What is CTR (Click-Through Rate)?

What is CTR?

CTR (Click-Through Rate) is the percentage of impressions that turn into clicks. It can be measured separately for an organic search result, Google Ads ad, email link, or in-app banner.

How Is It Calculated?

The formula is simple: CTR = clicks / impressions x 100. If a search result receives 20,000 impressions and 600 clicks, its CTR is 3 percent. Bot traffic, duplicate impressions, branded searches, and device segments should be considered when interpreting the number.

How Is CTR Interpreted in SEO?

Position in the SERP, title, meta description, rich snippets, brand familiarity, and search intent all affect CTR. Low CTR does not always mean the title is poor; the user may have found the answer directly in the result, or the listing may be below ads or a featured snippet.

CTR and Conversion Rate

CTR measures the click, while conversion rate measures whether the target action happens after the click. High CTR with low conversion may point to a mismatch between the title promise and page content, or to a weak landing page experience.

Business Use

CTR is used for SEO title tests, ad copy experiments, email subject analysis, and campaign creative comparisons. It is not a success metric by itself; it should be read together with cost, conversion, revenue, and user intent.