How good are your current click-through rates (CTR)? Should they be better than they are now? Have you ever thought about what constitutes a decent click-through rate? How can you improve your number if you don’t know what it is? All this can be extremely confusing!
In this article, we will explain what a good click-through rate is, how to reliably measure it, how to calculate CTRs by channel, and how to increase your social media click-through rates. The first question we must answer is:
What exactly is a click through rate?
Your CTR figure represents the proportion of users who click on a specific link to the total number of users who view it. So, if 20 users viewed your link, but only 2 people clicking the link, your CTR rate is 2/20.
This number determines how well your link or ad attracts visitors to your website, so it’s a very valuable thing to get right! After all, your users cannot progress through your marketing funnel if they don’t take the first step of clicking through.
You may be used to thinking about CTR only when you’re talking about paid advertising initiatives. However, it is a key measure in all your marketing efforts, even emails and social media. Anything with a link, whether paid or not, should be tracked to see if your efforts are working.
Does my Click Through Rate Really Matter, and How do I Find it?
Your click-through rate (CTR) is a big deal. It tells you how well your content and ads are drawing users to your site. Google determines your Quality Score and Ad Rank based on your historical click-through rate.
Most services will give your exact rate in your analytics reports, so it’s not hard to find. Then it’s just a matter of figuring out what the industry averages are and how yours stack up to the competition.
What Can I Do to Change my Click Through Rates?
Lots of things can change your CTR. Let’s look at these:
- Keywords in URLs
- Meta descriptions
- Understanding your Industry
- Curating your content
URLs are one element that is frequently forgotten. Whether short-tail or long-tail, make sure your URLs include a keyword. Why have a URL with random letters and numbers in it when you could work your URL to work for you?
URLs with keywords have a 45 percent greater click-through rate. Avoid optimizing for specific keywords; long-tail searches will result in a greater click-through rate.
While meta descriptions may not have a direct impact on the algorithm, they do have an impact on your CTR. Even the tiniest bit of information in your meta description can make a difference.
Different Industries
Industry also has a significant impact; CTR rates differ greatly amongst industries. Of course, you don’t want to change your industry—what you want to do is understand it more.
Most aspects of your marketing approach are influenced by your sector. Understanding your sector is critical to determining what constitutes a successful click-through rate.
It’s possible that you’ve noticed that your traffic varies throughout the year. The demand for your product or service may appear to be considerably higher than for others at times.
Pay attention to these ebbs and flows. It’s easier to run ad campaigns and send newsletters at the high times, and the outcomes are better.
The Right Content and Keywords
Having the right kind of content for your webpage is crucial. Users require a reason to click on something. The aim of your content is to grab the reader’s attention and capture their interest just long enough to get them to click.
Your content is your sales pitch, and if done well, it will compel your readers to take the necessary action—clicking through!
Video is recommended to include in your content, as it usually captures attention well and is considered more entertaining than words or pictures alone.
Make sure to include keywords and key phrases in your content organically. Google despises when “keyword stuffing” is done and has been known to punish web pages by reducing their visibility.
The term keyword stuffing means when the desired phrase is placed repeatedly in your content, hoping to increase the search engine optimization (SEO) of the piece.
Your content isn’t good if it isn’t readable. If it’s just a bunch of key phrases crammed together, it isn’t readable and it won’t help anyone who tries to read it.
Write good content and employ researched keywords, and you’ll be closer to reaching the goal of any SEO campaign: a high click-through rate.
SEO Statistics
Remember, the goal of search engine optimization is a good placement in your organic search results. Here are some statistics for click-through rates by each page (you won’t be surprised to see the highest score is for the first position)
- 1st Position – 43.32%
- 2nd Position – 37.36%
- 3rd Position –29.90%
- 4th Position – 19.38%
- 5th Position –10.95%
- 6th Position – 10%
- 7th Position – 5.28%
- 8th Position – 4.13%
- 9th Position – 4.13%
- 10th Position – 3.11%
To increase your SEO rank and thereby your click-through rate, try these tips.
- Make a list of good keywords
- Use Google Search Console
- Always put a CTA (call to action) in your metadata
- Make sure your content is excellent
PPC Statistics
PPC (Pay-per-click) ads have an average click-through rate of two percent. This varies by industry of course, as we talked about above. Aim for between three to five percent for your PPC CTR, and you’ll be doing well.
To improve your PPC Click through rates, try these tips.
- Try some Google Ads extensions to see if they make a difference
- Don’t forget to utilize long-tail keywords
- Evaluate your CTA (call to action) to see if it can be improved
- To acquire greater visibility, try increasing your bids
Display Ads Statistics
The average CTR for display ads is very low: 0.46 percent.
Don’t worry about this low average. It’s to be expected, given that display advertisements are better for bottom-of-the-funnel brand awareness initiatives.
In the case of display ads, aim for anything between 0.5 and 1 percent and you’ll be doing well.
To improve your display ad CTR, try these tips.
- Check your ad exchanges and take out any that aren’t functioning well
- Use the Outlook Inventory to your advantage
- Always remember to use long-tail keywords and powerful CTAs
- What are your most important keywords? Use them in your URL
Email Marketing Statistics
Email campaigns have some of the highest conversion rates, so you need to be taking advantage of this. The average email marketing CTR is around 2.6 percent. Industry makes a difference, of course.
To improve your email open rate and CTR, try these tips.
- As always, evaluate your call to action and try to improve it
- Is your website mobile-friendly? More and more people do business on their phones
- Make sure your email templates are scannable.
- If you use photos, load them in A/B mode so you can see which is the most effective.
- Pay attention to your subject line. Include a number, a power word and your keywords.
Social Media Statistics
Which social media platform we are talking about has a lot of do with the CTR. Twitter is the king here, with an average of two percent. Instagram and Facebook are just under one percent, while LinkedIn is a mere 0.06 percent! YouTube has a great potential that ranges from two percent to ten percent.
You must be able to comprehend your audience, where they are coming from, and what entertains them to take advantage of social media.
To improve your social media CTR, try these tips.
- Make sure to include unambiguous calls to action.
- Use action words in your social media ads
- Don’t use clickbait images or headlines; these annoy your readers
- Use authentically interesting images and words to reel your audience in
Get Ready to Grow Your CTR!
Now you should have a clearer idea of what CTR is, how to track click through rates across each type of channel, and how to improve your own rates.
If you discover using our measurements that your rates are below average don’t worry. Just use our tips above to sharpen your channel outreach and improve your rates.
Infront Webworks has an entire team ready to help with your SEO, social media, content, and email marketing. Contact us today for help with your CTR!
Matthew is the President of Infront Webworks and is a New England native now calling Colorado Springs home. Matt attended The University of NH where he pursued a BS in Natural Resource Economics & Business Administration. Aside from Infront; Matthew has owned and managed two other online agencies based on the seacoast of New Hampshire and been a key player in multiple technology mergers & acquisitions. When he’s not bathing in technology, online marketing & business; he’s probably spending time with his wife and daughter, boating, skiing the trees, hiking or cooking..he is a foodie for sure!
