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

Strip an account down to one campaign type, Search, one job, being chosen, and one question: when your ad appears, do people click it? A client of ours answered that question twice as well this year as last. Its click-through rate doubled, from 4.08 percent to 8.31 percent, impressions fell by more than half as waste was cut away, and yet clicks held almost exactly where they were. Same audience, half the showing off, twice the choosing. This is the story of what a doubling CTR is actually made of.

The short answer

This is a quick analysis of selected accounts that we manage. For a client running Search campaigns only, CTR rose 103 percent year on year across 90 days of analysis, from 4.08 percent to 8.31 percent. Clicks held at around 2,170, down just 6 percent, while impressions fell 54 percent and spend fell about 43 percent. Cost per click fell 39 percent.

Act one: half the impressions, the same clicks

Impressions are the vanity figure of Search advertising. They count every time an ad is shown, including every time it deserved to be ignored.

A year ago this account was shown around 56,800 times and clicked about 2,320 times. This year it was shown around 26,100 times and clicked about 2,170 times. The audience did not shrink; the waste did. The ads stopped appearing where they had no business being, and appeared more precisely where the search and the offer matched.

That is the unglamorous heart of CTR work: most of the improvement comes from subtraction. Fewer, better impressions beat more, weaker ones, every quarter of the year.

Act two: what doubling CTR does to an account

A doubled CTR is not a trophy, it is a lever, and it moves other numbers without being asked:

• Cost per click fell 39 percent, because Google rewards ads people choose with cheaper, better positions
• Click volume held on about 43 percent less spend, which is budget handed back without traffic lost
• The account's data got cleaner, because a click from a well-matched search carries intent a stray click never will

There is a discipline point here that this series keeps returning to: this result belongs to steady work on match quality, negative space and message, checked through Seria for Google as part of Seria's regular syncs and briefs. CTR doubles across a year of that work. It does not double across a weekend of enthusiasm.

Act three: how to chase your own doubling

Start by finding where your impressions are being spent on being ignored: the search terms and audiences with volume and no clicks. That is where the next version of your CTR is hiding.

Then make the ad answer the search in the searcher's own words, and make the landing page keep the ad's promise in its first screen. CTR is decided in the gap between what was typed, what was shown and what was found.

Finally, measure the change quarterly, against the same period last year. CTR moves with seasons and stock and pricing, and a fair comparison is the only one worth acting on. This client's doubling survived that fair comparison. That is what makes it a result and not a good month.

Frequently asked questions

What is a good CTR for Google Search ads?

This client achieved 8.31 percent for the quarter, up from 4.08 percent. Another account in the same selected set reached 17.87 percent running Search with Performance Max. Your fair target is your own last year, beaten.

Does a higher CTR really lower cost per click?

In this account, yes, visibly: CTR up 103 percent and cost per click down 39 percent in the same comparison. Google's auction rewards relevance, and CTR is relevance the market can see.

How do impressions fall while clicks hold?

By removing impressions that never earned clicks: poorly matched terms, wrong intents, wasted placements. Here impressions fell 54 percent while clicks fell only 6 percent.

How long does CTR work take?

This doubling is measured across a year, quarter against the same quarter. Expect steady monthly movement, judged quarterly, not overnight change.

Talk to Wassp

Getting impressions but not clicks? WASSP will show you where your Search impressions are being wasted, and what your CTR should be doing. Email wasspsolutions@wassp.co.za or call +27 11 450 4634. 5 Riley Rd, Bedfordview, Gauteng.

Related services: Paid Media, Seria Analytics.