CTR calculator (click-through rate)

CTR measures what share of the people who see something end up clicking. It is the most direct signal of whether an ad, a subject line or a headline is appealing.

A low CTR nearly always points to a messaging or targeting problem.

Clicks are divided by impressions and multiplied by a hundred. The result also shows how many impressions it takes to get one click, which is often more intuitive.

Click-through rate depends mostly on position

In search results, the first place takes a far higher share of clicks than the second, and the drop is steep all the way down the page. Comparing the CTR of a page at position three with one at position eight says nothing about the quality of their titles: it says where they are.

When CTR is a useful signal

When you compare two pages at similar positions, or when you track the same page over time without its position changing. There a rise indicates the title and description are working better, and a fall that something has stopped connecting.

A high CTR is not always good

An exaggerated title can win plenty of clicks and an immediate bounce, which worsens the experience and eventually the ranking. The goal is not the click; it is that whoever arrives finds what they expected.

In advertising, cost rules

A campaign with a low CTR but affordable conversions can be a better business than one with a high CTR that does not sell. CTR is an intermediate metric: it measures attention, not outcome.