CTR indicator: what it is, how it is considered and what it affects, what percentage is the norm in CPA and how to increase it

After launching an advertising campaign, many advertisers notice that there is almost no traffic to the site. It may seem that the selected promotion channels are not effective, but no need to jump to conclusions. It is worth first analyzing key indicators, one of which is CTR. We talk about what it is, how it affects the results of the campaign and how to increase it.

What is CTR and how is it calculated

CTR (Click-Through Rate) is an indicator of clickability, which makes it possible to assess how well the ad was made. To calculate the indicator, you need to know the number of impressions and clicks. The formula is simple:

CTR = number of clicks / number of impressions × 100%

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

If you need to calculate the CTR of the entire advertising campaign, then the calculation will be something like this: 

During the first month of the campaign, the ad was shown 5,000 times and received 1,300 clicks. In the second month, the indicators changed: 9000 impressions and 1800 clicks.

1st month CTR = 1300 / 5000 * 100% = 26%

2nd month CTR = 1800 / 9000 * 100% = 20%

Advertising campaign CTR for 2 months = (1300 + 1800) / (5000 + 9000) * 100% = 22%

The more users click on banners, snippets and posts, the higher the CTR and the more “clickable” the ad. 

What does CTR affect and what does it depend on

CTR allows: 

• Control ad spend. With a low CTR, the cost per click increases. Indicator control allows you to improve your ad and increase CTR within one advertising campaign.

• Test creatives. Using different texts, appeals, headlines, design decisions and tracking CTR in ads, you can draw conclusions about the effectiveness of marketing techniques. This is very important in targeted advertising, which is usually launched for a very narrow target audience.

• Determine the effectiveness of the landing. A landing page can be called a large advertisement, consisting of graphics, text, and conversion buttons. It should lead to a clique. Therefore, here CTR is the main indicator of effectiveness.

• Develop a strategy. Knowing what the target audience dislikes and likes, you can plan the creation of other advertising campaigns and track their effectiveness.

What does CTR depend on? All webmasters and advertisers monitor CTR and are interested in its growth. This indicator depends on the following factors:

• vertical and the level of competition in it;

• campaign type;

• target audience;

• unique selling proposition (USP);

• ad quality.

These factors are relevant for any type of advertising.

What is considered a good CTR and how to increase it

Each source traffic has its own approximate CTR values ​​in the norm, as well as ways to increase it. For example, a Facebook ad will be clicked on less frequently than a contextual ad in a SERP. In the first case, advertising distracts, and in the second, it helps to quickly solve problems. The parameter does not have strict digital criteria, each situation is individual. Let's analyze which CTR indicator is optimal and good for advertising of different types.

Search advertising 

Typically, ads that appear on Google search based on a user's query have a higher CTR than other tools. A good CTR for contextual advertising in search is 5–10%. Niche affects the indicator. For example, promoting smartphones is harder than truck cranes. In the first case, there is very high competition, so the CTR is lower. 

→ How to increase: 

• Use a powerful call to action.

• Use relevant queries.

• Publish special offers with discounts and other benefits for customers.

• Indicate facts and figures in ad texts.

• Include the master key in the title.

• Narrow the target audience using low-frequency requests.

• Select negative keywords, search operators.

• Create new ads for conversion requests.

• Use correct contact information.

• Disable phrase auto-expansion.

• Add unique images and test your ad with different images and content.

• Record results and analyze statistics.

• Use Google Ads extensions such as sitelinks.

Display Network Google

The Google Network works like this: search engines place ad units on websites, and companies buy ads in them. So ads are published on thousands of sites. In the Display Network, advertising is seen by a wide audience, because of this, the click-through rate is lower than on the search. CTR also reduces banner blindness - users do not want to notice ads. A normal CTR in networks is usually considered to be 0.5-0.6%.

→ How to increase: 

• Choose placements with the most successful ad block size;

• The promotional material should be bright and dynamic in order to break through the user's banner blindness;

• Use media to attract attention (sound, video);

• Placement of the ad block on the site page (as a rule, banners at the top of the page have the best CTR indicators).

Targeted advertising

Targeted ads are shown only to those who meet the configured criteria. Although the settings are very flexible, the CTR usually does not reach high values in the target. This is due to the fact that ads are seen by all users from the selected target audience. On the one hand, this is good, but you need to understand that not everyone is looking for what is shown in advertising. Therefore, many users pass by and clicks do not grow. 

→ How to increase: 

• Add attractive bright images, including those with people's faces.

• Use more powerful CTAs and call for specific actions: go, sign up, download, etc.

• Ask questions in the text.

• Take into account the age, gender, interests, goals and pains of the target audience.

• Launch local campaigns.

• Create many ads with a small budget.

• Run multiple ads for the same audience.

• Use different ad formats and run tests.

SEO

For SEO, CTR directly depends on where the site is displayed. According to statistics, the first three sites in the search results receive 50% of clicks. At the same time, 28% of users click on the very first link. One of the highest CTRs are sites that are displayed for branded queries - click-through on the first line can reach up to 70%.

→ How to increase:

• Make a list of competitive, high-quality, but not too specific requests.

• Prepare high-quality content both on the main site and on third-party sites.

• Develop a strategy for internal linking and attracting external links.

Email newsletters

Email newsletters have high CTR rates. On average, a good CTR is considered. a result of 2.14% or more. The value of CTR often depends on the industry. In the B2C-sphere, the CTR is lower, at the level of 2-3%. This is logical for mass mailing. In B2B, the CTR value can reach 5% or more. This can be explained by a more individual approach.

→ How to increase:

• Write an engaging topic.

• Constantly work on the quality of content, send only useful and interesting materials to the audience.

• End emails with a clear call to action.

• Use call to action buttons.

• Apply recognizable and responsive email design.

• Check if the graphic parts of the design load well.

• Personalize letters.

• Choose the most effective content type using A/B testing.

Let's summarize

CTR greatly helps webmasters evaluate the effectiveness of their ads, refine promotional materials, and keep track of the budget. Constantly improving creatives, working on headlines and USPs, understanding your audience is the key to getting a high CTR and squeezing the maximum out of the advertising network.