What is a good CTR?

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21
I worked hard to create a good ad and my CTR was 7.98% My page rank was between position 1 and 2 most of the day. This is a HIGHLY competitive keyword "dating". Being new to PPC this feels like a good position to be in.

Should I refine my ad?

How can I know what other people are paying? or if my ad performs better than others?

Im trying to work smart and learn PPC from the ground up, so any advice will help.
#search engine optimization #ctr #good
  • IMHO anything from 1% is good, 3% is very good, but at times if your ad is ultra targeted: say someone types in al;fkjsdfljksd widget, and you ad appears with the title al;fkjsdfljksd widget there have been CTRs of 10% and up
  • CTR is obviously dependent on position. It also varies wildly across niches. I manage campaigns where, for some unknown reason, a high CTR in first position is 3-4% and can't seem to get past that. But in the first two positions, I would want 10% so you're doing pretty good in a competitive market.

    But don't stop there. Try to improve that. It might be good to be at or near the top and have an 8% CTR but you might get run over by someone else later. Satchel Paige once said "Don't look back. Someone might be gaining on you".
  • CTR with 7.98% is quite decent but there are super targeted keywords with 33%-50% CTR and costing only pennies.

    It really depends on your niche and how well the traffic converts.
  • Banned
    [DELETED]
  • Yes, some keywords have great CTR's but if they pay pennies then it take forever to get good money. I'd rather have a low CTR and make more money with every click.
  • Anything around 1-3 is very good CTR. The best CTR I ever had was 6%. But it's not about CTR its about the return of investment. It is extremely important that you install conversion tracking in your Adwords account.
  • Steven proves my point that a good CTR is only as high as you can make it and willing to accept. He also proves that mentioning CTR all by itself is worthless. You need to take it in context of the average position. Is that 3% for ads in first or 8th position?

    I have CTRs for some products that are 2-4% too in 4-6 position. I also have some ads getting 15% in first and 8% in fourth position. However, I'm striving for a higher CTR for those same positions or higher.

    But, I also take conversion rates into account. Which would you take? An ad with a 7% CTR and 2% conversion in second position or an ad with 5% CTR and 3% conversion in fifth position? I'd take the second one every time. CTR is not the be all, end all.
  • Banned
    I have an average CTR of 1.5 to 2% in adsense and it is very acceptable for me with top paying niches... I don't believe a CTR of 8% is valid unless you are doing something fishy..
    • [1] reply
    • This is absolutely false. I have two blogs one has an average CTR of 13.5 % for Adsense the other is over 9% !! There is nothing whatsoever going fishy on any of these Blogs !!

      1.5 to 2% is very dismal and you need to recheck what you are doing to get such a low CTR !! IMHO
  • Depends on niche, content, keywords, layout, ad positioning, colors. You could struggle to achieve 5% with one site and then do 30%+ with another. Concentrate on ad positioning and targeted traffic. If you are getting a very low CTR on a given site consider testing with a different form of monetization to see how that converts.
  • close to 8% CTR in very competitive niche...this is almost too good to be true!
    Edit: You are talking about your ads on adwords, right? (Not adsense CTR?)
  • yes, adsense. . . too bad I could never get the product to convert. It was just a test for a competitive niche.
  • Just to make everything clear:

    We are talking about AdWORDS, Google's advertising program. Advertisers create ads for their search network. You can also show your ads on sites if you wish. Sites DISPLAYING ads have joined the AdSENSE program.

    As an advertiser, I've created ads with CTR running the whole spectrum. Most are in the 3 to 8% range (all keywords in a group) but some in 10 to 20% and more. Some individual keywords get 50% and up.

    Please don't interchange Adwords and Adsense. They are separate things. In fact, WF should have separate groups for Adsense, Adwords (PPC in general) and SEO.
  • Oh to be able toget 7.98%, that would really make me happy.

    I cant get anywheere near that
  • 9% is a pretty good CTR from ads. But how did it affect your page rank as you are mentioned your page rank as 2. May be you are referring to its position among the other ads in the same page.
  • That's what he meant, his AD position among the other ads.
    • [1] reply
    • Hi oneano,

      As Lucid pointed out, what is a good CTR depends on the ad position, but it also depends as much or more on which keyword you are referring to. I have numerous keywords that I routinely average over 40% CTR. and other keywords that I'm happy if I get a 1% CTR.

      If your ad is displaying in the Content Network you will typically see a much lower CTR than the same keyword generates in the Search Network. There are so many variables that it's not meaningful until your are comparing the same keyword, in the same network with the same ad position.

      If you use the AdWords Traffic Estimator you can get the estimated number of clicks using an unlimited bid and an unlimited budget. If you multiple by 30, then divide that number by the estimated searches for the exact same targeted language and location settings you find in the Adwords Keyword Tool you will discover the average CTR according to AdWords.

      (Estimated Daily Clicks X 30 ) / (Approx. Monthly Searches) = Average CTR

      This of course applies to the Search Network only, but it's probably best, if not the only way, to tell if your CTR is above or below average.
      • [ 1 ] Thanks
  • It's good if it converts.
  • Don said:
    > you will discover the average CTR according to AdWords.

    At first, I looked at that formula and went "Uh??". But re-reading carefully, I see how it could give a fairly accurate number. Even after six years of doing Adwords you can learn something new. Thanks Don, this tip could turn out really helpful for me.
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    What is a good CTR?

    I worked hard to create a good ad and my CTR was 7.98% My page rank was between position 1 and 2 most of the day. This is a HIGHLY competitive keyword "dating". Being new to PPC this feels like a good position to be in. Should I refine my ad?