The CTR of Google Ads vs organic results: where are your ideal customers clicking
Where are your ideal customers actually clicking on Google Ads?
Did you know that there are around 40,000 Google searches every second? Paid search (via Google Ads), and organic search are two options to consider when it comes to online marketing. They are both important, but where do your customers click?
Recent research has shown that organic search results are significantly more click-through (CTR)-friendly than paid search results. The average CTR of the first and second results in Google is 28.5%. The average click-through rate for paid search is around 2%.
Discover why investing in both is a great marketing strategy.
What is CTR
Let’s take a quick step back. The CTR (or click-through rate) is the ratio of the number of times an ad has been clicked to the number of impressions. CTR is a percentage that tells you how many people click on the ad.
Advertisers use this metric to determine the success of campaigns and how much money they should spend on advertising. CTR is a metric that advertisers use to benchmark the success of their campaigns and determine how much they should spend on ads.
Google Ads and Click-Through Rate
CTR is a key metric that Google Ads uses to benchmark its performance. If you do not have conversion data, such as how many people purchased something from you/filled in a form/took an action of value, your CTR will give you a good idea if users are engaging with your ads.
What is Google Ads?
Google Ads works by letting you bid on specific keywords. Your ad appears alongside organic search results when someone searches for a keyword. Your ad is only charged when someone clicks it, which makes it an effective way to reach customers.
Google Maps, the top of the results page, the bottom, or even the middle, can display your ad.
What is the impact of Google Ads on CTR?
We have already mentioned that the CTR of Google Ads is much lower than organic search results. What’s the reason for this difference?
The physical location of the advertisement will also play a part.
Google Ads have a lower CTR compared to organic results because:
- Organic results are more trustworthy
- Advertisements can be viewed as an irritation or a distraction
- Google optimises its search results to make them more user-friendly. This means that fewer ads appear at the top of each page.
This is also affected by the quality of your ads, keywords that you choose, and how your campaign is set up. A Google Ads expert knows how to maximise your click-through rate on paid search.
Organic search results and click-through rate
Organic search results are the results that show up on a site when someone uses a search engine like Google. These results are determined by several factors including the relevancy of the content of the page, authority of the site, and the frequency of its appearance in search results.
How to make your site appear organic
is the answer. SEO (search engine optimisation) is the process that improves the visibility and ranking of a website on search engine results. The process can be achieved in a number of ways, such as optimising content, developing links, or improving the user experience of the site.
What is the impact of CTR on organic results?
The goal of SEO should be to have your website rank as high as you can in the search engine results for your keywords.
The higher the ranking, the higher click-through rate. The average CTR of Google’s other sites is 67.60% lower than sites that are ranked in the first five positions.
Why should you invest in SEO or Google Ads?
You may wonder which of the two you should be focusing on, now that you know how important organic search is.
The ideal answer is both because both work together to bring about a greater overall benefit.
Google Ads is a great way to reach out to people who are actively looking for your service or product. You only pay when someone clicks your ad. It’s an effective way to reach potential customers.
SEO is essential because it helps your website rank organically and appear in front of potential customers on a regular basis, for free.
Remember that ranking on the first page of Google does not happen overnight. SEO is a slow process, but it’s worth the effort in the end. Google Ads is a great way to reach out to your audience while you work on improving your search engine optimization. CTR is similar to paid ads for the organic results in the 10th place. Although they aren’t as high as the first or second position, they are still higher than ranking on Google page 2+.
Get started with Google Ads & SEO
Running Google Ads as well as Search Engine Optimisation (SEO), are both complex and time-consuming. It’s therefore important that you partner with an agency that understands them.
Quantum has a team dedicated to helping you succeed online. We provide a range of services, including Google Ads and SEO. Most importantly, we know how to combine them.
Contact SEO Empire Melbourne today for a free consultation.
