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.
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.
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%–1.8% link CTR is normal; > 2% is strong.
- Meta feed (retargeting): 1.5%–3% link CTR; > 4% is strong.
- Google Search: 3%–8% is average; > 10% signals top-of-page dominant creative.
- Google Display / PMax: 0.3%–0.8% typical — display was never a CTR channel.
- LinkedIn Sponsored Content: 0.4%–0.9% average; > 1.2% is excellent.
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 2–4× the link CTR and misleads teams.
Put CTR to work
Free calculators
Related services
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 1–10 rating of expected CTR, ad relevance, and landing page.