Click, Click, Click!
With so much information on the internet, it’s no surprise that marketers carefully monitor the number of clicks they get.
CTR is the ratio of clicks to the total impressions of a campaign.
But in addition to validating the copy and design of your marketing campaign, it also affects the price and position of your search ad.
Let’s explore Click-Through Rate — its importance, formula, and benchmarks.
Further Reading
- Hate parting ways with customers? Track these SaaS Customer Engagement Metrics to monitor and improve customer interaction.
- Explore 11 crucial Customer Success Metrics your team needs to stay on top of.
- Discover the formula to measure Pages Per Visit and why it matters for your business.
This Article Contains
- Why Is Click-Through Rate Important?
- How to Measure Click-Through Rate
- What’s a Good Click-Through Rate?
- 6 Rock-Solid Tips for Improving Your Click-Through Rate
- Can a High Click-Through Rate Be Bad for Your Business?
- 4 FAQs About Click-Through Rate
Let’s begin.
Why Is Click-Through Rate Important?
Click-Through Rate (CTR) is the equivalent of the like button on social media.
It gives you the validation that you (or, in this case — your copy and ads) are good enough to capture the attention of your target audience.
It offers insights into:
- The relevance of your ad copy
- The keyword phrases that resonate with your target audience
- The viability of the campaign
- The engagement of your content and media
What’s more?
Your Clickthrough Rate directly affects your Quality Score for Google Ads, allowing you to improve or maintain your ad position at a lower cost per click.
To sum up:
Prioritizing your CTR is essential for marketers that want to improve their overall conversions and generate more sales.
How to Measure Click-Through Rate
You can generally view your Click-Through Rate (CTR) from the dashboard of your Pay Per Click (PPC) and analytics account, like Google Adwords, Google Analytics, etc.
Here’s how you can calculate it:
| Click ‒ Through Rate = Total Measured Clicks / Total Measured Ad Impressions * 100 |
Let’s now review what an acceptable CTR is:.
What’s a Good Click-Through Rate?
A good CTR finds the sweet spot between an adequate number of clicks while targeting the right audience.
After all, not all click-throughs lead to conversions.
Here are some CTR averages for different channels:
- Per LocaliQ’s 2023 Search Advertising Benchmarks, the average Google Ads CTR across all industries is 6.11%.
- According to wordstream.com, the average CTR across all industries for Google Display Ads is 0.46%.
- Wordstream.com also indicates that the average Facebook Ad CTR across all industries is 0.9%.
- Per support.google.com, half of all YouTube videos have an impressions CTR between 2%-10%.
Please note:
A good CTR can vary based on the industry, keywords, audience, channel, ad format, and positioning — so there isn’t a gold standard!
And you don’t need to hold steadfast to these benchmarks.
All you need to do is focus on improving your CTR while using these averages as a reference for reviewing performance.
CTR Calculation Example
Let’s say your Google search ad campaign is clicked on 500 times after getting a total impression count of 80,000.
Then, your Clickthrough Rate (CTR) would be:
Click ‒ Through Rate = Total Measured Clicks / Total Measured Ad Impressions * 100
CTR = 500 / 8,000 * 100 = 0.0625 * 100 =6.25%
This value is better than the average, indicating that your marketing campaign is relatively successful.
Still, you should look for ways to improve the number of clicks you get (especially if your value is lower than the average).
It’s the next step to generating more sales. 💸
6 Rock-Solid Tips for Improving Your Click-Through Rate
You can do many things to achieve a good Click Through Rate.
But the one thing you shouldn’t do is use clickbait copies.
Below are 6 ethical, proven ways to improve your CTR:
- Target the Right Audience: Knowing your target audience and their preferred digital marketing channel can help you identify strategies for a higher CTR.
It’ll help you select the right keyword phrases (or hashtags) to ensure the right people click on your campaigns, whether it’s a social media or PPC ad.
- Optimize for Mobile: According to statista.com, 58.33% of web traffic came from mobile in the first quarter of 2023. That’s why optimizing for mobile (think: responsive design) is essential for campaign success.
But it’s not just your PPC campaign. The web pages and media you use also need to be mobile-friendly. It’ll also help improve your website search engine optimization (SEO).
- Stick to One Effective CTA: Whether a PPC ad or a signup button on your website, it’s best to stick to one effective call to action (CTA) across your campaigns.
If you’re unsure about the effectiveness of your CTA, you could A/B test it against another copy to see which your users prefer. Just remember to keep a compelling copy that prompts your target audience to take action (click on it).
- Perfect Your Content Marketing Copy: Your ad copy can make or break your PPC campaign. However, using content marketing language that appeals to your target audience can help boost your CTRs.
Instead of the generic “Click This to Know More,” try a compelling copy like “Start Maximizing Your Profits Today.” It also helps to include a benefit or use relevant keyword phrases in your headline or copy.
