What Is CTR (Click-Through Rate)?
CTR (Click-Through Rate) is the percentage of impressions that resulted in a click. It's the fastest signal that your creative and offer resonate with the audience, and, on Google, a direct input into Quality Score, which affects how much every future click costs.
Also known as: click through rate, click-through rate, ctr formula, what is a good ctr. This page answers "what is CTR", CTR formula,CTR calculation, and CTR benchmarks for Bangladesh and global performance marketing teams.
Formula
Meta and Google both report CTR as a percentage. Meta distinguishes 'CTR (all)'which counts every click including likes and comments, from 'CTR (link)'which counts only outbound clicks. Always compare like for like; link CTR is the buyer number.
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Worked example
An ad receives 80,000 impressions and 1,200 link clicks. CTR = (1,200 ÷ 80,000) × 100 = 1.5%. If CPM is $6, CPC = $6 ÷ (1.5% × 1,000/1,000) = $0.40. Double the CTR to 3% with a better hook and CPC halves to $0.20 without changing bids or audience, this is why creative is the cheapest lever.
Benchmarks
- Meta feed (cold prospecting): 0.8% to 1.8% link CTR is normal; > 2% is strong.
- Meta feed (retargeting): 1.5% to 3% link CTR; > 4% is strong.
- Google Search: 3% to 8% is average; > 10% signals top-of-page dominant creative.
- Google Display / PMax: 0.3% to 0.8% typical, display was never a CTR channel.
- LinkedIn Sponsored Content: 0.4% to 0.9% average; > 1.2% is excellent.
WordStream's Google Ads benchmark study reports an average Search CTR of 6.42% across industries, with Dating & Personals topping ~10% and B2B at ~4.6%.
Why it matters
CTR is the earliest signal you get. Impressions come in minutes; CPA takes days. If CTR is below benchmark 24 hours in, the ad is not going to save itself at CPA, refresh the hook and thumbnail before wasting more budget.
Common mistakes
- 1.Optimising for CTR alone. Clickbait raises CTR and destroys CVR, you'll pay for clicks that don't convert.
- 2.Comparing Meta CTR to LinkedIn CTR. Different intent modes, different denominators.
- 3.Judging CTR with < 5,000 impressions per ad. Below that, the sample is noise.
- 4.Ignoring platform-vs-link CTR on Meta. The 'CTR (all)' number is 2 to 4× the link CTR and misleads teams.
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FAQs about CTR
What is a good CTR?
It depends on the platform and placement. Above 1.5% link CTR on Meta cold prospecting is strong; above 5% on Google Search is strong. Anything 'good' on Display is measured in the tenths of a percent.
What's the difference between CTR (all) and CTR (link) on Meta?
CTR (all) counts every click on the post, including reactions, comments, expand-image. CTR (link) only counts clicks that leave Meta and hit your site. Always report the link number.
Does CTR affect ad cost?
On Google, yes. CTR is a major Quality Score input, and higher Quality Score lowers CPC. On Meta, higher CTR usually means lower CPM and CPA too, but through relevance signals, not a formal score.
How do I improve CTR fast?
Change the hook, first 3 seconds of video, first line of copy, first 2 words of a headline. Second-fastest lever: change the thumbnail / first frame. Audience changes rarely move CTR as much as creative changes do.
Related terms
Cost to serve 1,000 impressions, the auction's price signal.
Ad spend divided by clicks, what one click into your site costs.
% of clicks or sessions that complete the target action.
% of impressions that watched the first 3 seconds of a video ad.
% of impressions that stopped scrolling long enough to register the ad.
Google's 1 to 10 rating of expected CTR, ad relevance, and landing page.
Meta's quality, engagement, and conversion rankings vs competitors.
Google format where 15 headlines + 4 descriptions are mixed by ML.