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Before you start: if you’re unfamiliar with the principles of statistical SEO split-testing and however SplitSignal works, we're suggesting you start here or request a demo of SplitSignal.
First, we asked our Twitter followers to vote:
Here’s what different SEO professionals person to stock astir this test:
Emily Lawrenson, SEO Content Writer at Qustodio:
In this case, it’s not conscionable characters that person been added. You’ve got higher numbers of headphones for them to take from, and the substance is somewhat easier to work due to the fact that of the separation of ideas from the philharmonic note. So I would beryllium inclined to conjecture an increase, but due to the fact that of the wide change.
Trevor Stolber, Digital Marketer astatine STOLBER.com:
I would expect aft to output a affirmative result. It’s precise aligned with the taxable of the tract and the searcher.
Follow america on LinkedIn to stock your thoughts connected the adjacent test.
The Case Study
Using peculiar characters oregon emojis successful leafage titles and meta descriptions ever generates a batch of treatment wrong the SEO community. “Is it advisable to usage them?”, "Is it bully oregon atrocious for your SEO performance?". Google besides seems blessed to get progressive successful this discussion. Recently, John Mueller has spoken retired astir the use of emojis and special characters. In summary, Google says you tin usage emojis and peculiar characters connected your pages, but it won't assistance oregon harm your SEO successful immoderate way. These comments people piqued our interest, arsenic we've seen that emojis tin decidedly impact SEO performance.
We judge that thing displayed successful your SERP snippet tin perchance interaction SEO performance, positively oregon negatively. When you’re making changes to your SERP snippets, you’re not conscionable validating these changes for Google but besides existent users. Google erstwhile said that users are often the champion judges of relevance, truthful if a idiosyncratic selects a peculiar hunt result, it is apt to beryllium relevant, oregon astatine slightest much applicable than the alternatives presented. Within search, you ever vie with different hunt results. If your reply is not what a idiosyncratic wants oregon expects, a idiosyncratic tin simply click connected a antithetic hunt result.
Special characters, specified arsenic ♫ and ✓, are called Unicode characters. The Unicode quality that we are investigating is not an emoji and is intended to show lone arsenic a achromatic and achromatic glyph connected astir websites.
Unicode characters are a series of characters from the UTF-8 quality set, defined by the Unicode standard. They tin beryllium utilized successful HTML conscionable similar immoderate different character. This means that you tin adhd them to elements specified arsenic the meta description.
Google (and astir each different site) supports the UTF-8 quality acceptable and tin truthful show emojis and peculiar characters successful their hunt results. In practice, however, not each are guaranteed to look successful the hunt results.
For a ample online euphony store, OrangeValley wanted to trial if adding Unicode characters to the meta statement would person a important interaction connected integrated traffic.
The Hypothesis
We hypothesized that with this change, we would beryllium capable to basal retired much and contiguous a scannable and wide meta description, utilizing the peculiar characters to stress the USPs (unique selling points) of the website.
In our opinion, the existent meta descriptions tin beryllium hard to scan easily. So for this test, we decided to divided the meta descriptions into 4 sections; 1 call-to-action and 3 USPs, divided by the ♫ Unicode character.
The website successful question had its class leafage meta descriptions acceptable up similar this:
With this change, we person tried to basal retired much and contiguous a scannable and wide meta statement to users.
The Test
We utilized SplitSignal to acceptable up the test. Around 1,000 class pages were selected arsenic either variant oregon power done stratified sampling. We kicked disconnected the trial and ran it for 21 days. We determined that Googlebot visited 97% of the tested pages.
The Results
How to Read SplitSignal Test Results?
After 21 days of testing, we reviewed the results. We saw that the postulation to the tested pages performed amended than the power group, which means the trial is affirmative and statistically important astatine the 95% level. The changes to the meta statement resulted successful a 3.4% summation successful clicks to the tested pages.
Note that we are not comparing the existent power radical pages to our tested pages. but alternatively a forecast based connected humanities data. The exemplary predicts the counterfactual effect that would person occurred had nary involution occurred. We comparison this with the existent data. We usage a acceptable of power pages to springiness the exemplary discourse for trends and outer influences. If thing other changes during our trial (e.g., seasonality), the exemplary volition observe and see it. By filtering these outer factors, we summation penetration into the existent interaction of an SEO change.
Why
Meta descriptions are written for users and tin power idiosyncratic behavior. As an SEO, you marque changes not lone to beryllium favored by Google but besides by existent users. As mentioned, erstwhile a idiosyncratic selects a peculiar hunt result, it is apt to beryllium relevant, oregon astatine slightest much applicable than the alternatives presented. When your SERP snippet is much applicable to a user, it tin pb to integrated maturation and, ultimately, adjacent amended positioning (over time).
Data investigation shows that this trial affected the click-through complaint (CTR) connected the pages tested. In this case, rankings and impressions remained unchangeable compared to our modeled power group. The summation successful clicks seems to beryllium purely owed to the behaviour of Google users.
The trial had a beardown hypothesis, and the resources needed to marque this alteration are small. Taking these factors into account, we were precise satisfied with the outcome.
With SEO A/B testing, you privation to guarantee that the changes you marque volition output affirmative results. We privation to forestall organizations from wasting time, money, and vigor connected changes that yet marque nary oregon lone a constricted affirmative contribution. Testing allows america to determination rapidly and instrumentality proven affirmative changes.
Finding ways to basal retired and beryllium the astir applicable reply to a hunt query is indispensable for optimal integrated performance. Remember that thing that works for 1 website whitethorn not enactment for another. The lone mode to cognize for definite is to trial what works for you!
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