The main thing about Click-Through Rate: how to calculate, how to improve, and what CTR is good

CTR is one of the main indicators in advertising. We tell you what clickability is and how to work with it.

CTR – click-through rate. To calculate the indicator, you need to know the number of impressions and clicks. The formula is simple:

For example, if a banner was shown 100,000 times in search and clicked on 250 times, CTR = 250 / 100,000 × 100% = 0.25%.

The more users click on banners, snippets and posts, the higher the CTR and the more “clickable” the ad. In the material we tell the main thing about CTR.

Why count CTR

CTR measures the quality of an ad. Users are more likely to click on creatives that interest them.

Many ad systems reward high CTR ads: the higher the CTR, the lower the CPC and the more often ads are shown.

CTR does not say about the profitability of advertising campaigns. There can be a lot of clicks on ads, but few conversions to a purchase, and vice versa.

What is a good CTR?

CTR varies for different advertising platforms. For example, ads in YouTube videos will be clicked on less frequently than contextual ads in search results. The first ad distracts, and the second, on the contrary, helps to find a solution quickly.

Below we will give common indicators of a good CTR for different advertising systems. It must be remembered that even if the CTR is much lower than the given values, the advertising campaign can be profitable.

Search advertising. We are talking about ads that show in Google search results depending on the user’s query. As a rule, they have a higher CTR than other advertising tools.

A good CTR of contextual advertising in search is 5–10%.

The indicator depends on the niche. Selling smartphones is harder than truck cranes. In the field of selling smartphones, the competition is higher, so the CTR will be lower. If the CTR of an ad on search is below 2%, the ad is considered underperforming.

Google Display Network. This network works like this: the search engine places ad units on sites, and companies buy ads in these blocks from the systems. So advertisers can place ads on thousands of sites at once. The CTR norm in networks is 0.5–0.6%.

YouTube video. Experts from Google dismantled how the YouTube recommendation system works, gave formulas and conducted experiments. It turned out that click-through rate is an important factor in video ranking. YouTube is more profitable to offer videos that get more clicks and views.

According to YouTube, the average video open rate is 2-10%. We are talking about previews of videos in the user’s feed.

Websites in search results. The clickability of links in the search engine results depends on the position on which the resource is located. According to statistics, the first three links in the search results receive 50% of clicks. At the same time, 28% of users click on the very first link.

Why is the CTR low?

There are many strategies for increasing CTR: changing the settings of an advertising campaign, developing strong creatives, creating a new unique selling proposition, and many other solutions. Nevertheless, one can often come across the assertion that a low CTR is a consequence of one of three reasons.

1. You’re showing ads to the wrong people. The CTR will be low if the audience is not interested in the offer. It is unlikely that a stroller will be needed for people without children, and an expensive wooden staircase for those who live in a city apartment.

2. The right audience is selected, but they don’t like the offer. Perhaps everyone in your niche gives discounts and free shipping, but you don’t write about it. Maybe the ad is priced too high. To get more clicks, it is worth making an offer profitable or exclusive.

3. The ad is unattractive:it is lost among the messages of competitors or in the content of the pages on which it is placed. To increase CTR, you can work with texts and visuals.

For example, it is worth making bright unusual pictures. Some advertising systems work with a technique such as calls to action on images. Animation and interactive elements can attract attention. You can diversify the ad with emoticons and emojis.

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