What Is CTR? — Free Tool
CTR is clicks divided by impressions, as a percentage. The formula, the difference between all clicks and link clicks, and why a high CTR with a low conversion rate is a warning sign.
Click-through rate: clicks divided by impressions, as a percentage. It measures how compelling the post is at driving the next step, independent of how many people saw it.
What it is
CTR, or click-through rate, is the share of impressions that produced a click. It measures how persuasive a post or ad is at getting the next action, separately from how many people saw it.
How it is measured
Clicks divided by impressions, times 100. Four hundred clicks on twenty thousand impressions gives 2 percent. Some teams calculate it on reach instead of impressions, which produces a higher number and is not the industry convention, so say so if you do it.
Commonly misunderstood
The word clicks is doing a lot of unexamined work. Meta reports all clicks, link clicks and outbound clicks as separate numbers, and all clicks includes profile taps, image expands and See more taps. Quoting all clicks as CTR can triple the apparent performance of an ad that sent almost no one anywhere. The second mistake is treating a high CTR as good news on its own. A hook that overpromises reliably lifts CTR and depresses conversion rate, so CTR should always be read next to what happened after the click. Organic and paid CTR are also not comparable: paid placements are optimised for clicks, organic feeds are not.
When it matters
CTR is the number to steer creative by. If impressions are healthy and CTR is weak, fix the hook, the image or the call to action rather than raising budget.
Related terms
Features
- The CTR formula written out, with a worked example
- All clicks versus link clicks versus outbound clicks, and why Meta reports all three
- Realistic benchmarks by platform and placement
- Why a rising CTR with a falling conversion rate usually means a misleading hook
- A linked CPM and CPC calculator for the cost side of the same campaign
Frequently asked questions
What is the CTR formula?
Clicks divided by impressions, times 100. Four hundred clicks on twenty thousand impressions is 400 / 20000 = 0.02, so a CTR of 2 percent.
Should I use clicks or link clicks?
Link clicks, for anything driving traffic. Meta's all clicks figure includes profile taps, photo expands and comment opens, so it can be several times the link click number. Reporting all clicks as CTR makes an ad look far better than it performs.
What is a good CTR?
Roughly 0.9 to 1.5 percent on Meta feed placements, 0.4 to 0.8 percent on LinkedIn sponsored content, and 2 to 5 percent on paid search where intent is much higher. Organic posts are not comparable to any of these.
Why is my CTR high but my conversions low?
Usually the creative promises something the landing page does not deliver, or the audience is broad enough that curiosity clicks dominate. Check bounce rate on the landing page before blaming the offer.
Does CTR affect my ad costs?
Yes on auction platforms. Meta, Google and LinkedIn all factor predicted engagement into ad ranking, so a higher CTR usually buys the same impressions at a lower CPM.
