What Is a Good Click-Through Rate (CTR)?

If you run online ads or work on SEO, you’ve probably wondered: “What is a good click-through rate?” This is a fundamental question for anyone launching ads or tracking SEO performance. Click-through rate (CTR) is the percentage of people who click on your link or ad out of all who see it. For example, a CTR of 10% means 1 in 10 viewers clicked. A “good” CTR, however, depends a lot on context – the marketing channel, the industry, and what you’re comparing against. Below, we break down good CTR benchmarks for organic search (SEO), Google Ads (PPC), and email marketing, using the latest data available as of 2025.

CTR Depends on the Industry and Channel

There is no single magic number for a “good” CTR. A good CTR in one channel might be abysmal in another. For instance, a 2% CTR in email might be excellent, but that same 2% would be below average for a top Google search ad. It’s important to compare your CTR to industry benchmarks and the specific channel:

• SEO (Organic Search): CTR for a top Google result can be 30–40% or higher.
• Google Ads: Average search ad CTR is around 3–4%; display ad CTR is much lower.
• Email Marketing: Average CTR is around 1% (since not everyone even opens the email).

Let’s dive into each of these for more detailed benchmarks and what counts as “good” in each case.

Organic Search (SEO) CTR Benchmarks

In SEO, CTR measures how often people click your site’s listing in search results. What’s considered a good CTR here mainly depends on your Google ranking position. The higher you rank, the higher the expected CTR:

• Top Positions: The #1 organic result on Google gets about 39–40% of clicks on average. Position #2 gets around 18–19%, and #3 around 10%. In fact, the top 3 organic results capture roughly 68.7% of all clicks on the page. This means being in the top spot can deliver four times the traffic of a #3 ranking. A good CTR for a #1 ranking would be near these benchmarks (around forty percent), and anything higher is excellent. For example, if your site is ranking #1 but only gets a 10% CTR, that’s far below the typical ~40% and suggests your snippet isn’t enticing enough. Conversely, if you’re at #3 with a 15% CTR (beating the ~10% average), you’re doing great.
• Lower Page 1 Positions: As you go down page one, CTR drops off sharply. By position #5, average CTR is only about 5%. By the bottom of page one (positions 9–10), it’s around 1–2%. So if you’re ranking lower on page one, even a single-digit CTR might be normal. In this case, a “good” CTR means outperforming the average for that slot.
• Influence of Search Features: Keep in mind, Google’s page features can affect organic CTR. If a featured snippet or AI-generated answer appears at the top, it can siphon some clicks. Likewise, if a local map pack appears (for local queries), organic listings may get fewer clicks. For example, when a local pack is present, the #1 organic CTR can drop from ~40% down to around 24%.
• Industry Differences: CTR in organic search can also vary by industry or query type. A niche B2B query (with fewer ads and less competition) might yield a higher CTR for the top result (sometimes 40–45%). In contrast, an e-commerce or travel query with many ads and shopping widgets might see the top organic CTR closer to 30–35%. The takeaway: compare your organic CTR to the typical rates in your vertical and for your rank. If you’re beating those, your CTR is “good” for SEO.

Bottom line for SEO: A good organic CTR is relative to your ranking. Hitting around 40% CTR at rank #1 is normal (and great if you can get above that). For mid-page rankings, even 5–10% can be good if it beats the average. Always aim to craft compelling titles and meta descriptions to grab as many clicks as possible.

Google Ads CTR Benchmarks (Search & Display)

When it comes to Google Ads (Pay-Per-Click advertising on Google), “good CTR” depends on the ad type and industry.

