What is Click-Through Rate (CTR)?
Definition
Click-through rate (CTR) is the number of clicks a link receives divided by the number of times it was shown. In SEO it usually means organic CTR as reported in Google Search Console: how often a site was clicked relative to how often it appeared in search results. Ranking position, the title link, the snippet, rich results and other SERP features all strongly influence it.
Also known as: CTR, organic CTR, search CTR, clickthrough rate
The formula and how Search Console counts
The arithmetic is simple: CTR = clicks ÷ impressions. A page shown 5,000 times in a month and clicked 150 times has a CTR of 3%. The nuance lies in what counts as an impression and a click. According to Google Search Console:
- Impression: counted when your result appears on the page of results the user is viewing, whether or not it is scrolled into view. Inside carousels and expandable elements, the item generally has to become visible first.
- Click: any click that takes the user to a page outside Google Search, Discover or News. Clicks on external links within AI Overviews and AI Mode are counted the same way.
- Average position: the average position of your topmost result. CTR varies enormously with the position at which impressions happened.
Data is aggregated by property for queries, countries and devices, and by page for pages and search appearance, which is why chart totals and table totals do not always match.
What drives CTR
- Position: higher results get more clicks. A low CTR at position 8 is usually a consequence of the position, not a problem in itself.
- Everything else on the page: ads, featured snippets, AI Overviews and local packs can answer the query on the results page, contributing to zero-click searches.
- Title link and snippet: the part you can influence most, and the part that most shapes the decision to click.
- Rich results: ratings, price or availability can make a listing stand out.
- Intent and brand: branded queries have very high CTR, broad informational ones much lower; averaging them together hides more than it shows.
Improving CTR through titles and snippets
A page's title element is Google's main source for the title link, but not its only one: Google also considers the main visible heading, other heading elements, og:title and anchor text pointing to the page, and it may rewrite titles that are half-empty, outdated or inaccurate. Snippets are mostly drawn from page content and vary by query; a meta description is used when it describes the page more accurately. The reliable approach, then, is to write titles and descriptions that genuinely reflect the page and answer the query clearly. Overpromising may lift CTR briefly, but visitors who do not find what they were promised will not stay.
A practical routine: in Search Console, filter for queries with high impressions but clearly lower CTR than other pages at similar positions, revise those titles and descriptions, note the date and compare after a few weeks within the same position range.
Is CTR a ranking factor?
Google says it uses aggregated and anonymised interaction data to assess whether search results are relevant to queries. That does not mean raising one page's CTR will push it up directly. Generating clicks with bots falls under "machine-generated traffic" in Google's spam policies. CTR is best read as a diagnostic of how persuasive your listing is on the results page. To check title and description lengths and gaps quickly, the SEO Checker can help.