A click through rate, or CTR, measures the amount of times that a link that is involved in a paid inclusion is clicked on when appearing in search engine results. A paid inclusion is a search engine marketing product. The individual search engine charges a fee for inclusion of websites in their index. A benefit to paid inclusion is that spam results are reduced. This means when a user does a search for something, the results they get are more relevant.
Every separate ad, keyword, and listing has a click through rate, which is listed in the account. These click through rates can help your business see clearly which listing, keyword, and ads are doing the best and which are falling short. With the most relevant ones being used, there is a greater chance of click throughs to a website. When there is a high click through rate, one can rest assured the marketing plan is doing its job.
A click through rate can be affected negatively or positively by a few factors. Keywords play one of the most important roles in a rate click through rate. By using strong, high-ranking keywords that are relevant, the higher an ad will rank. If irrelevant keywords are used, the lower the ad will rank and therefore be clicked on less often.
A click through rate can also be improved by targeting a specific audience. By focusing on a target audience, you can aim your ads toward them clearly. A vague ad may work to some degree, but won’t garner the clicks that a more precise ad would. For example, you can be general in an attempt to appeal to everyone who wears shirts, or you can target people who gravitate toward athletic shirts that will keep them warm and dry during physical activity. People don’t often type in a vague search such as “shirt.” They have an idea of what they want and will search for “athletic shirts.” By narrowing down your ideal market, you can use keywords that will attract them. Thus, your click through rate will increase.
Online ads have come a long way. Banner ads don’t have quite the click through rate that they used to have, so this may not be your first choice. Advertising today allows for text-form ads that are placed within search engine results. These ads have links that can be clicked on like the surrounding results. Because your ad is relevant to the search the user typed in, there is a higher chance they will click on it.
Is a click through rate really important? Click through rate is important for determining whether your listings and ads are relevant to users. If your goal is to get more visits to your website and sales of your product, a good click through rate is important. When a click through rate isn’t good, it is possible to improve it and get the results that you are looking for.
