To Change or Not to Change SEO Metadata: How to Make a Data-Driven Decision
The method consists of three parts: a database for each URL, a fixed decision-making logic, and a measurement rule that you define before you begin. It works for any website where you need to decide which meta data to address first.
This post shows how we decide what to address and where, in regulated markets such as medical practices and clinics in Germany, the German Law on the Advertising of Medicines (HWG) also comes into play.
In this article, you will learn:
The starting point: two data sources in a single row per URL
Four Groups: The CTR Gap Becomes a Ranking
Why You Need to Review the Queries: Three Common Pitfalls
For medical practices and clinics, the title also poses a legal risk
Measuring Success: Set the Rules Before You Begin
Conclusion: Measure first, then make changes, then check the results
The starting point: two data sources in a single row per URL
For each URL, you need the current metadata and performance data from Google Search Console. A crawl using the integrated GSC API provides both in asingle table.
To do this, we use:
- Title and Description, including length in characters and pixels
- Clicks, impressions, CTR, and position over a six-month period, Web type
- The query data for the pages with the greatest impact, exported from Search Console
Even for small websites, a six-month period still yields reliable figures. Shorter time frames, on the other hand, are too volatile.
However, there is one catch with this dataset: For privacy reasons, Google Search Console (GSC) does not display very rare search queries individually. Their impressions are included in the page total but are missing from the query list. For pages with many rare search queries, a significant portion of the impressions is thus missing. The picture remains useful, but incomplete.
Four Groups: The CTR Gap Becomes a Ranking
Each URL is assigned to one of four groups. The CTR gap serves as a sorting criterion: We compare the actual CTR with a rough expected curve for each position and multiply the difference by the number of impressions.
The graph is used for sorting. For general search terms that include images and additional fields in the results, the actual CTR is lower than the graph would suggest.
Change
When: Good ranking, CTR significantly below expectations, or a clear error in the snippet
Example: Page ranked 7th with a CTR below 1 percent
Check
When: High leverage, but unclear search intent
Example: View queries before the title changes
Let
When: CTR is above expectations
Example: Page with a high CTR in position 9
Not a meta-topic
When: 20th place or lower
Example: A new title rarely makes a difference here
Why You Need to Review the Queries: Three Common Pitfalls
A low CTR with a good position is often due to something other than the snippet. We see three patterns in particular quite frequently.
Pages with a low CTR in positions 1 through 2. Contact, funding, or team pages often appear near the top but are rarely clicked. The queries in these cases are almost exclusively brand searches. These pages appear as sitelinks below the main result, so the low CTR is due to the sitelink format. Leave these pages as they are.
Homepage with a low CTR. A large portion of the impressions may come from searches for a competitor’s brand, and there’s little to be gained there. It makes more sense to first check separately how searches for your own brand are performing and only then adjust the title.
A treatment or product page with a very high number of impressions. The search queries reveal the search intent—for example, a specific question about cost. In that case, the search terms should appear at the beginning of the title. Also, pay attention to where the impressions are coming from. If most come from national searches, clicks from the local area are what matter most for a local business.
The takeaway: Brand searches, sitelinks, and nationwide reach lower the CTR regardless of the title. Only the search queries reveal which gap is real.
For medical practices and clinics, the title also poses a legal risk
The title and description constitute advertising as defined by the German Law on the Advertising of Medicines (HWG). The following phrasing in the title and description often poses a problem:
- Names of prescription drugs or active ingredients in texts intended for patients (Section 10 HWG)
- Claims of success and effectiveness such as "long-lasting" or "guaranteed" (§ 3 HWG)
- Superlatives and safety claims such as "effective and safe" or "highest quality"
- References to patient recommendations and reviews that fall into a gray area (Section 11(1)(11) of the German Advertising of Medicines Act (HWG))
This has two practical implications. The change applies regardless of the page’s visibility: A page with 800 impressions carries the same risk of receiving a warning as one with 30,000. Furthermore, such changes often result in a loss of search queries. If you remove an active ingredient name from the title, you’ll lose queries containing that name. This is a trade-off you should be aware of.
Measuring Success: Set the Rules Before You Begin
1. Backup
Save the alt title and alt description along with the date before making any changes.2. Time Slot
Wait four to six weeks before evaluating the results. It takes Google some time to generate new snippets.3. Comparison Period
Select time periods of equal length immediately before and after the change, with each batch having its own change date.4. Control group
Leave a few pages intentionally unchanged. If their impressions fluctuate similarly over the same period, the change is coming from the surrounding environment.5. Key Figure
Measure the CTR when your ranking is stable—that is, within one or two positions. If your ranking fluctuates more significantly, the CTR alone isn't very meaningful.6. Decision Rule
If the CTR increases by a relevant number of percentage points, the change remains in effect. If the increase is less than that, continue monitoring it. If the CTR drops while the position remains stable, revert to the alt text. Changes made for legal reasons remain in effect.Do you have any questions?
Conclusion: Measure first, then make changes, then check the results
Metadata deserves the same level of attention as any other SEO measure. By first reviewing the data, then making targeted changes, and finally checking the results, you can maintain good rankings and identify what actually works. This applies equally to large and small websites.
At Partner & Söhne , we help companies, medical practices, and clinics refine their metadata based on real data. This includes evaluating every URL from crawl data and Search Console, prioritizing pages clearly, and analyzing search queries before changing a title. For medical facilities, we also craft titles and descriptions to ensure they comply with the German Law on the Advertising of Medicines (Heilmittelwerbegesetz). After implementation, we measure the impact based on predefined criteria. The result is a website whose snippets demonstrably generate more clicks without jeopardizing existing rankings.
Further contributions
Updates on our work and our perspectives on the issues that concern us.
We look forward to hearing from you.
Katrin, Maximilian, and Max-Raphael
Managing Partners