The click-through rate (also known as CTR) is one of the crucial metrics for your PPC manager to monitor.
For most PPC platforms like Google Ads (formerly Google Adwords) or Bing Ads, the CTR will determine your ad ranking and the cost per click you incur.
Essentially, the higher your CTR for Google Ads will equal a better ranking and therefore lower your costs.
CTR is the percentage of your ad’s total views that results in clicks, a key factor for Google’s Quality Score algorithm.
The Google Quality Score formula will determine your ad’s position and the actual cost per click.
When reviewing your PPC accounts, this is one of the most critical measurements to follow.
What is a good CTR for Google Ads? Before we can answer that, first, we’ll need to look at what the average CTR is likely to be for your industry.
What is an average CTR for Google Ads?
This question is probably the most common we get asked about CTR for Google Ads.
However, the answer will depend on your industry, goals, and business type, among other factors.
The best place to start is by looking into the industry benchmarks charts to see if your own Google Ads click-through rate is greater or lesser than the average of your peers.
Conversion rate benchmarks by industry
As with any metric for your digital ads campaign (like cost-per-click (CPC)), an ideal ad click-through rate takes time to determine.
The rate will not be the same for everyone, and your average CTR depends on factors like your industry, your competition, and everyone’s keywords.
Regardless, it’s still helpful to have general guidelines for finding a good CTR for Google Ads. These are called benchmarks.
For example, personal and dating services do very well with PPC, averaging a search CTR of a whopping 6%!
But, of course, it helps to motivate those prospective clients when they’re searching. Ad copy for those industries could trigger those impulses easier than someone looking to file their taxes.
Industries with a high CTR may include auto sales, advocacy, and travel. Traditionally, some industries with a low CTR may include B2B, technology, and consumer services.
Advertising restrictions
Certain restrictions, either from governments or self-regulation, can also affect different PPC ads.
For example, in 2015, legal services struggled to attract attention on the search engine results page (SERP) with an average of 1.35% CTR. This poor result was largely due to restrictions on law firm advertising enforced by Google and government organizations.
Recently, Facebook announced a special ad category that restricts how certain ads on their social media platform can be targeted [link to recent article].
Therefore, any team member in charge of PPC marketing will need to be up to date with any target audience restrictions on media platforms.
Is a twenty percent CTR good?
A 20% CTR is outstanding. It’s almost nearly impossible to achieve.
This percentage is a common distortion that we see in digital marketing chat rooms.
If you are achieving a CTR of anything in the double digits, then we really want to talk to you and find out what you’re doing!
A realistic conversion rate
If your CTR for your Google search ads is about 2% or higher, then you’re doing well.
That’s a good general benchmark across all industries. Some businesses, however, would consider that to be pretty low.
What is a good CTR for Google Ads 2022?
The industry average for Google Ads in 2022 is a CTR of 1.91% across all industries on search networks and 0.35% on the display network.
Keep in mind that to aim for a good CTR for Google Ads is to achieve better than average.
Any benchmarks for your industry should ideally be surpassed. High click-through rates lead to higher conversion rates which lead to high-quality scores.
So if you aren’t hitting at least the benchmark for your industry, how can you improve your CTR?
What is the best way to improve CTR?
Even if your CTR is excellent for your industry, a good rule for digital marketing is: there’s always room for improvement. So try these tips to get a few more clicks for your ads.
- Analyze your keywords. Any discrepancy between the keywords you’re using and the exact specifications of the product or service can result in lost conversions. Be exact with your keywords that match what you’re offering.
- Headline Optimization. The most significant text in your Google Ad will be the headline. It will likely be the first thing people see and your first impression on a visitor. Make sure it speaks to a critical benefit and instigates people to take action. Experimenting with different variations can give insight into what works and what doesn’t. Promoting a deal or a special offer is a good attention grabber.
- Follow up with effective copy. Grabbing a visitor’s attention with a good headline must be followed with an ad copy that convinces them to click. Detail your selling points and make sure your call to action is prominent and influential.
- Top ad. The top ad is typically the one that gets the highest CTR. Whatever your top-converting keywords are, consider bidding more to achieve that top spot.
- Ad extensions. This helpful tool adds an extra line to any Google search ad result, expanding the real estate for search results.
Good CTR for Google Ads—conclusion
Using PPC marketing to help grow your business requires attention to detail and careful monitoring of your CTR, conversion rate, the average cost per click, and industry benchmarks, to name a few.
PPC campaigns require a delicate combination of utilizing organic searches and paid searches. Therefore, your PPC management has to be on top of their game to achieve the maximum benefit from your Google ads CTR.
Denver PPC’s experienced, professional Colorado-based team combines data, marketing expertise, and over a decade of experience to yield guaranteed PPC results.
Check us out today, and see why so many companies turn to Denver PPC for their marketing solutions.
