Click-Though rate increasing

Translate Advertising Into Dollars By Increasing Your Click-Through Rate

So, you’ve put all kinds of money into an advertising campaign promoting your business. Your name is out there and you’re just waiting for the money to pour in. But what happens if nobody clicks on your ads? Click rate or click-through rate (CTR) refers to how often users actually click on a banner ad or a link on a webpage. It is calculated by dividing the number of clicks by the number of times the ad is shown (impressions). So, clicks ÷ impressions = click-through rate. An ad that is displayed 100 times and receives one click has a click-through rate of 1 percent. In email marketing, click-through rate refers to the frequency with which people click on offers in the body of your emails.

What To Expect

Click-through rates have decreased over time, as Internet users have learned to look past the ads vying for their attention. The average CTR in the 1990s was about 3 percent. Today, click rates can be as low as 0.1 to 0.3 percent. How the viewer arrives at your ad is a consideration when determining the success of your click-through rates. A user is more likely to click on an ad if he or she found it via a search, because they found it while looking for specific information. If a display ad pops up while someone’s browsing a website, they won’t be as likely to click on it.

Why Do Click-through Rates Matter?

The click-through rate can help measure the success of your online advertising or email campaign. It can be an indicator of whether your ad is relevant to the searcher or the audience you present it to. It helps you determine what messages interest your target audience and what resonates with web users. Of course, more clicks mean more potential sales for your business.

When it comes to pay-per-click (PPC) advertising, click-through rates affect your quality score, Google’s rating of the quality of your ads and keywords. Raising your quality scores can mean lower costs per click and better positioning for your ads. In turn, a bad click rate can mean higher costs.

5 Tips for Getting A Better CTR: Banner Advertising

1) Have clear goals in mind and find the right audience. Web users will click on ads that are relevant to them.

2) Use top quality graphics and copy. Design creative with your demographic in mind. Select colors, fonts and styles that appeal to your audience.

3) Create an animated or video banner to draw people’s attention. They can perform up to 400 percent better than static ads. That being said, don’t make it tacky. While you want the style, color, size and shape of your ad to stand out, you don’t want to turn people off.

4) Try unusual looking sizes and shapes to get noticed. They are less likely to be associated with typical advertising and so less likely to be overlooked.

5) Run tests on several sites and networks to find out what works and what doesn’t. Some ad content works better with particular sites, while some material works better across an entire network.

Getting A Better CTR: Email Marketing

1) Increase your CTR by first enticing readers to open your emails. Write effective subject lines.

2) Write short emails so that people find your links before they get bored.

3) Include social sharing buttons to encourage readers to send content to friends.

4) Segment your email lists to target the right audience.

5) Write your copy with one purpose in mind (like getting more Twitter followers) rather than confusing your message by making multiple offers.

6) Have a call to action and make it impossible to miss. Create urgency by putting a time limit on your offer.

7) Make sure your emails are optimized for mobile devices.

Check out these posts to boost your online performance:

Choosing the Right Social Media Platform for Your Business
Starting Your First Email Marketing Campaign
Grow Your Web Presence