Title Tag CTR Experiment: A/B Test Blog Posts With Real Search Data

Changing the title tag from the generic how-to format to a more specific, contrarian-hook variant will increase CTR from search results by at least 10% relative, as measured by GSC click-through rate over a 4-week post-intervention window compared to the 4-week baseline.

This experiment tests whether title tag specificity affects CTR for a blog post about content experimentation. The post itself describes the methodology being used to test it, creating a self-referencing experiment where the reader can watch the data accumulate in real time. Phase 1 collects baseline GSC metrics under the original title. Phase 2 changes the title tag and collects the same metrics under the new version. The permutation test determines whether the CTR shift exceeds normal weekly variance.

Observational experiment with temporal split. Phase 1 (weeks 1-4): baseline data collection under original title tag "How to A/B Test Blog Posts With Real Search Data." Phase 2 (weeks 5-8): intervention with updated title tag (variant TBD based on baseline query data). GSC metrics collected weekly via automated Monday 6 AM UTC snapshots: clicks, impressions, CTR, average position. GA4 metrics collected in parallel: pageviews, sessions, engagement rate, average session duration. Statistical significance tested via permutation test (10,000 iterations) with Bonferroni correction for multiple metrics. Minimum 4 snapshots per phase before analysis. Cohen's d for effect magnitude classification.