Definition: It is the average number of users who click on an ad within a page.
Explanation:
Click-through rate plays a vital role in advertising since it helps determine the performance of campaigns.
This metric contributes to your Ad rank and Quality Score, and also measures the efficacy of online marketing campaigns.
It is calculated by dividing the number of clicks by the number of impressions and multiplying the result by 100.
CTR = (number of clicks / number of impressions) x 100
For example, an ad has been clicked 450 times with 35,000 impressions. The result would be 1.28%.
The average CTR depends on the industry and ad network, and usually, it’s 2% for search engine ads and 0.5-1.0% for other types of ads.
Basically, if your CTR is high, this could indicate that your campaigns are performing very well.
What are the PROS and CONS of CTR?
Every marketer knows how complicated running campaigns can be and sometimes it may even take a lot of time to run one that leads to success.
Click-through rates are indeed important KPIs but it also has its own disadvantages that you should be aware of.
PROS
- It can affect ROI for CPC campaigns
- Helps you understand your target audience
CONS
- It doesn’t always lead to conversions
- Can be inaccurate
- It mainly represents online campaigns
What is click-through rate in emails?
Click-through rates for emails are also determined in the same way but instead of ads, it is based on the number of times an email has been clicked.
This metric is used in email marketing to obtain data that tells how effective email campaigns are.
According to ActiveCampaign, the average email CTR is around 1 to 5%.
What is the difference between conversion rate and click-through rate?
The click-through rate indicates the number of times users click on a particular ad, however, it doesn’t tell how many users were able to complete a specific action on a website.
Conversion rates are also important in businesses since it helps them understand if their campaigns are effective in generating sales.
When are high click-through rates bad?
Although having a high click-through rate is good, it’s not always an indicator that it’s affecting your business in a positive way.
For example, you’re spending around $2.35 for every click on your ad but aren’t making any profit, then that’s already considered a loss.
Certain keywords can also affect CTR especially when they’re irrelevant and clicks are only letting you spend more on your ads.
To avoid this from happening, don’t always aim to get high CTR. Instead, choose keywords that are relevant and affordable.
How to improve click-through rate
Everyone in the marketing industry will always aim to achieve success especially when running campaigns that generate ROI.
So if your goal is to improve CTR, here are a few things that you might be interested to try:
Use attractive and powerful headlines
It may seem like a very simple element but if you don’t have a headline that builds interest, how do you even get people to click on your campaign? Powerful headlines work great in improving CTR especially when it makes users curious enough to click.
Include a call-to-action
A strong CTA can help in generating conversions, so if you think you’re getting low CTR, it might be the reason why. Just don’t overdo it since a simple “click here” is already enough.
Use relevant images
Users are most likely to click on visual content on the internet, whether it’s a meme or an ad that catches their attention. Try to test different types of images first until you find the best one for your campaigns.
Bid on relevant keywords
Keywords also affect CTR since it is what makes your campaigns appear on search engines. It is also important to take note that in CPC campaigns, certain keywords can cost more, that’s why you should try to avoid ambiguous keywords.
Try different ad types
If you think a certain ad type isn’t showing good results, try using a different one. For example, if you think running ads on Twitter isn’t doing its job, try running ads on Facebook instead. It might be the best platform to run your ads.
Target the right audience
Another reason why campaigns fail is that it isn’t specific or directly shown to the right target audience. This is what most marketers fail to notice because they are much more focused on how good their campaigns look rather than the type of audience they want to reach.
Search engine optimization
SEO or search engine optimization is also another effective method to increase click-through rate. Not only does it target paid traffic, but it also helps in getting organic traffic to your website. This method doesn’t even require you to run campaigns online since it does its job by helping you rank high on search engines.
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