just doing what you can to compete with the best.
CTR manipulation is just another SEO tool you can, and should use to help your business and wallet grow.
WebMagic SEO CTR Bot – All Inclusive
There are a lot of CTR bots out there, but the one that has everything is WebMagic SEO’s CTR Bot. It checks all of the boxes for what is needed in a true human traffic emulator. Here are some of the key features that make it really stand out from the rest…
- Built-in 4G and 5G mobile proxies (and a VPS): You’re going to pay more for this CTR manipulation tool because it comes with everything you need to make it work. This includes mobile proxies, which are randomly rotated between over 40 locations. The IP ranges we tested were from T-Mobile and AT&T. They are also fast and reliable. Oh, and it comes with a virtual private server so you don’t have to worry about that.
- Added in automation for ease of use: I have to say this is really what made their CTR bot the one I like the most. You can import information right from a Google Search Console generated .csv file report and it will automate the click through rate projects for you. So all you need to do is update your projects once a month, then watch Google start ranking you for more keywords in their search results.
- It uses all of the normal devices and user agents: If you deep dive into some of the more popular bots, most of them won’t tell you this, but they only use Chrome. Some of them have Firefox as an added desktop browser option. Very few of them have all the normal options, including mobile Android and iPhone fingerprints. Well, this bot has them all and it automates the randomization for you so you don’t have to do any of the guessing.
Make the Search Engines Recognize You – Boost Search Engine Rankings with CTR
How to Do CTR Manipulation the Right Way
I mentioned previously the wrong way to do CTR manipulation, and that is with no plan and no guidance. You will not be successful in ranking in the search engine results pages for your main keywords just by sending traffic using said keywords.
The best way to do it is through brand awareness and recognization, and tweaking CTR for search queries you are already being ranked for.
Building Your Brand Using Click Through Rate
What’s the best way to get Google or any other search engine to recognize you exist? By sending signals to Google through search that people are looking for your brand by name.
So instead of using queries that Google considers “Discovery”, instead use keywords that include your brand name. Here are a few examples using XYZ as the brand name…
- XYZ location
- XYZ address
- XYZ reviews
- XYZ phone number
The best way to find these types of keywords is to use Google search suggest and start searching for your competitors. When you do this you will see more suggestions as to how people are searching for them.
Then you can just swap out your brand name for your own, plug those into your search engine optimization CTR projects, and run with it.
If you’re not sure where to start with CTR, always start with sending branded traffic!
Manipulate CTR With Keywords You’re Already Ranking For
Too many people assume wrongly that if you want to rank for a specific keyword, all you need to do is send CTR traffic to your website page using nothing but those keywords.
And while that may have worked at one point, it does not really work these days and it is a poor ctr manipulation plan at best.
You need to make things look normal and you need to make Google RankBrain realize that people are searching for your brand name first. So if you have a new website with no search traffic, always start your CTR manipulation tactics with branded.
When your click through rate starts going up with branded searches, Google will start showing your website to more people using what they think are similar queries.
After some time, you will want to check into your Google Search Console to see exactly what queries your site is getting impressions for. Those are the queries/search terms you will want to start using in your CTR manipulation projects and campaigns moving forward.
As you start sending traffic to your site using the queries Google is already ranking you for, and getting your click through rate numbers up, you will start to see Google putting your site into more and more similar keywords.
And this really is the whole process of CTR manipulation today. Use this process to rank your properties in the search results and inside Google maps too! It works the same and Google will show those queries inside your GSC (Google Search Console) as well, as long as your website is attached to your Google Business Profile.
Rinse and Repeat – Tweak Your Click Through Rate
Don’t overdo it and always monitor your CTR manipulation efforts using the information Google gives you in the Search Console and/or Google Analytics. Google Analytics gives you more detailed information, but I always recommend using Search Console to monitor my progress.
Be sure to check in at least once a month so you can adjust your click through rate manipulation progress. You should see your CTR numbers go up. You should see your site start to showing up for more queries and more search engine results page impressions.
At this point you can feed those keywords into your bot and run traffic to your website using these new keywords.
Then it’s as simple as rinsing and repeating over and over.
Who Can Benefit From Click Through Rate Manipulation?
Ranking your pages organically can drastically improve your profits. So anyone who is running a business or anyone who needs more traffic to their websites can tremendously benefit by implementing a proper organic CTR click through rate manipulation plan.
You want your website to show up higher in the search results, but also more times for more keywords in the search results. And organic CTR works perfectly for this.
Other SEO Factors to Keep in Mind
We know unequivocally that RankBrain (Google ranking algorithm) monitors and uses user behavior signals and data. But any CTR manipulation campaign you do without first optimizing your website, will likely go to not.
Your first step as a SEO expert must be to optimize your website. Do not skip any steps here or you will not be successful with ranking anything, and you will not succeed with organic CTR.
I cannot stress this enough. Optimize everything first, then move on to CTR manipulation.
Free Tool To Help With CTR Projects
WebMagic SEO has released a free tool called the CTR Companion Tool that will help you build perfect CTR manipulation campaigns.
With this tool you will be able to do the following:
- CTR Calculator: Import your Search Console queries file into the bot and it will automatically populate a list of keywords you can use with the exact number of search volume/traffic/clicks you will want to send for each keyword used.
- Branded Keyword Creator: No need to manually try to figure out what keywords you should be running for brand! Use this tool to scrape your competitors suggested branded keywords. This is the exact keywords people are using to find your competition. Then it will simply swap out their brand name for your own and save it to a file.
- Manipulated Search Strings: They found a way to manipulate links to trick Google into thinking your search engine listing is somewhere it’s not, and another link that allows you to show a Knowledge Panel for keywords you typically don’t show for that Knowledge Panel. Is this black hat seo? Maybe, but it works!
Grab This Free CTR Calculator Tool Here
Conclusion
I sincerely hope this article has helped you realize that CTR manipulation does in fact work. And that there are SEO tools you can use to perfectly emulate human user signals by spoofing things like devices, browser fingerprints, geo locations and localized IP addresses.
You can use this same process to rank websites and Google My Business properties alike. Even your YouTube video!
The SEO tactics you use before you implement any click through rate plans will have an enormous impact on your success. So make sure you optimize your local website first before doing any CTR SEO.
Also make sure you have some history of search impressions and traffic before you start sending any bot traffic. If you have a new site, please focus on branded traffic until you start getting regular organic traffic.
Last but not least, make sure you are using a tool that checks all the boxes above. We use WebMagic’s CTR Bot, but there are others that will work as well.