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What Is a Good Click-Through Rate (CTR)?

A good click-through rate (CTR) depends on the channel: around 2% or higher is solid for Google Search ads, display ads often sit near 0.5%, and email campaigns average 2–5%. CTR is the share of people who click after seeing your ad, link or email.

By Priya Nair, MBA, Finance & Strategy · Updated Jun 2026 · 1 min read

What is a good click-through rate? A good click-through rate (CTR) depends on the channel: around 2% or higher is solid for Google Search ads, display ads often sit near 0.5%, and email campaigns average 2–5%. CTR is the share of people who click after seeing your ad, link or email.

Click-through rate (CTR) measures how compelling your ad, search result or email is — the percentage of viewers who actually click. What counts as 'good' varies a lot by platform and industry, so always compare against the right benchmark.

CTR ranges

CTRRatingWhat it means
Search ads~2%+ is goodHigh-intent traffic; well-matched keywords lift CTR.
Display ads~0.5% is typicalLower intent; creative and targeting matter most.
Email marketing~2–5% is goodDepends on list quality and subject line.
Social ads~0.9–1.5% is typicalVaries widely by platform and format.

What affects your CTR

  • Relevance — how well the message matches the audience's intent
  • Ad copy and creative — strong headlines and visuals earn clicks
  • Targeting — reaching the right people raises CTR
  • Position — higher placement gets more clicks
  • Offer — a clear, compelling call to action

How to improve it

  • Match your message tightly to the audience's intent
  • Test multiple headlines and creatives
  • Tighten targeting to the most relevant audience
  • Add a clear, specific call to action

Work out your own numbers — the Click Through Rate Calculator does it instantly, for free, with the formula and a worked example built in.

Continue exploring marketing calculators with these tools: LTV to CAC Ratio Calculator, Conversion Value Calculator, Customer Churn Cost Calculator, Ad Frequency Calculator, Viral Coefficient Calculator.

Calculators in this guide

Frequently asked questions

It depends on the channel. A 1% CTR is below average for search ads but perfectly normal — even good — for display and many social ads. Always compare against your platform's benchmark.

Make your message more relevant to the audience, sharpen your headline and call to action, tighten targeting, and test different creatives to see what earns more clicks.

What Is a Good Conversion Rate?

For most e-commerce websites, a conversion rate of 2–3% is average and anything above about 5% is considered good. Rates vary widely by industry, traffic source and what counts as a 'conversion', so always compare against your own benchmark.

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What Is a Good ROAS (Return on Ad Spend)?

A ROAS of around 4:1 — ₹4 in revenue for every ₹1 spent on ads — is a common benchmark for a healthy, profitable campaign. What is 'good' depends on your margins: low-margin businesses need a higher ROAS to profit, while high-margin ones can succeed with less.

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Priya Nair · MBA, Finance & Strategy

Priya Nair is a business analyst and MBA who advises small businesses and startups on pricing, unit economics and growth metrics.