What’s a Good Click-Through Rate? Drill Down into 2021 CTR Benchmarks

As a digital expert, you’ve definitely come across the term, click-through rate (CTR) before. Although we often talk about, measure, and analyze CTR results in our day-to-day campaigns, it’s a metric that many digital marketers and research analysts forget to benchmark. 

Without a point of reference, your average clicks can become a random percentage lost in an endless void of data. Read this article to better understand what your CTR is and why you need to start benchmarking against it.

Why benchmarking click-through rate matters

Click-through rate shows the percentage of viewer impressions that lead to a click. In other words, out of all the times your ad was shown, how often did the viewer click on your offer? That’s your average CTR.  

In digital marketing and research, this metric is essential in evaluating the performance of PPC and display ads. 

For example, you run a short ad on Google for a new service or product you are offering. A click on the ad usually leads to a landing page from where visitors can purchase, subscribe, or sign-up. Since you are usually paying per click on these search engines, understanding what supports lead generation is important for higher conversion rates. 

Once a campaign ends, you can analyze your CTR to reveal how relevant the ad was to search intent and customer interest. A higher CTR means that the messaging in your link, email, or ad is spot on and is drawing the right attention to your site.

CTR benchmarks to monitor   

There are several reasons to benchmark your click-through rate against your competitors.

Benchmarking is the act of rating one value by comparing it to a standard or point of reference, usually the industry average. In the digital world, you compare performance, results, and other data against specific reference points called benchmarks.

There are a ton of different benchmarking types you can use to assess almost anything – optimizing productivity, improving marketing campaigns, mapping business processes and landscapes, and more. 

Because ad copy and relevance aren’t the only factors affecting performance, CTR benchmarking can be a useful tool in quantifying your success. Demographics, display networks, target audience, and trending keywords can all play a role in how many people actually view and click on your ads. Compare your performance in these areas to see how you can improve your CTR industry benchmarks.

For example, if your competitors are receiving most of their traffic from social media channels, such as via LinkedIn or Facebook ads, then you’ll want to focus most of your advertising budget there. See what sort of content they are producing and test what works. 

Market changes can also affect CTR. Let’s say your industry is being flooded with new competitors and emerging technologies. More competitors means more competition for ad campaigns. While it may be harder to convert leads, a market shift like this implies that your industry is growing, and there are more potential customers for you to reach. 

Another factor is the type of keywords you are bidding for. General terms or keywords with different meanings can potentially attract the wrong audience. This will result in a high CTR but, eventually, a low conversion rate, as you end up paying for many wasted clicks.

In the end, optimizing for a high click-through rate will save you time and money.

How do you calculate click-through rate?

A high click-through rate impacts your quality score and, in turn, your ranking. Google understands that when a lot of people click on your ad, it means it’s a good match for the targeted keyword. 

Before you understand what your quality score is, you need to actually calculate your CTR. 

CTR is the total number of clicks in a measured period and divides it by the total number of impressions during the same timeframe. The number is displayed as a percentage.

Let’s say your ad was displayed 3000 times and received 90 clicks; the CTR would be 3%.

The higher the percentage, the more people who viewed your ad or article, also clicked on it. A low CTR implies two things: either people aren’t searching for the term you chose to optimize, or they were not convinced of its relevance.

What is a good click-through rate?

There isn’t a one-size-fits all answer to this question.

Whether your click-through rate is ‘good’ or not depends mainly on how it compares to others in your industry. Industries have different standards, and to evaluate, you first need to know what’s the going rate in your industry. 

Averages can range from less than one percent to two-digit percentages. Take a look at Google’s CTR industry benchmarks for display ads vs. search ads and see where you stand. 

As you can see from the chart, your CTR benchmarks will largely depend on what industry you’re in. 

If you are in the eCommerce industry, a display ad CTR of 0.7% might seem low, but it’s well above the industry standard. On the other hand, a search CTR of 3.0% in the travel industry sounds excellent, but it’s actually probably falling below your competitors. 

5 tips to improve your CTR

Let’s sum up. Optimization of your click-through rate means achieving the highest possible percentage in your competitive environment.

A good CTR helps you achieve a better Search Engine Results Pages (also known as SERPs) based on an improved quality score without raising your bidding. In order to do this, you need to view the CTR in relation to your conversion rate to assess how valuable it is in reaching your business goals. 

This calls for a clear business benchmarking strategy to analyze what and where to optimize. Here are a few tips to keep in mind:

1. Do in-depth keyword research to identify the best terms to target. Then adjust your headlines and ad copy accordingly.
2. Include negative keywords to minimize irrelevant clicks.
3. Target emotion, not only keywords. Identify the emotional trigger behind the click and aim to evoke that with your ad.
4. Optimize your ad and landing page for mobile. Around 50% of searches are done via mobile, and you don’t want to lose these potential clicks.
5. A/B test and A/B test again. We know, everybody keeps saying it. But it really can’t be said often enough. It works.

Starting benchmarking CTR with Similarweb

You get it. Monitoring your click-through rate is important but not conclusive without benchmarking.

What you need is a tool that can provide you with the average and the best-in-class for your industry. With Similarweb’s Digital Research Intelligence, it’s easy. You’ll receive your own statistics alongside the average in your category. It lets you grasp at a glance where you fit in and if you are above or below the industry standard. Determine which marketing channels you can steal traffic away from your competitors or track engagement metrics such as bounce rate and page views to enhance content over time. 

Remember that a high click-through rate in itself shouldn’t be your only end goal. It evaluates only the success of a specific ad. A click on the ad is one step the potential customer takes towards conversion. You can analyze CTR as part of your conversion funnel optimization future strategic planning.  Similarweb offers a conversion funnel analysis tool that lets you gauge your funnel performance against others using accurate real-time data.

You can also compare your numbers to a selection of competitors of your choice or your entire industry at large. Pick your closest competitors or those targeting the same keywords to get a clear picture. For example, see what’s trending among consumers searching for men’s sneakers and adjust your plan according to what market share leaders are doing. 

Don’t waste any more time! It’s time to start benchmarking your CTR. Try Similarweb’s Research Intelligence tool for free today.

This blog post was written by Ruth M. Trucks.

FAQ

What is a good click-through rate?

Click-through rate depends on many factors, such as industry.

How can I improve my CTR?

One good way to improve your CTR is to target emotion, not just keywords. Find the emotional trigger behind the click and aim to evoke that with your ad.