Synonyms: Click rate Engagement rate
CTR stands for Click-Through Rate, a metric used in digital marketing and SEO to measure the percentage of people who click on a link after seeing it. It’s calculated by dividing the number of clicks a link receives by the number of times it was shown (impressions), then multiplying by 100. Essentially, CTR shows how effective an ad, search result, or email is at getting people to take action.
For example, if a Google ad is shown 1,000 times and receives 100 clicks, the CTR would be 10%:
CTR = (Clicks / Impressions) * 100
CTR is important because it helps gauge the relevance and appeal of your content. A higher CTR indicates that people find your ad, search result, or email subject line compelling enough to click. In SEO, CTR affects rankings—if more people click on your link in search results, it signals to search engines that your content is relevant.
Improving CTR can involve optimizing headlines, meta descriptions, ad copy, or calls to action.