Get the highest CTR for your industry

This is probably more for the beginner looking to get a better understanding of how to get the best CTR based on the industry they're writing for. While it may seem basic, it's so important to get this right so it is worth taking the time to focus on what you're doing well as far as your CTR and what could be improved.

We all know what a CTR is, I won't bore you there with the details. We also know that a high CTR gives many benefits to your company or the organization you are working on. The increase in internet traffic is evident, but a high CTR also provides higher quality search scores, increased significance in your field and reduction in PPC (pay per click) costs.

PPC advertising strategies that achieve success in one industry might not necessarily work in your industry so your techniques can't be generalized and need to be specific to your area of commerce.

Google has released comprehensive information displaying current benchmarks of CTR in AdWords for each industry which can be found on Wordstream.com. Dating and Personals have the highest CTR at 3.40%, and Legal has the lowest at 1.35%. Finance and Insurance category also has a high CTR of 2.65% and Industrial Service also has a low rate of 1.40%. There's no point benchmarking yourself with a different industry as it will give unrealistic expectations of your advertising team.

Advertising on a search engine site such as Google is the most popular form of PPC internet marketing so it's vital that, working with your SEO team, you achieve the highest CTR for your industry within a small window of opportunity to ensure your advertising campaign is a success.

Here's a couple of ways that might help you get a higher CTR for your marketing campaign:

Use of long-tail keywords: Always use three or four keywords instead of just one to choose when your ad is displayed. You can achieve a high CTR in error if your keywords aren't specific enough. If your IT organization specializes in providing networking solutions use 'IT network solutions provider' rather than just 'IT' This ensures that your traffic doesn't include people who are looking for support with their hardware who have ended up on your website in error. As you pay per click, if your clicks don't turn into leads then you'll end up spending a lot of money on advertising with a low ROI. You can find the exact terms that users have typed into the search engine to find you from your traffic logs, so that's a good place to start.

Put a promotional offer in your title: Often, the headline is the only part of your paid ad that will be read. Don't waste what is potentially your only opportunity to entice the user to click. It has been proven that numbers in a title are more attractive to the searcher; the word 'free' promotes an automatic reaction to discovering what's on offer because let's face it, who doesn't want to get something for nothing?

Add your keyword to your display link: So easy. Done so rarely! If someone is looking for a dog groomer in your local area and you haven't included 'dog groomer' and your local area in your title and URL, you've already missed your golden opportunity for a CTR. Ads are only clicked on when the searcher can see exactly what they're looking for and very rarely on a 'just in case' basis.

Add a period to your description line: That's another easy tip for CTR optimization and an industry trick which not many people know of. Adding a period to your 25-character title means that the first line of your description is automatically pulled up into the title frame. It gives you a great opportunity to say more in less space giving the searcher more information about your product and encouraging them to click.

Use site link extensions: The site link ad extension gives the searcher another option to get to another page on your website and is no doubt a powerful tool used to increase CTR. The site link can't point to the same page as your main URL so choose pages that are still relevant and describe your product well. Testing is vital to understand which site links appeal to your target market, and your advertising specialist can advise you.

Write attractive headlines: Again, this is another obvious one but isn't always utilized well enough. In just a few characters you have to tell the searcher why they should pick you. Encourage urgency, special offers, personalized service and display personality. Search engines are a competitive place, and you have to stand out from the crowd to get those much-needed clicks.

Improve your content: Last but not least, if your CTR is falling below the industry benchmark, is your content letting you down? Have you been descriptive and engaging enough with your target market or is your content confusing and uninteresting? Freshening up your content could see your CTR improve which will leave your competitors out in the cold.

CTR optimization must be the top focus for all advertising teams. Having the highest CTR for your industry will not only increase traffic to your site, but it will also keep you relevant with search engine sites which will all ultimately increase your sales and brand awareness. These simple tips will help get you started.

Any other tips out there? Feel free to share..