CTR (clickthrough rate) is the share of people who click your ad among those who saw it: your clicks divided by your impressions. Google uses it to gauge how well your keywords, ads and product listings perform. CTR helps you spot the ads that catch attention and follow the effect of a new text. It also weighs on the price of your clicks, through expected CTR. It concerns you if you write ads or read their results. The question that comes up most is what a good CTR is, and the answer fits in one rule: compare a CTR within the same format, on the same account. The real example further down shows why.
What Is CTR Used For?
- Measuring the hook: with the same impressions, the ad that gets the most clicks is the one that speaks best to the search.
- Comparing your ads: two texts shown on the same searches can be ranked on CTR long before they have enough conversions to judge the rest.
- Acting on the click price: your CTR feeds expected CTR, a part of ad quality that counts in Ad Rank.
How Do You Calculate CTR?
The formula: CTR = clicks ÷ impressions. The example from Google Ads Help: 5 clicks and 100 impressions give a CTR of 5%. Each of your ads, listings and keywords has its own CTR, which you read in the "CTR" column of your account.
The reverse calculation often says more: with the same impressions, each CTR point you gain turns into clicks. On 20,000 impressions, going from a 3% to a 4% CTR brings 200 more clicks. The CTR calculator runs this calculation with your numbers.
How CTR, Quality Score And Ad Rank Are Linked
The link exists, and it is indirect. Google Help describes it in three steps:
- your actual CTR contributes to your keywords' expected CTR, according to the Help page on CTR;
- expected CTR is part of ad quality at auction time, together with ad relevance and landing page experience;
- this quality counts in Ad Rank, which decides your position and your actual CPC, according to the Help page on actual CPC.
Two details prevent wrong readings. Expected CTR is a prediction: according to the Help page on expected CTR, it differs from your "CTR" column, because it compares your keyword with other advertisers' keywords and is adjusted to remove the influence of ad position and assets. Then, Quality Score, the 1 to 10 score that sums up these three components, is a diagnostic tool: the Help page on Quality Score states that it is not an input in the ad auction and should not be optimized for its own sake.
A simple picture: your CTR is the grade of your past homework, expected CTR is the grade Google predicts for today's exam, and Quality Score is the report card that tells you which subject to work on. On auction day, the prediction is what counts. The CPC guide explains how this rank sets the price of your click.
A Real Example: Search And Shopping On The Same Shop
On an online shop I work with, from July 18 to October 15, 2026:
- Search campaigns have a CTR of 14.68%, with 3,219 clicks for 21,926 impressions;
- Shopping campaigns have a CTR of 1.15%, with 11,983 clicks for 1,044,666 impressions.
A ratio of 1 to 13, on the same catalog and the same site. The CPC is almost the same: 0.64 EUR on Search, 0.68 EUR on Shopping. The gap is normal, because the two formats live in different placements. According to the Help page on Shopping ads, a Shopping campaign shows on the Shopping tab, on Google Search next to the results, on Google Images and, if your campaign includes them, on Google Search Partner websites. The same page says that more than one of your Shopping ads can appear for a given search. A second shop I work with shows the same gap over the same period: 4.46% on Search, 0.91% on Shopping.
Google says it in its definition: a good CTR is relative to what you advertise and on which networks. Search and Shopping are two different sets of placements, and each one has its own CTR level.
Within One Format, The Brand Lifts The Average
The same split works inside Search. On this shop, the campaign on the brand name has a CTR of 30.96%. The campaigns on products, for people who do not know the shop yet, have a CTR of 8.88%. The 14.68% Search CTR is the average of the two, weighted by impressions. A person who types a brand name is looking for that site: they click almost one time in three.
My recommendation is to compare a CTR with its own history, in the same format and on the same type of search: brand against brand, prospecting against prospecting, Shopping against Shopping. This comparison tells you if an ad is improving.
CTR Or Conversion Rate: Two Steps On The Way To A Sale
CTR stops at the click. The conversion rate takes over: according to Google Ads Help, it divides conversions by ad interactions. The first one tells you if the ad makes people want to click. The second one tells you if the page and the offer keep the ad's promise. An ad that promises more than its page wins clicks, its conversion rate goes down, and the CPA goes up with it.
On the shop, the brand campaign has both the highest CTR, 30.96%, and the highest conversion rate, 6.74%: the person who clicks already knows what they want. A CTR reads with the conversion rate of the same clicks, as two steps of the same funnel. The CPA guide shows how the two combine into a cost per conversion.
Common Mistakes
- Comparing different formats. A Shopping CTR around 1% and a Search CTR around 15% on the same account can both be healthy, as the example shows.
- Taking an average read elsewhere as a standard. An all-industry average mixes brands, formats and positions that belong to other advertisers. Your own history speaks about your account.
- Chasing the click at any price. A hook that promises more than the page raises the CTR and lowers the conversion rate: you pay for more clicks, and the CPA goes up.
- Following Quality Score instead of CTR. The score is based on the last 90 days and on searches that exactly match the keyword. It helps you see where to work, and your clicks and conversions remain the numbers to track.
The Limits Of CTR
CTR stops at the click: it ignores what happens next and the price paid for each visit. It also moves with position: the Help page on actual CPC notes that top ads usually have higher clickthrough rates. So a lower CTR can come from your position as much as from your text. To know if your ad itself is improving, look at the "Exp. CTR" status of your keywords, which Google adjusts to remove the influence of position and assets.
The Three Most Searched Questions
What is a good CTR for Google Ads? A CTR better than your own history, in the same format and on the same type of search. Google says that a good CTR depends on what you advertise and on which networks. On a shop I work with, CTR ranges from 1.15% on Shopping to 30.96% on the brand name, and each number matches its format.
How do you improve CTR in Google Ads? Bring the ad closer to the search. According to Google Ads Help, the more your keywords, ads and listings relate to each other and to your business, the more likely a person is to click. Group your keywords by intent, reuse their terms in your headlines, then compare two texts on the same searches, with these A/B test ideas for Google Ads.
How are CTR and CPC linked? Indirectly. Your CTR feeds expected CTR, which is part of ad quality, which counts in Ad Rank, and Ad Rank sets your actual CPC. According to Google Ads Help, highly relevant keywords and ads can win a higher position at a lower price.
To start, add the "CTR" and "Exp. CTR" columns to your keywords report, and separate your brand campaigns from the others before you read an average. Google Help suggests changing the ad text of keywords whose expected CTR is below average: these ads come before the others. To have your ads read by an outside eye, a Google Ads audit is the right format; to improve them over time, Google Ads management.
