What is click-through rate (CTR)?

In digital marketing, CTR (Click-Through Rate) is a metric that indicates the number of clicks on an ad or a link in relation to the number of times it was shown, also known as impressions.

Advertisers and publishers use CTR to measure the effectiveness of their marketing efforts, analyze which ads are capturing the most audience attention, and modify the ad content to improve conversion rates.

A high CTR means that an ad is resonating well with the users, while a low CTR indicates that the ad may need to be reworked.

CTR is commonly measured for:

Online advertising such as display ads, search ads, pay-per-click (PPC) ads
Search engine optimization (organic search results on SERP)
Email marketing (links and call-to-action buttons)
Social media marketing (links and CTAs)
On-site elements (buttons, images, headlines, etc. on a website)

While CTR can provide valuable insight into an ad's performance, it should be considered alongside other metrics, such as conversion rate and cost-per-click (CPC), to gain a more holistic understanding of an ad campaign's effectiveness.

How to Calculate CTR?

CTR is calculated by dividing the number of clicks on an ad or link by the number of impressions (or views) that the ad or link received. The result is then multiplied by 100 to convert it into a percentage.

Try our CTR calculator to better understand this metric.

CTR (Click-Through Rate) Formula

Use this CTR formula to calculate Click-Through Rate:

CTR = (Number of clicks) / (Number of impressions) * 100

CTR calculation example

For example, let's say an ad was shown to 10,000 people and 200 of them clicked on the ad.

CTR = (200 / 10,000) * 100 = 2%

Therefore, the Click-Through Rate (CTR) for this ad is 2%