- Use Visual Elements: High-quality images summarizing your message are a powerful way to entice and engage your target audience. You can also modify your website’s color scheme to influence viewer perception. For example, using red for urgency or purple for luxury.
- Use a Heatmap: For a display ad or website CTA, you can use heatmaps to identify locations with the most activity (on your website) to place your display ad or CTA. Plus, if visitors click on non-interactive tiles, you could achieve a higher CTR by making those tiles clickable.
Now, it isn’t always necessary to increase your Click Through Rate.
Why?
Because there are certain times when a higher Click Through Rate can be bad for your business!
Can a High Click-Through Rate Be Bad for Your Business?
Sometimes, less is better.
For example, let’s say you run a customer relationship management tool, and you run an ad for a tangential keyword like “business services.”
This keyword won’t lead to high conversions or significant leads, but it helps you reach all types of businesses looking for a CRM.
In such cases, viewers may click on the ad but not convert.
And regardless of the outcome, there’s a cost for each click.
So, a high CTR in these cases can burden your ad budget.
Similarly, if you use a clickbait copy, you could have a high Click Through Rate without generating a proportional amount of sales. This could also negatively impact your ad spend.
Essentially:
- A high CTR is only good if there’s a proportionately high conversion rate.
- If you have a high CTR with a low conversion rate, you’re likely losing money.
That’s why you need to create ads or campaigns that are relevant to your target audience to maximize ROI.
Psst… You can use Google Search Console or Google Adwords to find relevant, affordable keywords.
Have more questions?
Let’s explore common queries about Click-Through Rate.
4 FAQs About Click-Through Rate
Below are the answers to common queries you may have about CTR.
1. How Does CTR Impact Ad Rank?
We’ve mentioned earlier that CTR can impact your ad rank or position.
But before we get into how, here’s a small preface about ad rank:
- Ad rank determines the position of your ad on a search engine.
- The top ad position in a search result doesn’t necessarily go to the highest bidder — it goes to the ad with the highest rank.
Getting back to the topic, Click-Through Rate is a parameter that determines your ad relevance. And ad relevance, along with the expected CTR and landing page experience, contributes to your ad quality — which influences your ad rank.
Additionally, if you’ve run many Google Ads with a low CTR, Google will assume your new ads will also have a low CTR. It’ll then rank your new ads lower on the page, no matter how much you bid.
That’s why you always should try to optimize the CTR and relevance of your ads!
2. How Is Click-Through Rate Different from Conversion Rate?
Your CTR shows how many people clicked on your ad or your web page CTA.
However, it doesn’t provide data on how many clicks lead to sales.
That data is highlighted via your Conversion Rate, which is the percentage of clicks that lead to actual sales or subscriptions.
3. Is a Webpage Click-Through Rate Similar to an Email Click-Through Rate?
So far, we’ve explored details about the webpage and ad CTR.
But these are inherently different from your email CTR.
An email Click-Through Rate (also called Click Rate) is the total number of clicks an email gets from all recipients (or subscribers).
Now, you can track email CTR as:
- Total Click-Through Rate (TCTR): Measures the total number of link clicks you receive in a single email marketing campaign, even if it’s multiple clicks from the same user. It gives you an idea of the traffic, shares, and repeat engagement your links get.
- Unique Click-Through Rate (TCTR): Measures the number of unique clicks an email’s links receive. Unique clicks refer to clicks from each unique individual or account. This means it would count as one click for an account, regardless of how many times they clicked or how many devices they used.
4. What Are Other Email Marketing Metrics You Should Track with Email Click-Through Rate?
Tracking these marketing metrics along with your Click Rate can give you a better idea of the performance of your email campaign:
- Open Rate: Open Rate is the percentage of opens based on the total number of people the email was sent to. When tracked with CTR, it lets you pinpoint if your Click-Through Rate is low because of copy engagement or preliminary interest to open the email.
- Click-to-Open Rate (CTOR): CTOR is an email marketing metric that measures the total number of link clicks based on the number of emails opened. It gives you an idea of how well your email marketing campaign is doing based solely on subscribers who open it.
Optimize Your Click-Through Rate for Marketing Success
Improving your Click-Through Rate for your website, ad, or email campaign is a surefire way to generate more sales or subscriptions. It’s also a helpful way to make your offering more engaging and relevant to users.
That’s why it’s essential to focus on your target audience and follow the other tips we’ve covered, whether your CTR is above average or not.
Doing so will help you improve your campaign performance and overall user experience.
Need help with building a conversion strategy that’s perfect for your website?
Get in touch with Startup Voyager to leverage the power of a Conversion Rate Optimization (CRO) strategy that’ll skyrocket your subscription rate. 🚀
