What is Click-through Rate, and Why is it Important?

Click-Through Rate (CTR) is one of the most important KPIs or metrics that digital marketers use to measure the success of marketing campaigns, and even sales. CTR measures and evaluates the number of clicks on an ad, as per the number of impressions served.

Understanding click-through rates is even more important when running a Pay Per Click (PPC) ad. You want to learn how well your content stimulates visitors’ interest and motivates their actions. This is the reason search engines pay serious attention to click-through rate (CTR). After all, in the pay-per-click model (PPC), the more someone clicks, the more money the search engine makes.

Given the importance of click-through rates, this post reviews what it is, how CTR can be measured, its importance to your business, and how it can be improved.

Let's dive in already!

What is Click-Through Rate?

Click-through rate (CTR) refers to the proportion of the number of users exposed to a page or link on a webpage or in an email who end up clicking the link and viewing the page.

A unique click is tracked the first time a subscriber clicks on a campaign. It does not count if the link is clicked multiple times.

How to measure Click-through rate

Click-through rate is calculated using the number of users or subscribers that have seen and clicked on a link, ad, post at least once.

CTR can be expressed and calculated using the formula below:

Click through rate = Total number of clicks × 100

Total number of impressions

The total number of Clicks means the total number of unique visitors or users who clicked on a specific link.

The total number of Impressions is the total number of users who saw a specific link

For example, if 200 people are exposed to an ad, and sixteen people click on it, the CTR is (16/200)*100. This translates to 8%.

Click-through rates primarily give you an idea of the effectiveness of your pay-per-click (PPC) ad campaign. This is also an excellent tactic to evaluate the performance of your sales team.

CTR reveals to you how relevant searchers are finding your ad. Essentially,

• For high CTR, searchers are finding your ad highly important.

• When CTR is low, users are finding your ad less relevant.

The goal of a PPC campaign is to get specific users to visit your website and perform the desired action (make a purchase, fill out a lead or contact form, download an ebook). CTR is the first step in the process of improving your ad’s relevance and generating those desired actions.

Why is CTR Important?

The importance of CTR comes from its ability to give businesses and advertisers valuable insights into user’s search patterns. It helps in figuring out which ads or links are working and which aren’t. This outcome further helps marketing teams to determine the effectiveness of their marketing strategies and restructure them based on their average CTR.

Digital marketers and business owners primarily use CTR to quantify the success and effectiveness of an email or paid advertising campaign.

How to Improve Your CTR

Here are some pro tips to help you improve your average click-through rate per ad.

1. Focus on quality score

Quality Score is a measurement tracked by Google Ads. It gives you an individual score from 0 to 10 on each keyword utilized in your record. The metric is a holistic assessment carried out by Google to determine the user's experience if they click on your ad or link. An advertisement with a high Quality Score achieves higher rankings on Google and costs the advertiser a lower amount on each click.

2. Optimize headlines and copy

A user will not click on an ad or link if they don’t find the ad's headline attractive or do not see the keywords they’re searching for. In addition, highlighting your unique selling points (USP) in your advertisements can help your CTR.

3. Use extension, depending upon your business

Ad extensions are beneficial in carrying out elaborative marketing campaigns. Implementation of these various ad extensions will not only increase the size of ads but also make the ads appear more consistent and help attract more clicks on the ads. Examples of extensions you can use for improving your CTR are Sitelink Extension, Call Extension, and Price Extension.

4. Target keywords to bid on

Google Ads encourages advertisers to use a multitude of keywords under many domains in AdGroup. However, having a collection of keywords on AdGroup can influence the connection between the keywords in AdGroups in your record and the advert text. This means that the keywords must be tightly grouped into themes with separate ad groups rather than being coupled up in a single AdGroup.

5. Write a Compelling Ad Copy

Having your USP featured in the ad, which separates you from your competitors, can be a decent beginning for writing a persuasive ad copy. Ensure to speak to the needs of the prospective visitors as well.

6. Test with Different Ads

Running different types of ads can be beneficial for improving CTR. Responsive content advertisements have been demonstrated to assist with expanding CTR. Moreover, you can pay extra attention to the previews in the ads, where you can even shift the headline positions if they don’t look good.

You can also get suggestions from the ad strength box on how to improve your ad, which is updated every time you change or modify it.

7. Use Remarketing

Remarketing campaigns are exceptionally good at catching the attention of specific users. For example, you can display a particular ad that aligns with the user’s search.

Wrapping Up

CTR is a vital metric for PPC managers to understand and monitor ad campaigns. And as you optimize for CTR, also aim to optimize for business metrics (specifically your paid ad campaigns). Keep in mind that the higher your click-through rate, the better your Quality Score will likely be, and high Quality Scores are one of the single best indicators of success in PPC.

Not sure how or where to begin? You can contact us at The Mission today for assistance with any grey areas regarding your email marketing strategy, and we`re always delighted to help you grow.

As leading growth strategists, sales, and digital marketing experts, we are here to take through every step to creating smart digital marketing goals. We provide you with help on how to implement them successfully.

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