What is a Good CTR (Click-Through Rate)?

When you are advertising online, it is very important to pay attention to the click-through rate your ad receives. The click through rate, or CTR, is the percentage of how many consumers see your advertisement and decide to click on it. The CTR for your advertisements is a very important metric to determine how successful your marketing campaign has been. The more likely a consumer is to click on your advertisement, the more likely they are to become customers and purchase your product.

The conversion rate in which consumers who click on an advertisement become customers varies based on the industry. However, it is pretty much unanimous that having a good CTR leads to an increase in sales. This is why it is so important to learn what is a good click-through rate, and more importantly, how to increase your CTR. In this article, we will discuss what a good click-through rate is for different platforms. For example, the average CTR for LinkedIn ads differs from the average Google click through rate.

What Percentage is Good for a CTR? 

First of all, do you know what your CTR is? You can use a click-through rate calculator to determine your CTR.

Many consumers actually do not click on advertisements when they see them on their social media timeline or on other websites. CTR rates are often very low, which means that seemingly small differences in the CTR percentage could be very important for profits. For example, a 2% click-through rate is considered very high. Many people argue over what a good CTR rate is because there are a lot of variables to consider. The average CTR can dramatically vary depending on which platform you are advertising on.

Average CTR Rates by Platform:

Different platforms have different click-through rates. You can expect a different ad benchmark from LinkedIn advertising vs. Google advertising.

• Facebook ads have an average CTR of 1.11%
• Google ads have an average CTR of 1.55%
• Instagram ads have an average CTR of 0.22%
• LinkedIn ads have an average CTR of 0.22%
• Twitter ads have an average CTR of 0.86%

In addition to the platform in which you advertise on, you should consider that every industry has different CTR rates. This is partly because they have different types of ads. For example, on LinkedIn you might use Lead Gen Forms and on Instagram you might use carousel ads.

Average CTR Rates by Industry:

Let’s discuss the average click through rates by industry:

• The advocacy industry has an average CTR of 0.59%
• The auto industry has an average CTR of 0.60%
• The dating industry has an average CTR of 0.72%
• The education industry has an average CTR of 0.53%
• The finance and insurance has an average CTR of 0.52%
• The health and medical industry has an average CTR of 0.59%
• The legal industry has an average CTR of 0.59%
• The real estate industry has an average CTR of 1.08%
• The technology industry has an average CTR of 0.39%
• The travel industry has an average CTR of 0.47%

There is not a simple answer for what is a good click-through rate, because there are so many variables you have to consider. For example, a 0.5% CTR would be considered good for the technology industry but horrible for the real estate industry. Additionally, a 0.4% CTR is great for Instagram but bad for Twitter.

A general rule of thumb would be to look at the industry your product is in and the platform you are advertising on and see if your CTR is above the average rates. There are obviously other metrics to judge the effectiveness of your advertisement so do not be discouraged if your CTR falls below average for a certain category.

How to Improve Your CTR

Now that you have an idea of what your CTR should look like, you might be wondering how you can improve your CTR. Luckily there are several ways to improve your CTR including testing different ad types, creating advertisements with images, emphasizing the pricing of your product, adding keywords to your ad copy, and adding a call to action. Obviously there are several others but this is a good place to start improving your click through rate.

Try Testing Different Types of Ads

Sometimes your CTR could be suffering simply because you are using a type of ad format that is less engaging to consumers. The content of your ad could stay the same with small wording differences. You might want to consider using a responsive text ad. Responsive text advertisements are so effective in fact, that they can increase your click-through rate by 12%. Responsive text advertisements allow you to better target your ads towards your consumers.

So how does it work? Responsive text advertisements allow you to create multiple headlines to grab the user’s attention. Additionally you can create different ad descriptions. The search engine or social media site will try different combinations of headlines and descriptions. This is to see which combination gets the best click through rate. After doing several A/B tests the algorithm will determine which gives you the best CTR. Responsive text advertisements can be a great tool to use because sometimes it is difficult to tell what will grab consumers attention. This is also a great way to test out different ideas for ads without having to fully commit if it is not successful.

Create Advertisements with Images

Images have been shown to dramatically increase your click through rate. In fact some studies have found that using an image can increase your CTR by 42% percent in emails. This makes sense when you take a minute to think about it. If you are looking through a bunch of emails that are filled with text, the email with an image will stick out to you. It catches the user’s eye. If this is done correctly, it can convey the message of the ad without the user even having to read.

This works on social media sites too. If you are scrolling through your timeline and it is mostly text, seeing an image will stand out to you. A good example of this are sites like Twitter in which most of a user’s timeline is text with few images. If you are trying to improve your CTR, then you may want to try using an image, the results might surprise you.

Emphasize Your Pricing in Your Advertisement 

Many consumers might see your ad and love the concept but not click on it because they may believe it is out of their price range. Highlighting the price of your product within your ad could show consumers that they can in fact afford your product. Even if the consumer cannot afford the product if it is slightly outside their price range they might click on your advertisement just to see if you have similar products at lower prices. This strategy is not for everyone.

However, if your products are competitively priced you should consider it. You could even use this when you are running a sales promotion to increase your click through rate. Pricing is an important deciding factor for most consumers, so it’s crucial to consider when positioning your advertisement.

Add Keywords to Your Advertisement 

Adding keywords to your advertisement can help improve the chances that users who are interested in your product see your ad. This increases your ad’s click through rate because if someone is interested in your product already they are more likely to click on the ad.

So how exactly does this work? Say someone is searching for camping gear and your company sells tents. If you put the key term “camping gear” in your advertisement, the algorithm will recommend your ad to the user searching for camping gear. Maybe the user was looking for a fishing rod and now because they have seen your advertisement they remember they need to also purchase a tent. Even if the user does not need a tent they are a lot more likely to click on an ad that is related to one of their interests.This is why you should consider using keywords to improve your CTR.

Use a Call to Action 

As silly as using a call to action may seem at first, it is a really simple and effective way to increase your CTR. This could be as simple as saying “Buy Now” or “Learn More.” Or, you could have a longer, more in depth call to action. Regardless of what type of call to action you use, it could increase your click through rate. This is especially true if your ad features a limited time offer. Call to actions like “buy now while supplies last” are used often for a reason.

Additionally, you could even set a timer on your advertisement, which encourages customers that they need to make the purchase before time runs out. If you sell a more expensive product, then you should probably not use a timer. This is because for bigger purchases consumers typically like to take more time before they make a decision. Regardless of the price of your product, using a call to action could increase your click-through rate.

Improve Your Quality Score

For paid search ads, Google will assign you a Quality Score. A Quality Score is a diagnostic tool meant to give you an idea of how well the quality of your ad compares to other advertisers. If you boost your Quality Score, you will most likely get more clicks.

Good Click-Through Rate

Learning what is a good click through rate is not always a straightforward process and requires you to consider several factors. Look at the variables and see if your click through rate is good or not. If your click through rate could be better, do not worry! Even if you aren’t getting clicks, ads are still good for brand awareness. You now have several tips to help improve it. Even if your click through rate is above average, it can always be better. After all, a better click-through rate typically leads to better sales. For help improving your click-through rate, contact SEO Design Chicago today!

FAQ: 

• Which social media platform has the highest click-through rate?
• What is considered a high click-through rate?
• How do I determine my click-through rate?
• How do I improve my CTR?
• What is the average CTR for the real estate industry?