Click-through rate (CTR) tells you what proportion of people who saw your ad or product listing actually clicked on it. A higher CTR means your titles, images, and prices are compelling enough to earn the click.
Formula
CTR = (Clicks / Impressions) x 100
For example: 50 clicks from 2,000 impressions gives a CTR of 2.5%.
Worked example
Your Google Shopping campaign receives 10,000 impressions in a week and generates 320 clicks.
CTR = (320 / 10,000) x 100 = 3.2%
How Vendably calculates it
Vendably computes CTR for your ad campaigns from platform-reported clicks and impressions. Both values are stored on each performance snapshot and surfaced in the Ads performance views. The formula applied is clicks divided by impressions, multiplied by 100.
Vendably also computes an organic CTR from Google Search Console data in the Intelligence pipeline, storing it as an intelligence signal alongside your paid performance data. This means you can compare how your listings perform in paid auctions against how they perform in organic search results.
What good looks like
CTR benchmarks vary by channel and product category, but as a rough guide for Google Shopping:
- Below 0.5%: the listing is appearing but not compelling enough to click. Review product titles, images, and price competitiveness.
- 0.5% to 2%: typical range for most product categories.
- Above 2%: strong performance. Investigate what is working and apply it across similar products.
A high CTR paired with a low conversion rate suggests the listing attracts clicks but the product page or price disappoints. A low CTR with a high conversion rate suggests the listing is too niche but qualifies buyers well.
How to improve it
The levers for CTR fall into three areas.
Listing quality. Stronger product titles (accurate, specific, attribute-rich) and high-quality images are the most direct way to stand out in the results page. A title that matches what the shopper typed improves relevance and click intent.
Price competitiveness. In Shopping results, price is visible before the click. If your price is above the typical range for the category, shoppers will choose a competitor's listing. Monitor price position regularly.
Targeting and keywords. Irrelevant impressions drag CTR down. Tighten keyword match types, exclude irrelevant search terms, and use product-level targeting to concentrate budget on your best-performing inventory.
Quality Score. A higher Quality Score reflects strong expected CTR and better ad relevance. Improving Quality Score often lifts CTR directly, and the score itself is a signal that your targeting and creative are aligned with what searchers want.
CTR and impressions are upstream of every conversion and revenue metric. Improving CTR increases the volume of traffic entering your funnel, which amplifies the effect of conversion rate improvements downstream. Vendably's Intelligence capability surfaces CTR alongside ROAS and CPA so you can see the full picture across your catalogue.