Performance

Click-through rate (CTR)

Also known as: click-through rate · click rate

Definition

Click-through rate is the share of impressions that become clicks, calculated as clicks divided by impressions. It shows how well an ad and its targeting match what people want, and says nothing about what happens after the click.

A high CTR with weak conversions usually means the ad promises something the page doesn't deliver, or attracts curiosity rather than intent. On Google, expected click-through rate is one of the three components reported in Quality Score, and Google counts ad quality in Ad Rank, so a weak CTR can raise costs as well as cut volume.

Split branded from non-branded before judging any rate. People searching for your business name click your ad more readily than people searching for a service, so a blended CTR mostly reports how much of your traffic already knew you. Compare each campaign against its own history, and change one thing at a time: the headline, the offer or the audience.

Formula

CTR = (Clicks ÷ Impressions) × 100

More in Performance

A/B testing

A/B testing compares two versions of one element, such as a headline, an offer or a page, by showing each to a randomly split share of traffic at the same time and measuring which produces more conversions. It needs enough traffic and one change at a time.

Ad fatigue

Ad fatigue is the decline in an ad's performance as the same people see it repeatedly, usually visible as rising frequency and falling click-through rate before cost per result climbs. The remedy is fresh creative or a wider audience, not a bigger budget.

Ad Rank

Ad Rank is the value Google Ads calculates in each auction to decide whether an ad is eligible to show and where it sits against others. It combines the bid with ad and landing page quality, minimum thresholds, competition, search context and the expected impact of assets.