What Is Click-Through Rate (CTR)?

The CTR formula (click-through rate equation), step by step

CTR compares two numbers every ad platform reports: how many times your ad was shown (impressions) and how many times someone clicked it (clicks). Divide clicks by impressions and multiply by 100 to get a percentage.

Use the same date range and the same click type for both numbers. Mixing all clicks with link clicks, or a weekly click count with a monthly impression count, is the most common reason a CTR looks wrong.

Impressions:  10,000
Link clicks:     150
CTR = 150 ÷ 10,000 × 100 = 1.5%

How is CTR calculated on Meta, TikTok and Google?

Every platform uses clicks ÷ impressions. What changes is which clicks are counted, so always check the column definition before you compare two numbers.

CTR formula in Excel or Google Sheets

Put clicks in column B and impressions in column C. In D2 enter =B2/C2 and format the cell as a percentage, or use =B2/C2*100 for a plain number. Wrap it as =IFERROR(B2/C2,0) so rows with zero impressions don't show an error.

For a total across many ads, divide the sum of clicks by the sum of impressions (=SUM(B:B)/SUM(C:C)). Averaging the CTR column instead gives small ads the same weight as big ones and overstates the result.

Why CTR controls your cost per click

On Meta and TikTok you mostly pay for impressions (CPM). Cost per click is therefore CPM ÷ (CTR × 1,000). With the CPM unchanged, doubling CTR halves what each click costs you.

CPM $12, CTR 1.0%  →  CPC = 12 ÷ (0.010 × 1,000) = $1.20
CPM $12, CTR 1.5%  →  CPC = 12 ÷ (0.015 × 1,000) = $0.80
CPM $12, CTR 2.0%  →  CPC = 12 ÷ (0.020 × 1,000) = $0.60

What is a good click-through rate?

A good CTR is one that beats your own recent average for the same campaign type, and that brings visitors who convert. Click-through rates differ a lot between platforms, placements, objectives and audiences, so a single cross-industry number is a weak target.

Build your own benchmark: export the last 30 days by ad, sort by link CTR, and look at the median. Ads clearly above the median are the angles to scale; ads far below it after a few thousand impressions are candidates to pause.

A high CTR with a low conversion rate means the ad promises something the landing page doesn't deliver. Fix the message match before you celebrate the click rate.

Average click-through rate: published benchmarks

Published averages are useful as a rough reference, as long as you know where they come from. Two widely cited studies by WordStream (with LocaliQ) cover Google search ads and Facebook ads in the US:

• Search ads have far higher CTRs than social ads because the searcher is already looking for something.
• Averages vary a lot by industry: in the Google study, arts and entertainment was highest at 13.10% and dentists lowest at 5.44%.
• Your own 30-day median for the same platform, placement and objective is still the better day-to-day benchmark.

Sources: WordStream: 2025 Google Ads benchmarks · WordStream: Facebook ads benchmarks 2025

7 creative changes that raise CTR

• Open with the outcome or the problem in the first second, not the logo.
• Put the main benefit in on-screen text so sound-off viewers get it.
• Show the product in use, close up, within the first 3 seconds.
• Give one clear next step in the last 3 seconds and point at the button.
• Test 3–5 hooks on the same body, so you learn which opening earns the click.
• Match the ad's first line to the landing page headline.
• Refresh creative when CTR falls while frequency rises: that is fatigue, not targeting.