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23rd August 2006
First of all, let’s define what CTR is. The definition of Clickthrough Rate ( CTR ) is the ratio of the number of times an ad is clicked, divided by the number of times an ad is viewed ( or impressions).
CTR can be used as an analytic metric in PPC in several ways.
1) It can be used to measure delivery.
2) It can be indictive of a lower position in the SERP’s.
3) It can alert you that your creative needs to be refreshed.
4) It can be a sign that your keywords are too broad (not targeted enough).
In a branding campaign, a low CTR can be a signal that your bids are too low ( low position). By simply raising your bids, you can achieve a higher position and higher CTR.
But, what if you have to manage to an Avg CPC?
Some tips to increase CTR:
1) Use targeted, relevant keywords to your audience.
2) Bucket your keywords into highly relevant adgroups.
3) Create a highly targeted ad within your adgroups.
4) Use negative keywords
5) Use Keyword Matching options
6) Use the keyword in your ad text, or dynamic keyword insertion.
7) Use a strong call-to-action in your ad text.
 Test multiple ads in each adgroup.
9) Raise your CPC ( if you can).
10) Opt into the Content Network.
So, what is a good CTR?
1) Under 1% … it’s safe to say is bad.
2) 1%-2% is mediocore. There is room for improvement.
3) 2%-4% is good. IMHO, 2% CTR should be the benchmark to shoot for.
4) Anything over 4% is terrific.
Optimizing CTR is especially important if you do PPC Arbitrage.
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August 23rd, 2006 at
My experience has shown these factors/actions to be most important when trying to increase CTR:
1) Relevant keywords (always a good thing!) 2) Using negative keywords 3) Adding the keyword to your ad text, particularly the headline 4) Smart bidding (go as high as you can — position-wise — and still justify the ROI)
I’ve found that going with a content network tends to produce lower CTR, however. Otherwise, good tips!
August 24th, 2006 at
[...] Shimon Sandler wrote a post about CTR metric and how it can be used as an analytic metric. As I was commenting on his blog I decided to share it with you here as well. [...]
August 24th, 2006 at
Shimon … good post.
I like “sun flower” picture of you in the top right side. Anyway,
As I started writing my comment to you here I decided to also share it with my readers and rather link to this post from my blog
http://www.bizmord.com/Blog/archives/112
August 28th, 2006 at
[...] I would imagine that the search volume on both brand terms, product names, and category searches increase as consumers use search engines instead of going directly to the URL mentioned on the ad. One way this can be measured is by CTR. The CTR on the advertiser’s PPC ads should increase. Other channels of offline media include radio and print. The affect Radio has on Search seems very similar to Television. I am basing this opinion on the percentage of people (59.7%) that listen to the radio while online…according to the BigResearch study. The effect print media has on Search is probably very similar to TV and Radio…albeit delayed. [...]