Click through rate (CTR) is one of the most popular metrics for digital marketing ad campaigns. And for good reason! The average click through rate tells you how many people are clicking on your ads compared the total number of people who see it.
Your CTR gives you an idea at how effective your online ads are at not only getting the attention of your audience but influencing them to act.
Of course, no one strives to be average. Most small businesses want to aim for an above average click through rate so that they can maximize their digital marketing ad spend. The key to increasing the CTRs for your paid online advertising is finding out what works for your brand and your target audience.
Below, we’ll discuss what the average click through rate is and why it’s important to measure this metric for your business. Then, we’ll provide a few tips and tricks that you can try to increase your CTR across paid digital advertising campaigns.
What is the Average Click Through Rate?
Before we can discuss how to get a better than average click through rate, we need to first define what an average CTR is. The average click through rate is the ratio of ad clicks to the ad impressions for your Google Ads, Facebook ads, or other paid ad campaigns. What is considered an average click through rate or good CTR will vary depending on a number of different factors.
One factor that can impact your click through rate is the platform that you are using to run your paid ad campaigns. Good CTRs will vary across platforms as each has a different audience with a distinct intent.
For example, for a Google Ad campaign, 2% CTR is considered average. Anything above this is good and anything below this means that you need to reevaluate your campaign. However, for a platform like Facebook, the average click through rate is much lower – at just 0.9%.
Another factor that can impact your average click through rate is the industry that your business is in. While some industries boast high click through rates, others struggle to get even half of the same percentage with their paid ad campaigns.
The top three CTR performers across the web are dating and personal, finance and insurance, and B2B brands. Do some digging to find the average CTR for your industry and keep an eye on your own CTR to see how it compares.
This chart shows the average CTR for each industry on Google Display Network and search.
In the end, the toughest competitor that you face with your click through rates is yourself. In addition to keeping an eye on average CTRs for the platform and industry, you should also keep an eye on your own benchmark CTR.
Instead of trying to chase an arbitrary number, focus on achieving a higher CTR for your own campaigns than you have achieved in the past.
This is one of the most important reasons you should measure CTR. It is very hard to work to get more clicks if you don’t know what your current click through rate is. If you don’t track your business’ success over time, you have no way to know if you are performing well or improving on past success.
If you haven’t measured CTR in the past, start now and use your average click through rate as a benchmark for future campaigns.
7 Ways to Get a Better Than Average Click Through Rate
Now that you have a better idea of what the average click through rate is, let’s talk about how to make it even better. Use the tips below to improve your click through rates across your paid ad campaigns.
1. Get to know your audience.
Every business wants to increase their traffic, especially on paid ad campaigns. However, you need to make sure that the traffic you’re getting from your Google Ads campaigns is also the right traffic. That’s why it’s vital that you understand your audience before you start developing paid ad campaigns.
In addition to knowing who your audience is (age, gender, location, and other demographic information), you should also get to know how you can reach out to them. What types of sites do they visit? What do they search for in Google? This type of information will help you when considering what types of keywords to use or sites to target.
You’ll also need to consider how they would describe the types of services or products they are looking for. Once you can identify some of the language and lingo that your target audience uses to look for your products or services online, you can start to develop advertising copy that matches the language that your potential customers are already using to find your brand.
If you want a qualified lead to come back to your site, your ad has to give them a reason to want to click!
Aim to discover what your target audience cares about most and what provides the most value to them. You can use this information to determine the value proposition you can use for your Google Ads campaign.
So how do you find out all of this information about your target audience? Try asking!
Talk to your customers, especially those who have been loyal. Have a conversation with them to find out more about what motivates them and what they value most.
If it’s difficult to have a one-on-one conversation with your customers, try sending out a short survey asking questions about their challenges, needs, and habits.
2. Be specific with your keywords.
Keywords are one of the most important aspects of your Google Ads campaigns. Though your ad copy does need to be well-written and compelling, it doesn’t matter without the right keywords.
Keywords help ensure that your business is reaching the right audience with your paid ads, which allows you to improve performance and get the most for your ad spend.
The key to using the right keywords is being very specific. Broad keywords will bring you a large, more generalized audience.
Use long tail keywords by adding additional descriptors to your keywords. This will help you bring in a much more targeted audience with your PPC ads.
For example, instead of “bakery,” you might use “gluten free bakery” or “specialty cupcakes bakery” to bring in a more focused crowd.
If your goal is conversions, aim for keywords with a medium or low intent.
Choosing more focused keywords will sometimes result in less impressions. However, since it helps you reach a more targeted and relevant audience, you are likely to get a higher average click through rate. And what’s more is that the people who are clicking are more likely to be a better fit for your brand, which helps boost conversions.
3. Make sure your ad copy is compelling.
Unless someone is clicking accidentally, there’s a good chance that an individual is clicking on your ad because they find the ad copy compelling and relevant. Nearly every ad that boasts a high average click through rate excels in speaking to the audience in a way that they understand. Additionally, it provides some kind of value for the person looking at the ad.
It can be difficult to know at first how effective your ad copy is without anything to compare it to.
