Read this blog post to learn all about click through rate in Google Ads, and learn the importance of it for your pay per click ads.
- How to Calculate Click through Rate
- What Is Expected Click Through Rate In Google Ads?
- What Is A Good Click Through Rate?
- When Is A High Click Through Rate Bad?
- How To Find Out Your Click Through Rate?
- Now I Know My Click Through Rate What Should I Do Next?
The short answer is: Click Through Rate (or CTR) is the ratio of people who see your ad, compared to the number of people who actually click on it.
In the marketing world, It is of great importance as it helps to gauge how well your ads and keywords are performing and determines your ad rank. Overall it is definitely a metric that you should be keeping an eye on. In this blog post, we will explain the basics of click through rates, such as how to find it, what is a good CTR and your next steps. In this blog post I’m going to focus on CTR in Google Ads formerly knowns as AdWords) specifically.
How To Calculate Click Through Rate?
CTR is the number of clicks on your ad divided by the number of times your ad is shown. The click through rate formula is:
Clicks ÷ Impressions = Click Through Rate
For example, if you had 5 clicks and 100 impressions, then your CTR would be 5%.
Source: Google support
What Is Expected Click Through Rate In Google Ads?
Expected CTR is Google’s estimation of the rate at which viewers of your ad will click through to the landing page. To calculate your expected CTR, Google refers to how well your keyword has performed, based on the position of your ad. Expected click through rate is especially important as it affects your quality score, which in turn affects how cost-effective your ad will be.
What Is A Good Click Through Rate?
A good click through rate really depends on what industry you’re working in, your specific goals, and your business. The average click through rate in Google ads is 1.91% for search and 0.35% for display. This only shows us the average across all industries. We would say a good idea is to regard a good Google Ads click through rate as 4-5%+ on the search network or 0.5-1%+ on the display network (source: Smart Insights)
Simply, your aim is always to beat the average. Generally, we’ve found that higher CTR correlates with more conversions!
When Is A High Click Through Rate Bad?
We just said that you are aiming for the highest CTR you can manage, but when is this not the case? Usually, a High CTR is good but not always. If for example you are bidding on expensive keywords or getting lots of clicks on keywords that aren’t converting, then a high click through rate would certainly be seen as a negative. Another reason a high CTR would be bad is if you have irrelevant terms bringing in clicks, this is why it is important to regularly comb through your Google ads account to weed out any keywords that are generating clicks but not resulting in any conversions.
How To Find Out Your Click Through Rate?
Your CTR can be found on the dashboard of your Google ads account. To see individual campaigns Click Through Rate click into campaigns and find the column labelled CTR. You can also view at Ad group, ad and keyword level.
Now I Know My Click Through Rate, What Should I Do Next?
If your CTR is below your goal then consider your ads. Is your text enticing and clickable? Are you utilising all your keywords in the ads effectively? Remember to utilise extensions to your advantage. Over the coming weeks monitor your ads and work out how to improve and get those conversions!
Overall, click through rate is a key part of getting those all-important conversions. In order to get them, you have to start with keywords that are relevant and affordable, to avoid wasting your budget. Lastly, you have to remember, the higher your click through rate, the better your quality scores will likely be, and high quality scores are one of the best predictors of success in PPC.
Keep an eye out on our blog in order to find out how to improve your click through rate.
