Click-Through Rate (CTR)

The percentage of people who click on your search result after seeing it in Google — calculated as clicks divided by impressions.

Click-Through Rate (CTR) in SEO is the ratio of clicks a search result receives to the number of times it is shown (impressions) in search engine results pages. It is expressed as a percentage: CTR = (Clicks ÷ Impressions) × 100.

Why CTR Matters

A high CTR means your result is compelling to searchers even if your position isn’t #1. CTR is also tracked by Google — persistently low CTR for a ranking result may be a weak signal that the result is less relevant or appealing than alternatives.

Average CTR by Position

CTR drops sharply with each position. Broadly, position 1 attracts 25–35% of clicks, position 2 around 15%, and by position 10 it falls below 3%. Mobile and desktop CTR curves differ, as do featured snippet and ads-heavy SERPs.

How to Improve Organic CTR

• Title tags — include the target keyword, use numbers, brackets, or power words to stand out
• Meta descriptions — write compelling copy with a clear value proposition (Google rewrites these ~60% of the time, but a good one still influences CTR)
• Structured data — enable rich results (star ratings, FAQs, breadcrumbs) to increase result visual footprint
• URL structure — clean, readable URLs are slightly more clickable

CTR in Search Console

Google Search Console’s Performance report shows your CTR by page, query, country, and device. Sort by “impressions” to find high-impression, low-CTR pages — these are prime candidates for title and description optimisation.