However, if you find you’re experiencing a lower CTR than expected, revising your advertising copy is a good place to start in improving performance. Look carefully at your headline to make sure that it is relevant and interesting to your audience.
Then, look at the rest of the ad copy to ensure that it communicates enough value to entice the viewer to click.
Once you have completed several Google Ad campaigns, you’ll have some data to work from that will help you make more informed decisions about your ad copy.
For example, you can take a look at which ads have performed the best and see if they have any copy elements in common. Try to recreate the success of these ads by modeling your future ad copy on these successful ads.
4. Use ad extensions to increase visibility.
The ad extension options in Google Ads are a great way to increase your visibility on the search engine and encourage more clicks. Google wants your business to succeed with its ad platform. Which is why they offer ad extensions as a way for you to increase your CTRs and drive more traffic to your site.
There are a few different types of ad extensions that you can use in your Google Ad campaigns:
- Location Extensions – This extension encourages people to visit your business by showing your location, call button, and a link to your business page. This is ideal for physical store locations that want to drive more local traffic.
- Callout Extensions – This extension allows you to add additional text to your ad such as “free delivery” or “24/7 support.” This can be used to help more visitors convert offline.
- Call Extensions – With this extension, you can add a phone number or call button to your ad to help encourage more users to call your business. This helps drive more immediate communication offline.
- Message Extensions – Similar to the call extension, this option encourages people to send your business text messages directly from your ad. This helps promote more immediate offline communication.
- Sitelink Extensions – This extension links people directly to a specific page on your website. For instance, you might include a sitelink extension that brings people to the “order now” page on your site to encourage quick conversions.
- Structured Snippet Extensions – This extension allows your brand to showcase information that potential customers will find valuable. For example, you might include a product or service category.
- Price Extensions – Show your service or product categories complete with pricing using this extension. This allows customers to browse your offering right from the ad.
- App Extensions – If your goal is to increase app downloads, you can use this ad extension to encourage more people to download your app.
- Review Extensions – Review extensions help you showcase positive reviews and rankings from third-party sources. This is a great way to build trust with your audience and influence their click.
This ad example shows a few of the different ad extension options for your PPC ads.
If you find your CTR is lower than you’d like, you might consider trying one of the ad extensions above.
Data from both Google and third-party sites have shown that these ad extensions consistently help businesses experience better ad performance overall by giving ads greater visibility and prominence on the search engine results page.
Remember, the key to getting the most out of ad extensions is making sure the extensions you use align with your ad goals. For instance, if you want to get customers to convert on your website, you might use the sitelink or callout extensions rather than the call or message extensions.
If you want to make the extensions worthwhile, be sure to use them strategically.
5. Include the keyword you’re bidding on in your ad URL.
Adding the keyword that you’re bidding on to the URL in your ad is an effective way to help build trust with those who see your ads. By putting the keyword in the URL, you’re letting readers know that your ad, and the page that your ad leads to, is relevant to the search that they have just conducted.
When the searchers see the keyword in the URL, they can take comfort in knowing that the ad will give them what they’re looking for.
Including the keyword in the URL is an easy way to build consumer trust.
Research has shown that using the keyword in the URL of the paid search engine ad leads to a higher average click through rate for campaigns than leaving it out.
The more trust you’re able to build with your audience, the more likely they will be to click on your ad and look at what you’re offering. The best part is that this simple tactic can be used to start generating more clicks in just a few seconds.
6. Add a strong call-to-action (CTA).
Though it may seem simple, a strong call to action in your ad copy can work wonders for your CTR. Once someone views your ad, they want to know what the next step is. By telling them clearly what they should do, you are guiding them on the path to conversion.
In fact, according to the Kissmetrics, a strong CTA helps you capitalize on an individual’s curiosity by giving them a reason to click.
Notice these ads use strong action verbs to tell the search engine user what to do next.
Google also recommends using a strong call-to-action in the ad copy as it gives search engine users another reason to click. Google recommends telling people directly what action you want them to take.
For instance, if you want them to buy something, tell them what they can buy. If you want them to call for more information, tell them how to contact you. Using strong action verbs like purchase, call, order, browse, or sign up is a great way to make it clear to readers the next step that you want them to take.
7. Test, test, test!
Finding out what works to help boost your average click through rate on paid ads is no easy task. That’s why it’s vital for brands to test out different things to see what provides the best performance. A/B testing will help you isolate which elements of your paid ads are working best so that you can then re-create these elements in future ad campaigns for best results.
In addition to testing the headline and copy, you can also go one step further to really test out the finer details. Try including the price or a quantifiable discount in the ad. Test out different types of punctuation. Try different CTAs and see which has the best reaction.
In the end, if you want to perform better than the average click through rate, you’ve got to do some work on your end to find out which tactics work best for your business. Since PPC ads use some of your budget every time someone clicks on your ad, it’s important that you focus on not only boosting your CTR but bringing in the right kind of clicks.
Need help getting started with your paid ad campaigns? The PPC experts at LYFE Marketing know what it takes to help you get better CTRs. Contact us today to get started.
The post 7 Tips to Perform Better Than the Average Click Through Rate appeared first on Digital Marketing Blog.
