Scope: This is a quick analysis of selected accounts that we manage, not all accounts or the whole market.

Analysis period: 90 days of analysis. Year-on-year comparisons use the same 90-day period in the previous year.

The story in one paragraph

Ninety days of Google advertising tells a simple story with a surprising middle. The selected accounts we manage earned around 33 million impressions, roughly the same stage as the year before. Then the middle of the story changes everything: clicks rose 90 percent year on year, the blended click-through rate more than doubled, and the cost of each click fell by close to half, on roughly the same total spend. Nothing about the market handed that out. It is what happens when ads get more relevant, account by account, click by click.

The short answer

This is a quick analysis of selected accounts that we manage, the clients enabled for Seria's regular syncs and briefs. In 90 days of analysis, those accounts delivered around 32.9 million impressions and around 1.48 million clicks. Blended click-through rate rose from 2.21 percent to 4.50 percent. Clicks grew 90 percent on total spend that was roughly flat, down about 2 percent on the same period in the previous year.

The numbers of the story

• Impressions: around 32.9 million
• Clicks: around 1.48 million, up 90 percent year on year
• Blended CTR: 4.50 percent, up from 2.21 percent
• Blended cost per click: down about 49 percent year on year
• Conversions recorded: around 950 across the advertising accounts
• Campaign types in use: Search, Performance Max, Shopping and Demand Gen
• Account CTR range in the period: from 3.33 percent to 17.87 percent

An average CTR of 4.50 percent hides a wide range, and the range is the honest part of the benchmark. An auctions account running Demand Gen, a Search account in a trade niche and an e-commerce account running Performance Max and Shopping do different jobs. Compare each against its own job and its own history, not against a single number.

The wins inside the average

Averages do not grow a business; accounts do. Inside this quarter:

• A client doubled its clicks, up 106 percent, and more than doubled its CTR, up 113 percent
• A client grew its return on ad spend to 51.2x, from 11.8x the year before, on less spend
• A client grew its conversion value more than sevenfold, with cost per conversion down 23 percent, on less spend
• A client doubled its Search CTR, up 103 percent, and cut its cost per click by 39 percent

Each of those stories gets its own blog in this series. This one is the backdrop: a set of selected accounts where relevance rose across the board, and the traffic followed.

Why CTR is the number to watch first

Spend buys impressions. Relevance buys clicks. When CTR doubles while impressions hold steady, the market is telling you the ads match what people want more closely than they did before, better targeting, better creative, better landing pages, and usually all three.

That is why our reporting leads with CTR and its movement, account by account, before it talks about volume. Volume can be bought by opening the tap. A rising CTR cannot. It has to be earned, and when it is earned, everything downstream, clicks, conversions and return, gets cheaper to win.

Through Seria for Google, these accounts are checked as part of Seria's regular syncs and briefs, so movements like a doubling CTR are seen in the quarter they happen, not discovered at the end of the year.

Frequently asked questions

What is a good CTR for Google Ads in South Africa?

Across these selected accounts the blended CTR was 4.50 percent for the period, with individual accounts ranging from 3.33 percent to 17.87 percent. Judge your account against its own campaign type and its own history first.

Can clicks grow without spend growing?

Yes, and this quarter is the proof: clicks up 90 percent on roughly flat total spend, because the blended CTR more than doubled. Relevance growth is real growth.

Which campaign types were used?

Search, Performance Max, Shopping and Demand Gen, matched to each client's job: Search for intent, Demand Gen for scale, Performance Max and Shopping for e-commerce.

Are these all of your Google accounts?

No. This is a quick analysis of selected accounts that we manage, the clients enabled for Seria's regular syncs and briefs, stated openly so the benchmarks are read in context.

Talk to Wassp

Want to know whether your Google Ads CTR is earning or costing you? WASSP runs Paid Media on data checked through Seria Analytics. Email wasspsolutions@wassp.co.za or call +27 11 450 4634. 5 Riley Rd, Bedfordview, Gauteng.

Related services: Paid Media, Seria Analytics.