• Search Ads (Text Ads on Google Search): These ads typically appear at the top of Google results. On average, Google search ads across all industries have about a 3.17% CTR. In other words, roughly 3 out of 100 impressions lead to a click. Many advertisers actually strive for 5% or higher on well-optimized search campaigns. Some campaigns do extremely well: for example, ads in the dating & personals niche see about a 6.05% average CTR. Advocacy and non-profits also see above-average CTR (~4–5% in search). On the other hand, B2B industries and tech tend to have lower search CTRs – often around 2% or even less.
• Display Ads (Banner Ads): The Google Display Network (GDN) typically has much lower CTRs. The average CTR for display ads across industries is only about 0.46%. This is because banner ads are shown while people browse sites and they often ignore them (banner blindness). So don’t be shocked by small percentages here – a 1% CTR on display is actually very high. Most industries see well below 1% on display.
• Industry Variations in Google Ads: Different industries have different baselines for ad CTR. Dating & personals leads the pack with ~6% search CTR, while sectors like legal, B2B, and tech are on the lower end (around 2–3%). Travel & hospitality and automotive also often see relatively high CTRs (3–4% range). If you run e-commerce ads, the average search CTR is around 2.7% – so a campaign getting 4% is quite good. Knowing your industry benchmark helps: a “good” CTR means you’re beating the typical rate in your field.

Quick tip: Brand-specific ads (e.g., bidding on your own brand name) often see very high CTRs, sometimes 20-30% or more. Non-brand generic keywords usually have lower CTR.

Bottom line for Google Ads: Around 3–4% is an average CTR for search ads, but what’s “good” is relative to your industry and ad position. For display ads, even 0.5% can be normal, and anything near 1% or above is excellent. Always compare like-to-like (search vs. search, display vs. display, and within your industry).

Email Marketing CTR Benchmarks

CTR in email marketing means the percentage of delivered emails that people clicked a link in. This is typically much lower than web ads or search CTRs, because not everyone even opens your email.

• Overall Averages: Across all industries, the average email click-through rate is usually around 1% to 2%. One large 2024 study put the overall average CTR at roughly 1.4%. In plain terms, for every 100 emails sent (and delivered), on average only about one person clicks a link. That may sound low, but remember perhaps 20–40 of those 100 even open the email in the first place. Many marketers consider a click-to-open rate (CTOR) of 10–15% a good target.
• Variations by Industry: Email engagement varies widely by sector. Retail, dining, or personal care services see click-through rates around 0.7% to 0.9% on average. Technology services and B2B software emails show CTRs around 2.5% or more. Nonprofits or faith-based organizations can see above-average CTR (~2.0–2.5%). Some examples:
  • Faith-based organizations – 2.5% CTR
  • Nonprofits (services and membership) – 1.9% CTR
  • Consulting/Marketing services – 1.4% CTR
  • Retail/E-commerce – 0.8% CTR
  • Restaurants/Food services – 0.7% CTR
  • Technology services – 2.6% CTR

Bottom line for Email: Around 1% is average, and 2%+ is generally a good CTR for emails. Always benchmark against your specific industry and the type of email. Even small percentage improvements can double your results.

Tips to Improve Your CTR (and Next Steps)

Knowing the benchmarks is step one. Step two is improving your CTR. Here are some practical tips for each channel:

• Improving Organic CTR (SEO): Make sure your page titles and meta descriptions are compelling and relevant. Include clear value or a call-to-action (e.g. “Free shipping”, “2025 Guide”). Using schema markup can also boost visibility. It’s a good idea to perform a free SEO check of your website to identify issues like missing meta tags or poor snippets. If you’re not sure where to start, an experienced SEO service can help audit and optimize your pages.
• Improving Google Ads CTR: Write multiple ad variations and test them. Include your unique selling proposition or clear benefit (“50% off”, “Free quote”). Use keywords in your headlines, and leverage ad extensions to make your ad larger and more clickable. Higher ad positions generally get higher CTR, so improve your Quality Score. Regularly review your search terms report to exclude irrelevant queries.
• Improving Email CTR: Focus first on subject lines and sender credibility to increase open rates. Inside the email, use a clear call-to-action. Personalize content (“Hi John, we thought you’d like…”) and segment your list for relevance. Keep emails concise with visible buttons near the top. Experiment with send times and frequency for better engagement.

Remember: A high CTR is great, but it’s not the only metric of success. You want those clicks to convert. While optimizing for CTR, also track conversion rate, bounce rate, and ROI.

Want to increase your CTR? Order an audit of your advertising campaigns from us.
We’ll help pinpoint where you can improve, whether it’s your Google Ads, your on-page SEO elements, or your email strategy. With the right tweaks and strategy, you can lift your CTR and get more out of your traffic – turning more eyeballs into clicks, and ultimately, more customers.