We recently wrote all about how to lower your bounce rate (*hint hint*, you should definitely go back and read that post if you haven’t yet!).
This week, we’re spilling the beans on how to increase your click-through rate, which is arguably even more important than your bounce rate. Read on for the what, why, and how of it —
What is click-through rate?
Click-through rate (CTR) is the ratio of users that click through a link or ad out of the total number of users who view the page or ad.
CTR = clicks / impressions
For small business owners, there are two CTRs that should be at top of mind:
- Google Ads – the % of users who click on your ad out of the total # of users who see your ad
- Google Analytics – the % of users who click on your link in the Google search results out of the total # of users who see it
In other words, CTR matters for both paid advertising and organic search. And of course, you should always strive to be increasing your click-through rate so that more people see your webpage or offer (and hopefully convert to paying customers!).
How do I find my click-through rate?
In Google Ads it’s easy – your CTR is displayed on the dashboard, under Campaigns.
Source: click-winning content
In Google Analytics, you have to work a little harder to find your CTR. Keep in mind that you want to track CTR for organic traffic, which is actually a metric tracked by Google Search Console. So make sure you 1). Have a Search Console account set up, and 2). Integrate it with your Analytics account.
Once that’s all sorted, you should be able to view an accurate CTR in Google Analytics. Click on Acquisition –> Search Console –> Landing Pages.
Here you’ll see your overall CTR as well as CTR for individual pages of your site:
What is a “good” click-through rate?
It’s important to note that click-through rates vary by industry, though Wordstream claims that the overall average CTR in Google Ads on search is 1.91%.
As per the graphic below, websites in the dating, travel, advocacy, and automotive space typically enjoy a higher CTR than those in other industries. So rather than compare your website’s CTR to the overall CTR, be sure to look at what the average click-through rate is for websites in your industry for a more accurate view.
Source: Wordstream
How to increase click-through rate
- Edit your page’s title and meta description to make them more enticing. The title and description are what appear in Google’s search results, so you want to make sure they grab people’s attention and inspire them to click on your link. Best practice is to experiment with this and keep tweaking until you see your CTR improve.
- Edit your URL structure – generally short, concise, and descriptive is best.
- Implement rich snippers – also known as Schema markup or structured data, this is additional information shown with a Google listing that both inform Google and make your listing stand out to users. Examples of this include ratings, reviews, breadcrumbs, recipe details, and more.
