Many people will wonder, “What’s a decent click through rate (CTR) on my Google Adwords PPC (Pay-Per-Click) Campaign?”  While there is no quick answer, I will say this:  A good CTR shouldn’t stay the same.  IT MUST IMPROVE.

We recently tested two campaigns using two different Google Adwords (PPC) experts.  The campaigns were in different industries, but were both targeting consumers in highly competitive categories.

The first vendor set up the campaign and let it run.  Over a 3 – 5 month period, the CTR rate sat under about 2%.  There was an odd spike one day, but you’ll see that it basically did not change throughout the campaign.

PPC Expert #1: Results

The second vendor took quite a different approach. They set up multiple versions of each ad, and compared them continuously to see which ad got better click-through rates (CTR). You can see that at the beginning of the campaign, the CTR is low, but got higher and higher through the campaign.  Also, be aware that the scales on the graphs do not match, because of the odd spike in the first graph.  But, you can see that the second vendor hovered around 1% at the beginning, then got it to 3 – 4% then go it to 5 – 6% when it ended at the end of August.

PPC Expert #2: Results

You’ll also see that there are some gaps in August, and this was because budget was dwindling down (it was a fixed amount) – so the PPC manager chose to get weekday traffic and avoid weekends, a smart way to get efficiencies.

Is it obvious to you who did a better job? The second vendor clearly was paying attention, looking at what worked, and optimizing throughout.  (And if you’re wondering who they are, they are our preferred online media partner company, True Media – which deals specifically with agencies as a wholesaler.)

So, while I can’t say “you have to get over 2%” or “you should get 5%” — one thing is certain…look at your click through rates  in Google Analytics and see if they are improving.    A good PPC manager simply cares to do a better job.   If it’s not getting better, it’s not being managed.