CTR Calculator
Calculate the click-through rate of an ad, email or search result, or work out the clicks or impressions you need, then see how it compares with typical industry averages.
CTR benchmarks by channel
Approximate industry averages from published studies. They vary a lot by industry, country, ad format, audience and year, so treat them as a rough guide only.
| Channel | Typical CTR | Your CTR |
|---|
How to use the CTR Calculator
- Choose what to solve for: CTR, clicks or impressions.
- Enter the other two values, for example clicks and impressions from your ads dashboard.
- Optionally add your ad spend to see cost per click and CPM.
- Pick a benchmark such as Google Search ads or email to compare with.
- Press Calculate and read the result, the gauge and the benchmark table.
CTR formula with examples
CTR = clicks ÷ impressions × 100. Rearranged, clicks = impressions × CTR ÷ 100 and impressions = clicks ÷ (CTR ÷ 100).
- 350 clicks from 10,000 impressions: 350 ÷ 10,000 × 100 = 3.5%.
- Expected clicks from 250,000 display impressions at 0.5% CTR: 250,000 × 0.005 = 1,250 clicks.
- Impressions needed for 600 clicks at 2% CTR: 600 ÷ 0.02 = 30,000 impressions.
If you add ad spend, CPC = spend ÷ clicks and CPM = spend ÷ impressions × 1,000. For example, $250 for those 350 clicks is a CPC of $0.71 and a CPM of $25.00.
Approximate CTR benchmarks
| Channel | Typical CTR |
|---|---|
| Google Search ads | ≈ 3–6% |
| Google Display ads | ≈ 0.3–0.7% |
| Facebook ads | ≈ 0.9–1.5% |
| LinkedIn sponsored content | ≈ 0.4–0.65% |
| Email click rate (of delivered) | ≈ 2–3% |
| Organic Google, position 1 | ≈ 27–40% |
| Organic Google, position 2 / 3 | ≈ 15–19% / 10–11% |
| Organic Google, positions 6–10 | ≈ 1.5–4% |
These ranges are drawn from commonly cited industry studies of ads, email marketing and organic search. Averages differ between studies, industries, devices and years, so the best benchmark is your own historical data.
How to improve click-through rate
- Match the search intent. Use the words people actually search for in your headline or title.
- Give a clear reason to click: a specific benefit, price, number or deadline.
- Use extensions and rich results such as sitelinks, ratings or FAQ snippets to take up more space.
- Tighten targeting. Showing ads to fewer, more relevant people usually raises CTR and lowers wasted spend.
- Test variations. Run A/B tests on headlines, images and subject lines and keep the winners.
Frequently asked questions
How do you calculate CTR?
Click-through rate is clicks divided by impressions, multiplied by 100. For example, 350 clicks from 10,000 impressions is 350 ÷ 10,000 × 100 = 3.5%.
What is a good CTR for Google Ads?
Published industry studies put the average CTR for Google Search ads at roughly 3% to 6%, depending on the industry and year. Display ads are much lower, typically around 0.3% to 0.7%. Compare yourself with your own industry and past campaigns rather than one number.
What is a good email click rate?
Email click rates (clicks divided by delivered emails) usually average around 2% to 3% across industries. Some platforms report click-to-open rate instead, which divides clicks by opens and is much higher, so make sure you compare the same metric.
What CTR does the first organic Google result get?
Studies of organic search estimate that the first result gets roughly 27% to 40% of clicks, the second around 15% to 19% and the third around 10%. Featured snippets, ads and other search features change this a lot for individual queries.
Is a higher CTR always better?
Not always. A high CTR with a low conversion rate can mean the ad attracts the wrong people. Look at CTR together with conversion rate and cost per acquisition.
What is the difference between CTR and conversion rate?
CTR measures how many people who saw an ad or link clicked it. Conversion rate measures how many of those visitors then did what you wanted, such as buying or signing up.