Absolutely not!
Success in PPC is not about Ad Rank and CTR.
I could write an ad that says “Free iPhones!” that would get a great CTR. But unless giving away iPhones is the measure of business success for me, such an ad won’t help my business become profitable.
Always focus on business metrics first, and CTR second.
If your goal is to sell as many products as possible at the lowest possible cost, you should optimize your PPC campaigns for cost per sale.
If your goal is to generate leads below a certain cost per lead, then optimize for cost per lead.
Unless your business goal is to drive lots of PPC traffic, CTR should not be your main KPI.
In fact, there are times when a low CTR is OK – and maybe even a good thing.
One of those times is when dealing with ambiguous keywords.
Ambiguity is a necessary evil in any PPC program. People may search for your product or service using broad keywords that mean different things to different people.
Here’s an example: “Security.”
Let’s say you run a company that sells physical security solutions to businesses to protect them from break-ins.
Your company wants to bid on the term “security” to capture users who are just beginning to think about their security needs. It sounds like a great strategy, and it can be.
But “security” can mean a lot of different things. People might be looking for:
Credit card security.
Financial security.
Data security.
Home security.
Security guard jobs.
And that’s only five examples I thought of in a few seconds. See how disparate those are?
Let’s say you decide to bid on “business security,” since it’s more relevant.
It’s still a broad term – and your CTR might not be great. But let’s also say you get a lot of leads from that keyword – at a good cost.
Should you pause that term because of a low CTR?
Of course not!
Always let performance be your guide.
Low CTR is perfectly fine, as long as your keywords and ads are performing well based on your business objectives.
This screenshot is a perfect example of a keyword with a relatively low CTR but a lower cost per lead than the high CTR keyword.
Screenshot from author, September 2024
When A High CTR Isn’t OK
High CTRs may not be ok, either.
If you have a high CTR but a low conversion rate, that indicates a problem.
Either your keywords are not a good match for your landing page, or your landing page isn’t converting well.
Screenshot from author, September 2024
In this case, the campaigns listed have a strong CTR (the average for this account is just over 6%) and lots of clicks, but few to no conversions.
We found that our keywords were triggering a significant number of irrelevant search queries, bringing unqualified users to the site.
CTR should never be viewed in a vacuum. It’s one of many key metrics to review when assessing the success or failure of a PPC campaign.
Conclusion
CTR is an important metric for PPC managers to understand and monitor.
Optimizing for CTR, while also optimizing for business metrics, will lead to successful PPC campaigns.
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Featured Image: eamesBot/Shutterstock