I have a page that Google shows a lot and nobody clicks.
It's an explainer for the .pkpass file format, the file Apple Wallet uses for boarding passes and tickets. In the last 28 days it had 356 impressions and 1 click. Average position: 11.4. The searches behind it are short and vague: pkpass, .pkpass, pkpass file, .pkpass file.
The same site's homepage, ranking 8.7, got 26 clicks from 365 impressions. Another page at 9.4 got 9 from 139. So the site can get clicks. This page can't.
What I've tried
Two title changes, one at a time. Each time only the title and meta description changed; the heading, body and URL stayed the same:
| When | Title | Impressions | Clicks | Avg position |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Oct 7–18 | PKPASS File Format: What Is a .pkpass File? | 126 | 0 | 12.0 |
| Oct 20–31 | What Is a .pkpass File? How to Open One | 201 | 1 | 11.2 |
| From Nov 2 | What Is a .pkpass File? Open It Free, No App | — | — | — |
The second title gained impressions and kept the old queries, so the third one builds on it. One click isn't a result, though. It's noise.
What I can't tell apart
There are three explanations and they need different fixes:
- Position 11 is page two for most people. If that's it, no title will help, and I should be building links to this page instead.
-
The intent doesn't match. Someone typing
pkpassmight be a developer looking for Apple's docs, or someone with a ticket that won't open. A "what is" title speaks to neither of them strongly. - The title is just weak. Then the third version should show it within a few weeks.
Search Console gives me averages, which makes this harder. "Position 11.4" could be 8 on desktop and 14 on mobile, and the click could come from either.
My plan is to leave the November 2 title alone until November 30 and compare the same length of time. In the meantime, new links go to the pkpass file page instead of the homepage.
What I'd like to know
- When a page sits around position 10–12 with near-zero CTR, what has moved it for you: the title, the content, or links?
- How long do you leave a title before judging it on this little traffic?
- Do you split impressions by device or country before deciding, or is that overthinking a few hundred impressions?
I'll come back with the November numbers.
Top comments (7)
On how long to wait: at position 11 click-through rates are usually in the low single digits, so 356 impressions might only be worth three or four clicks even with a great title. One click against three is too small a gap to tell titles apart, so at this volume I'd compare whole months rather than fortnights.
The thing I'd check in the meantime is the actual results page for "pkpass file", in a private window on a phone. If the top results are help pages about opening passes on Android or Windows, that tells you which intent wins, and which title to write, more clearly than the CTR will.
That matches what I'm seeing. A few clicks either way is noise at this volume, so I'm comparing in full months now: the title change gets compared on Nov 30, and the meta description I rewrote today gets its own month after that. The rewrite came from another comment here: it now says the file opens on Android and Windows, since that's what most people searching .pkpass seem to want. I haven't looked at the "pkpass file" results on a phone in a private window yet. I've only been reading the GSC numbers, so that's next. If the top results turn out to be Android and Windows help pages, the title should probably lead with "open" instead of "what is".
Looked at the results for "pkpass file" (US, desktop, not a phone yet). Seven of the top ten are about opening or adding the pass: an online viewer at #1, then Apple Communities, r/GoogleWallet, a YouTube walkthrough, a StackExchange "add to Wallet" thread, an Android wallet app and a Google Wallet support thread. Only Wikipedia and one blog post explain what the format is. All four "People also ask" questions are some version of "how do I open it", one of them for Android.
So the intent is "open it", and my title still leads with "What is a .pkpass file?". I'll keep it until the Nov 30 comparison, then it'll most likely become something like "Open a .pkpass File Free on Android, Windows or Mac".
At 11.4, I’d treat ranking as the first bottleneck: a position around page two naturally gets very few clicks, so 1/356 isn’t enough to call the title a failure. I’d check Search Console by query, device and country to see whether one broad query is skewing the average; “pkpass” could mean very different things. Then match the title and page to the intent you want (a definition vs. how to open a file), and compare against the live results. I’d leave one version steady for a comparable period and judge query-level data, not CTR alone. Which query is driving most of the impressions?
Good question, so I pulled it. For Oct 8 to Nov 4 the page has 193 impressions that come with a query (the rest of the 356 are anonymised), spread over 35 queries, and no single one dominates:
The US is only 7 of the 193. So the 11.4 average is a blend of a short-tail query that sits around the top of page two and some local long-tail stuff, not one broad query pulling it around. That backs up your read: it's a ranking problem first. The new title has only had 7 impressions since Nov 2, so it's far too early to judge it. I'll leave it alone until Nov 30 and compare by query then.
That makes the 11.4 much less useful as a headline number. Those 15 German impressions at 65 are unlikely to turn into clicks, while .pkpass at 8.7 is where the title and snippet can actually compete; I'd make sure they say what the format is and how to open it on Android or Windows. The India file searches sitting at 10–15 look like a ranking gap, not something a title tweak alone will fix. With 35 queries and this little volume, I'd let the current title run a few weeks before judging it.
Fair point on .pkpass. The title and description already say what the file is, but neither mentions Android or Windows, which is probably what most people typing .pkpass want. I’m leaving both as they are until Nov 30 so the title change gets a clean comparison, then I’ll look at that query on its own. Thanks, this was useful.