Work out your click-through rate from clicks and impressions, see how it compares with the Google Ads average for display or search, and find out what a better CTR is worth in clicks.
CTR = Clicks ÷ Impressions × 100
Example:
400 clicks ÷ 100,000 impressions × 100 = 0.40%CTR tells you how often people who see your ad choose to click it. It's the first signal of whether your targeting and creative fit the people seeing them.
| Network | Average CTR | Average CPC |
|---|---|---|
| Google Display Network | 0.46% | $0.63 |
| Google Search | 3.17% | $2.69 |
Source: WordStream, Google Ads Benchmarks for Your Industry, averages across all industries.
Display CTR is much lower than search because display reaches people while they read or browse, before they're looking for you. That's why display is best judged on reach, conversions and cost per acquisition, with CTR as a health check. Our guide to B2B display advertising covers what to measure instead.
CTR, or click-through rate, is the share of people who click your ad after seeing it. It is calculated as clicks ÷ impressions × 100. 50 clicks from 10,000 impressions is a 0.5% CTR.
WordStream's Google Ads benchmarks put the average CTR across all industries at 0.46% for display and 3.17% for search. Display CTR runs lower because people are reading a website, not searching for a solution. Beat the display average and your ads are doing their job on attention.
The usual causes are broad targeting, one ad shown to every audience, missing ad sizes that push you into poor placements, and creative that does not say what you offer at a glance. Check placements first: a few low-quality apps or sites can drag the whole average down.
Not on its own. Accidental clicks in mobile apps can inflate CTR while producing no conversions. Judge a display campaign by conversions and cost per acquisition, and use CTR as an early signal of whether the creative and targeting fit.
Tighten the audience, match the message to it, build every major ad size, and exclude placements that send clicks with no conversions. Retargeting audiences usually show a higher CTR than cold audiences, because they already know you.
We build display campaigns around tight audiences, ad sets in every major size and placement cleanup, and judge them by conversions, not clicks alone. Tell us what you're running and we'll show you where the gains are.
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