CTR (click-through rate) is the share of ad impressions that end in a click. You calculate it as clicks divided by impressions, expressed as a percentage. A 3% CTR means that out of every hundred people who saw the ad, three clicked it. It tells you whether an ad caught attention, not whether it makes money.
Click-through rate (CTR) is the percentage of ad impressions after which someone clicked the ad. It is the first number that shows whether an ad matches what a person is searching for or watching. It says nothing about whether the ad is profitable.
Google Ads reports CTR for every campaign, ad group, ad and keyword. Meta shows two versions: CTR (all) counts any click on the ad, including likes, comments and “see more” expansions, while CTR (link click-through rate) counts only clicks that take people to your site. Google Search Console has its own CTR for organic search results.
You need two numbers for the same period and the same set of ads: how many times the ad was shown and how many times it was clicked. Multiply the result by 100 to get a percentage.
| CTR | clicks ÷ impressions × 100 | Example: 1,500 clicks ÷ 50,000 impressions × 100 = 3% |
| Clicks from CTR | impressions × CTR ÷ 100 | Example: 50,000 impressions × 3% = 1,500 clicks |
CTR is only the first step of the funnel. In search you pay a CPC for every click, and the money only comes back when some of those visitors buy. That is why CTR should always be read next to your conversion rate.
Enter last month’s numbers for one campaign. You will see the CTR, the number of conversions and the cost per conversion (CPA) — and what happens when CTR rises by a fifth.
The calculator shows something reports rarely say out loud: a higher CTR adds clicks and conversions, but on its own it does not lower your cost per conversion. That is set by the price of a click and by how well the site converts.
There is no number that travels between accounts. Brand campaigns usually have a CTR many times higher than everything else, because the person searching is already looking for you. Generic search queries tend to sit in the low single digits, while display banners and social feed ads are usually well below that. Comparisons only make sense like for like: ads in the same ad group, or the same campaign over time.
In search, CTR also has a technical role. Google uses expected CTR as one of the three components of Quality Score, alongside ad relevance and landing page experience. Google itself describes Quality Score as a diagnostic tool, not an input in the ad auction.
A good CTR is one that is followed by purchases or leads. At Vše pro pejska, a pet supplies store, winter 2025/26 (9 Oct 2025–28 Feb 2026 vs. the previous winter, Google Ads data) brought 4% fewer clicks, yet 46% more orders from ads on spend up just 1%. The conversion rate from ads (+52%) made the difference, not the click count.
Four metrics along one path from impression to order. CTR sits at the very start, which is why it says the least about money.
| Metric | Formula | What it answers | When to use it |
|---|---|---|---|
| CTR | clicks ÷ impressions × 100 | Did the ad catch attention? | Picking copy and creative within one ad group |
| CPC | cost ÷ clicks | What one visit costs | Checking the auction and bids |
| Conversion rate | conversions ÷ clicks × 100 | How many visits buy | Traffic quality and the site |
| CPA | cost ÷ conversions | What one order costs | Budget and campaign targets |
Metrics that belong in the same sentence as CTR.
Promising a discount that doesn’t exist, or leaving the price out of a headline, reliably lifts CTR. It also brings people who find out on the site that the product isn’t for them, and in search you pay for every one of them. Good ad copy filters out people who won’t buy, and a price in the ad does that best.
A brand campaign with, say, a 25% CTR is not better than a prospecting campaign at 5%; it just reaches people who have already decided. Don’t compare a YouTube placement with a text ad in search either. A blended CTR for the whole account is a number you can’t decide anything with.
CTR (all) also counts likes, comments and “see more” expansions. An ad with a high CTR (all) can still send very few people to your site. For site traffic, watch the link click-through rate.
CTR (click-through rate) is the percentage of ad impressions after which someone clicked the ad. A 3% CTR means three clicks for every hundred impressions. It shows whether an ad caught attention, not whether it is profitable.
Divide clicks by impressions and multiply by 100. For example, 1,500 clicks from 50,000 impressions is a 3% CTR. Both numbers must cover the same period and the same ads.
It depends on the channel and campaign type. Brand search usually has a CTR many times higher than generic queries, which tend to sit in the low single digits, while banners and social ads are usually lower still. Compare only ads in the same ad group or the same campaign over time, and always next to the conversion rate.
Write copy that answers the query, put a price or a concrete offer in the ad, add assets such as sitelinks, and exclude queries that don’t belong to you. Judge the result by conversions, not by CTR.
In search, indirectly yes. Expected CTR is one of the components of ad quality that Google uses when ranking ads, and a higher-quality ad can show in a higher position for a lower price. On Meta and in display the link is less direct.
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