What Is CTR and What Is a Good CTR on Google

CTR is the percentage of people who click after seeing your ad or your result on Google. It shows how appealing and relevant what people see is to what they are looking for.

What CTR is

CTR stands for click-through rate. It is measured in Google Ads, Google Search Console, Meta ads, newsletters and anywhere something is shown and can be clicked.

How CTR is calculated

CTR = clicks / impressions × 100

If your ad was shown 2,000 times and got 60 clicks, the CTR is 3%. If your page appeared in search results 500 times and got 25 clicks, the CTR is 5%.

What is a good CTR

There is no single number that applies to everyone. CTR depends on:

• Position. The first result gets many more clicks than the tenth.
• Channel. Search ads have a higher CTR than image ads on websites, because they are shown to people who are searching right now.
• Type of search. Searches with your business name have a very high CTR, general searches a lower one.

So it is most useful to track your own CTR over time and compare similar pages or ads.

When a low CTR is a problem

The clearest sign is a page on the first page of Google that almost nobody clicks. Search Console then shows many impressions and few clicks. The cause is usually a title or description that does not match what people searched for.

How to raise CTR

1. A title that matches the search. If people search for “price”, the title should mention price. More in what is a title tag.
2. A description with a reason to click. A concrete benefit, number or timeframe. See what is a meta description.
3. Ad extensions. Phone, location and extra links make the ad larger and more visible.
4. Reviews and ratings. Stars in results catch the eye.

A high CTR is not a goal in itself. A click is only worth something when the visitor finds what they expected and gets in touch. That is why I always look at CTR together with conversion.

I track CTR and other numbers in the Google Ads and website SEO services.