Click-through rate is one of the most overrated metrics in digital marketing. That doesn’t have to be the case, but some marketers evaluate their PPC campaigns solely in terms of this one metric. Here’s how you can break away from this mentality and create more effective ads in the process.
CTR and conversion rate are often inversely related
Intuition says that a higher click-through rate would lead to a high conversion rate, but that’s not usually the case. According to this Search Engine Land article, the two metrics are often inversely correlated:
“If you have a conversion rate (CR) of 5 percent and a click-through rate (CTR) of 5 percent for a given ad, it’s easy to assume that doubling your CTR will double your conversions. While that may be true in some situations, as a general rule, increasing your CTR actually tends to decrease your conversion rate.”
At some point, you’ll have to prioritize one metric over the other. At the end of the day, do you want a lot of users clicking your ads and only few converting, or fewer users clicking your ads and a greater percentage converting?
Target the right audience
To get leads to convert, you need to target the right audience to begin with. These leads should represent the segment you first identified in your marketing campaign. They should be interested in your product based on the terms they search.
Target the right keywords
In addition, you should have a reason to believe these leads have a high chance of converting. This has more to do with the keywords you target. Long-tail keywords are often ineffective in this regard, since these often indicate users who are searching to find specific answers. A good trick is to try to imagine you’re a prospective customer who actually wants to get in touch with a business, and then brainstorm keywords from there.
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