Glossary · Web analytics
What is click-through rate (CTR)?
Click-through rate (CTR) is the percentage of people who clicked a link out of everyone who saw it — clicks divided by impressions.
Also called: CTR
Updated
How is CTR calculated?
CTR = clicks ÷ impressions × 100
The definition of an impression changes by channel. In Google Search Console it's a time your URL appeared in a results page the user loaded; in ads it's an ad served; in email the usual base is emails delivered (click rate) or emails opened (click-to-open rate).
CTR example
Search Console shows your glossary page had 8,000 impressions and 240 clicks for "bounce rate formula" last month: CTR = 3%. After rewriting the title tag to answer the query directly, the next month shows 7,500 impressions and 375 clicks: CTR = 5%, with an unchanged average position. The title change earned 135 extra clicks.
Why CTR matters
CTR measures how persuasive a snippet, ad or subject line is, separately from how often it's shown. For SEO it's the lever you control after ranking: a better title and meta description earn more visits from the same position. For paid campaigns, it affects both cost and quality signals on most ad platforms.
Common CTR pitfalls
- Position dominates organic CTR. A page at position 1 and one at position 8 can't be compared on CTR. Compare at similar average positions.
- SERP features steal clicks. AI Overviews, featured snippets and ads above you lower CTR without anything changing on your page — see zero-click search.
- Branded queries skew averages. Searches for your own name have very high CTR and make a site-wide average look healthier than non-brand performance.
- Clicks aren't visits. Search Console clicks and analytics sessions never match exactly: ad blockers, bots and people who bounce before the script loads all create gaps.
How VisitTrack shows CTR
Connect Google Search Console and VisitTrack's Search Console tab lists your queries with clicks, impressions, CTR and average position, plus the page each query ranks for — in the same dashboard as that page's visitors, goals and revenue. That puts "which snippet earns clicks" and "which clicks become customers" side by side. To preview a new title before you ship it, use the SERP snippet preview.
Frequently asked questions
What is a good click-through rate?
It depends entirely on the channel and, for search, on position and query type. Compare CTR for the same query and similar position over time rather than against a single benchmark.
Why is my CTR low even though I rank well?
Usually because SERP features (AI Overviews, ads, featured snippets, video carousels) sit above your result, or because your title and description don't match what the searcher wants.
Related terms
- ImpressionsImpressions are the number of times a piece of content — a search result, an ad, a post — was displayed to users, whether or not anyone clicked it.
- Google Search ConsoleGoogle Search Console is Google's free service that shows how a website performs in Google Search — the queries it appears for, its clicks, impressions, click-through rate and average position — and reports on crawling, indexing and technical issues.
- Zero-click searchA zero-click search is a search that ends without the user clicking through to any website, because the results page itself answered the question — or the user refined the query or gave up.
- AI OverviewsAI Overviews are AI-generated summaries that Google Search shows above the regular results for some queries, combining information from several web pages and linking to sources.
- Conversion rateConversion rate is the percentage of visitors (or sessions) that complete a desired action — a sign-up, purchase, demo request or any other goal — out of all visitors (or sessions) in the same period.
Tools and guides
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