CTR is a digital marketing acronym that refers to the percentage of people who view your ad and then actually go on to click the ad. CTR is one of the most important metrics to be looking at when running PPC campaigns as it is essential to a campaigns success.
Having a higher CTR for a keyword, means Google will reward you by making your cost per click cheaper (Wordstream).
There are 6 key elements to keep in mind that affects an ads CTR, by following the below recommendations you will start to see a positive impact on your Google Ads CTR.
1. Ad Position – 40% impact on positive CTR
Having a high ad position is one of the most important factors to achieve a higher click-through-rate. It’s the first ad that a user sees after they’ve searched on Google. Even if your ad is highly targeted but is at the bottom of the page, chances are the CTR for this ad will be lower than an ad that is ranked first. However, keep in mind that from September 30th Google will be removing the average ad position column, you can learn more about this announcement here.
According to AccuraCast’s, the CTR rate for adverts in position one averages at 7.11%, whereas those in position five averaged only 1.61%.
Increasing your bids manually for your keywords will improve your ads position in order to rank higher, but you must also take into account quality score to improve average ad position. Quality Score is Google’s rating of the quality and relevance of both your keywords, ad copy and landing page experience.
2. Ad Relevance To Search Query – 20% impact on positive CTR
Relevant ads attract more clicks, when the ad matches what a user has searched for, they will most likely click on the ad when the keywords in the ad match those from the search bar.
Using dynamic keyword insertion (create ads that will automatically be customized to reflect a user’s search inquiry) automatically updates your ads headlines with the keywords in your ad group – this is a great way to increase CTR on your ads due to the simplicity of dynamic keyword insertion.
3. Site Link Extensions – 20% impact on positive CTR
Site link extensions are extra snippets of relevant information about your business that can be added to your Google text ads, using sitelink extensions makes your ad more prominent in the search results page.
Site link extensions make your ads stand out from competitors and encourage users to click through to your website, and therefore increasing CTR. Sitelink Extensions appear at the end of your ad as you can see here:
4. Ad Headlines – 10% impact on positive CTR
Ad copy that combines human emotion and a special promotion for your product or service has a positive impact on your ads CTR.
Why is it important to include a promotion? The headline of your ad is the first thing and sometimes the only thing a user reads. Everyone loves a good discount or special offer, so the chances are users will most likely click on your ad, and therefore increasing your CTR. By adding more humanised ad copy, your brand will come across as relatable and memorable to the user and therefore the chances that a user will click on the ad are higher than those with ad copy that is more cold.
5. Ad Display URL – 5% impact on positive CTR
The display URL is part of the ad text, so its important to also add the main keyword in the URL. This way, the ad is even more relevant to their search query, and therefore most likely to click on the ad.
This is a simple technique that is guaranteed to increase your click-through-rate as it helps users anticipate the content of the landing page they will be taken to.
6. Ad Callouts – 5% impact on positive CTR
Adding callouts to your ads is also a great way to increase click-through-rate on the account. Adding these short snippets leads to a higher ad rank which therefore results in higher click-through-rates.
Working on these 6 elements will make your ads relevant to users and improve your Google Ads click-through-rates. This will help to increase clicks and conversions and make your campaigns more profitable. When implementing the above changes make sure you write down what the existing CTR is for each of your ads this way you can see improvements across your ads.
Polaris is a PPC Agency based in London, specialising in paid search strategies.
