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What is Clickthrough Rate and Why is it Important?

You have a link in an email or a on your website or maybe you have ads on social media or Google Ads. But how do you know if you are reaching the right audience? 

Clickthrough rate can serve as a litmus test for the effectiveness of the email, website, or ad. Ultimately, you want the person to convert. You want them to complete an action such as filling out a form, signing up for your newsletter, or making a purchase. More on conversions in another post. 


Neil Patel said it best “visitors who don’t click don’t convert” (Patel, n.d.). If your prospective user doesn’t click your link, they won’t complete the action you want them to complete. 


So, what is clickthrough rate?

You may have seen it as click-through rate, CTR, or tap-through rate on mobile. They all mean the same thing: the ratio of how many people clicked on a link compared to the number of people who saw the link. 


For example, you send email to your mailing list. 500 consumers open it and view a link in that email. 10 of them click the link and visit the desired website. The clickthrough rate is calculated by dividing the number of people who saw the link (500 impressions) and the number of them that clicked (10 clicks). This number, the quotient, is multiplied by 100 to convert the answer to a percentage. The clickthrough rate for this is example is 2%.

Box with yellow border with the text "clickthrough rate. CTR: the ration of clicks per impressions. clicks: the number of times a viewer clicks a link. impressions: the number of viewers that saw the link. (clicks/impressions) times 100 equals CTR as a %. Example: 500 consumers view a link in an email. 10 of them click the link and visit the desired website. The clickthrough rate is 2%. (10 clicks/500 impressions) times 100 equals 0.02 times 100 equals 2%"

Why is CTR important?

CTR helps you to understand if you are reaching the right audience. 


A good CTR lets you know that you are connecting with the audience you want to target. You are communicating in a way that they connect with and you are persuading them to take action. A low CTR is an opportunity to try a different approach. This can include changing the copy or headline in an ad, adding a call to action (CTA) button, personalizing an email, or adding relevant hashtags to a social media post. 


As mentioned above, if you can persuade them to click, they are more likely to convert. 

 

How do you know if your CTR is good?

The short answer: it depends.


The longer answer: There are multiple factors that determine a good clickthrough rate. Where the link is located such as if it is in an email or as a display, search or social media ad, matters. Average clickthrough rates vary across industries as well. 


OptinMonster reports that the average email clickthrough rate is 3.57%. It also reported average CTRs for the following industries:

  •  Legal: 1.04%
  • Sports: 7.49%
  •  Hobbies: 5.13% 
  •  Restaurants: 1.25%

Yellow bordered Box containing the text "Average Email Clickthrough Rates by Industry, Overall Average: 3.57%" Purple circle with legal scales, Legal 1.04%. Blue circle with sports equipment, Sports 7.49%, Green circle with cooking, gardening, weightlifting icons, hobbies 5.13%, yellow circle with fork, plate and knife, Restaurants 1.25%. Percentages Reported from


Crazy Egg notes that the clickthrough rates for search ads is 1.91%, display ads is 0.35%, and Facebook Ads “range from 0.5% to 1.6%” (Little, 2019). 


It is important to know the average CTR for your industry as well as where the link is found. This knowledge will help you determine if your materials are meeting industry averages. Then you will be able to take action to improve your CTR and reach your goals.  


Improving your CTR will ultimately lead to more action by your audience. 

 

References

Hall, S. (2021, February 4). 13 Ways to Boost Your Marketing Email Click Through Rate. OptinMonster.https://optinmonster.com/7-ways-to-boost-your-email-marketing-click-rate/. 


Hotjar. (2020, November 10). What is click-through rate (CTR)? A definition. Hotjar. https://www.hotjar.com/conversion-rate-optimization/glossary/click-through-rate/.


Little, J. (2019, February 11). What is Click Through Rate? Learn How to Increase It in 6 Steps. Crazy Egg. https://www.crazyegg.com/blog/click-through-rate/.


Patel, Neil. (n.d.). Click Here: 16 Hacks That’ll Get Your Call-to-Action Buttons Clicked. Neil Patel. https://neilpatel.com/blog/click-here-16-hacks-thatll-get-your-call-to-action-buttons-clicked/.








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Comments

  1. UnknownMarch 29, 2021 at 1:22 PM

    Hi Sarah,

    I thought it was a really interesting tidbit that what determines a good click rate varies by industry. I think that's another fact that shows just how flexible marketers have to be when it comes to creating content that people can engage with - we can't just remain static. Sports-related email links having a significantly higher CTR than an email link relating to the legal field makes a ton of sense - some fields are just more interesting to us than others, so it's up to us to make each piece of content engaging no matter what.

    Shepherd Snyder

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Sarah MaynardApril 3, 2021 at 8:19 AM

      Hi Shepherd,

      I thought that as well! I was fascinated by how different the CTRs were among industries. It does make sense that there are somethings, like legal matters or financials, we may want to put off, but the topics that interest us get clicked more frequently.

      You are exactly right that as marketers we cannot remain static. That is a great way to think of it.

      With much gratitude-
      Sarah

      Delete

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