How Do You Calculate CTR? Let’s See the Click-Through-Rate Formula

Click-through rate, or CTR, is one of the most talked-about metrics for measuring engagement within all kinds of pay-per-click (PPC) marketing campaigns. That’s why it’s not shocking that marketers constantly discuss how to improve their CTR, tactics to make their PPC campaigns more successful, and more.

However, if you’re just starting out, you likely don’t know a ton about what click-through rate is and what it represents. In this article, we will talk more about what CTR is and how it’s measured so that you’re more aware of the importance of this metric in regard to your marketing efforts.

What’s the Click-Through Rate?

The CTR is a metric that measures how many people clicked on a link that was provided through a paid ad or in an email. It’s used to measure the ratio between people who saw the ad and didn’t click and those who saw it and chose to view the advertised product or service. Digital marketers typically use CTR as a way to measure the effectiveness and success of an advertising or email campaign.

If people click on the link, it tells you that your campaign was engaging and intriguing; thus, it triggers the target audience to do the action required from them. On the other hand, a low click-through rate indicates that the campaign didn’t capture the target audience’s attention and so failed in its mission to trigger a purchase or create brand awareness.

One thing you have to pay attention to is that CTR benchmarks vary by industry. In some sectors, the click-through rate is traditionally low, while in others, it’s typically high, so before you compare your performance to that of another company, you should first make sure that you operate in the same industry.

Overall, the main idea behind tracking CTR is to measure engagement. By seeing your click-through rate, you get an idea about the performance of the ads in the following areas:

• Overall brand interest
• Ad or email content (both visual and written)
• Link placement
• Media type

By working out where the problem with the ad or email lies, you can quickly fix it so that your next marketing campaign is more successful than the previous one.

How to Measure CTR – Let’s Look at the Click-through Rate Formula

The click-through rate measures the ratio between the number of people who click on a link and the number of people viewing the page/email that the link is on. Most commonly, the click-through rate formula is represented in the following way:

CTR = Total Number of Clicks/Total Number of Impressions x 100

To make it more simple for you, let’s break the formula down:

• Total number of clicks – the number of people who clicked on the specific link
• Total number of impressions – the number of people who viewed that particular link (when it comes to email campaigns, that’s the number of people who received the email)

Unique Link Clicks vs. All Link Clicks

The click-through rate formula looks at how many times your audience clicks on a specific link. However, there are two ways to track these individual clicks:

• Unique link clicks: Here, you track once for each user that clicks on the link. In the end, the CTR will represent what percentage of the recipients clicked on the specific link.
• All link clicks: Counts any click on the link, even if the same person clicks multiple times. This way, the CTR will tell you the ratio of “times the page/email was viewed” to “visits to your website.”

Of course, there’s no rule that says you have to measure your campaign either this way or that way – you can always do both, as it will give you a different perspective on how your advertising or email campaign is performing.

So, What Now?

Now that you know more about the click-through rate and how to measure it, you’re ready to start implementing this metric for your own marketing campaign analysis. Remember, analytics play a vital role in any advertising campaign, and it’s always crucial that you keep the best practices in mind.