Proven Tricks to Boost Google Ads Click Through Rate

Are you tracking your Google ads performance? You should be unless you’re happy to throw your money away.

Google Ads offers an incredible range of metrics to monitor performance, which can intimidate some people. But fear not, for PPCexpo is here to show you the most effective strategies you need to track and improve your campaign performance.

More specifically, your clickthrough performance.

What is Clickthrough Rate?

Clickthrough rate (CTR) is the total number of clicks your ad receives relative to the total number of impressions. You can calculate it with this CTR formula:

Clickthrough Rate = (Total Clicks on Ad) / (Total Impressions)

This is one of the most important metrics in Google Ads, proving to be a useful barometer for determining the impact of your ads.

A high CTR is a sign that your ads are relevant and engaging for your target audience. Moreover, having a high CTR can also improve other key metrics, such as:

• Conversion Rate
• Quality Score
• Ad Rank
• Cost per Click (CPC)

The average CTR on Google Ads is just 2%, so anything above that is pretty good. That value is even lower on social media, with Facebook Ads having an average CTR of just 0.9%.

How to Boost your CTRs

So, now that you know how important CTR is in paid advertising, let’s explore some solid strategies so you can see how to increase CTR in Google Ads.

1. Know Your Audience

Before you create your ads, you must know who you are trying to reach. By creating audience personas, you can get a clear picture of who your ideal customer is, and then you will be able to create better ads that attract more relevant traffic.

Some basic assumptions help you form the basis of this:

• Identify a broad audience you think will want your products or services.
• Determine what they want and need.
• Identify key behaviors and interests.
• Figure out what they don’t need.

2. Ad Copy Matters

Great copywriting can persuade a lot of people. Your ads need great copy, and when you nail it, it can do wonders for your CTR and quality score.

Think about the following:

• Ad focus – Is your ad aligned with the user’s end goal? Is it a competitive offer?
• Numbers – These can catch the eye quickly (e.g. 20% discount, 24-hour service etc.)
• Timing – Being in-tune with current affairs in your space or industry can pique more interest.
• Highlight benefits – go beyond monetary value or free shipping to convey the value that prospects will gain. How will their lives be better for having your product?
• FOMO – Nobody wants to miss out. Tap into that human need to be included with time-limited offers that instill a sense of urgency. (E.g. 5 days left to claim your 20% discount).
• Call-to-Action (CTA) – Make it clear and obvious that people should take action X to gain benefit Y.
• Dynamic Search Ads – If someone uses a closely-related search term to the ones on your site, Google Ads will generate a headline and landing page that targets these users. This is great for boosting brand awareness, but you need to monitor it for relevance.

3. Bidding on Target

By allocating more of your bids to the most significant keywords, you can drive impressions, which will boost your CTR and conversion rate. You can find these keywords through the Pareto Principle technique, as pioneered by PPCexpo.

4. Negative Keywords Are Necessary

These will filter out unqualified traffic, so you get a better Google Ads ROI from the clicks that come your way. Just take care to add only irrelevant terms, otherwise, you’ll cut out potential leads.

5. Strive for Balance Between Reach and Relevance

Initially, it doesn’t hurt too much to spread your reach as far as you can, but in the long run, you should aim for relevant content that has a chance of converting.

By tweaking your keyword lists, match types, and negative keywords, you can find balance between reach and relevance. This will increase your quality score.

6. Ad Extensions

By adding Ad extensions, you can increase the likelihood of getting clicks. Consider your objectives before adding any though, as they need to be aligned with your goals.

• Sitelink Ad Extensions – This is an additional line of text that shows whenever your ad is in the top three spots.
• Call Extension – Include your business contact number.
• Snippet Extension – Display product data under the ad description.
• Callout Extensions – Text statements
• Include Main Keyword – This will show in the ad URL, helping readers see that your ad is relevant to their search.
• promotion extensions – promotion extensions are displayed in your ad in an easy-to-understand format.

Continuous Testing is the Only Way to Win in Google Ads

Google Ads is all about testing and optimizing. You should try different settings and run your ads for a while, then assess the results, make a few changes, then run it again.

By continuing this process of trial and error, you can learn a lot about your campaign performance to determine what is working, and what is failing.

Your CTR is a good yardstick throughout the process, as it lets you know if users find your ads to be engaging. However, it is not the be-all and end-all. The ultimate goal is to get conversions.

Therefore, you should remember the big picture, and consider your conversions alongside your clickthrough rate. If you’re getting plenty of conversions, then it’s okay to turn a blind eye to a below-average CTR.

The main thing to work towards is creating more relevant ads. With relevance high on your priority list, you can boost quality score and ad rank, which in turn benefits your CTR.

The PPCexpo Clickthrough Rate Performance Report can help you measure the performance of your campaign CTR, which may give you the insights you need to turn things around.