What Is CTR (Click-Through Rate)?
CTR measures how many people who saw your ad clicked on it. A key indicator of ad creative and targeting quality.
Key Takeaways
- CTR = Clicks ÷ Impressions × 100.
- A good CTR varies significantly by channel — 2%+ for email, 0.5–1% for display ads.
- High CTR with low conversion suggests strong creative but weak landing page relevance.
The formula
Click-through rate is clicks divided by impressions, expressed as a percentage. If your ad is shown 10,000 times and clicked 150 times, CTR is 1.5%. It measures how compelling your creative, copy, and targeting are — how effectively your message motivates the people who see it to take the next step.
CTR benchmarks by channel
Email marketing: 2–5% CTR is typical, with well-segmented campaigns achieving higher. Google Search: 3–10% CTR for branded terms, 1–5% for non-branded. Google Display: 0.1–0.5% is typical (most display is ignored). Facebook/Instagram feed ads: 0.5–1.5%. LinkedIn: 0.2–0.5%. These vary significantly by industry, offer, and targeting quality — use them as starting points, not absolutes.
High CTR, low conversion — the disconnect
A high CTR means your ad is compelling. A low conversion rate after click means your landing page is failing. This disconnect — strong creative, weak landing experience — is common. The fix is landing page optimisation: message match between ad and page, clear value proposition, streamlined path to purchase, and social proof at the right moment.
Using CTR to test creative
CTR is one of the fastest metrics to respond to creative changes, making it useful for A/B testing. Test headline vs headline, image vs image, offer vs offer. Higher CTR on a variant indicates stronger messaging resonance with the audience. Scale the winner and continue testing against the control.