Why you should work on improving your Click Through Rate

21st Dec. 2015

Click through rates (CTR) are perhaps one of the most effective ways of measuring marketing success, and all small to medium sized businesses should be tracking their CTR to determine what aspects of their promotional campaigns are working to attract new customers, and which areas show room for improvement.

Quite simply, a CTR is the number of your targeted audience who have taken action and clicked on a link, either in social media marketing, online directory advertisements, banner ads, or email newsletters. CTR is almost the exact opposite of a bounce rate, which tells you how many website visitors exit before navigating to other internal pages. It’s obvious that the higher the CTR the better, but what else do businesses need to know about click through rates?

SEO is Key

Search engine optimisation is one of the key aspects when it comes to increasing click through rates from search engines. A study by Google found that web pages that rank highly receive higher CTR than those with lower ranks. Typically, Google’s first position result receives a 31 percent CTR on average, dropping to 14 percent for second place, and 9 percent for third place. CTR drops even further, with second and third page results dropping to 3 percent and 1 percent respectively.

Rich Media Boosts CTR

Banner ads are typically one of the least effective forms of digital advertising, but when used correctly, a traditional banner ad could really help to improve your CTR. Research has found that businesses who use rich media in their banner ads - images, videos, and audio, for example - typically receive higher CTR and improved user engagement than those who do not. The average CTR for a banner ad is 0.12 percent, which can be boosted by up to 267 percent by using rich media.

Click through rates can be a very valuable resource for small businesses who are striving to form better connections with their audience. Through a more thorough understanding of what consumers want - what sparks their interest, what encourages them to take action, and so on - businesses can tailor their marketing campaigns to appeal to specific demographics and, ultimately, improve sales.