Google AdWords Adds Relative CTR

Google is always adding new functions to it’s AdWords targeting abilities.  Recently they added Relative CTR. User behavior on web pages varies depending on the type of page users are on. For example, users may interact with ads on a product review page differently than with ads on a blog or personal website. The click through rate (CTR) tells you how often users click on your ads, but CTR can’t tell you how your ads perform compared to other ads on the same page.

To better gauge the performance of your Display Network campaigns that you’re running, Relative CTR will show you how your ads perform relative to other ads running in the same places on the Google Display Network.  This will help you to benchmark your performance across the whole Display Network. For example, if your display ads have a CTR of 0.04%, while other ads in the same places on the GDN have a CTR of 0.02%, your Relative CTR is (0.04)/(0.02) = 2x. This also means that your ads will show more and do better than the other ads in the long run.  If you are lower it shows you that other ads are performing better and you should change up your ad to better compete.

Relative CTR

Relative CTR

Why does this Matter to me?

Looking at this picutre above you would think that a CTR of 0.04% is very low. This is where Relative CTR helps you, you now know that this is double the CTR of competing ads or in other words it  tells you that your ads are performing better  on a CTR basis than competitors ads on the same page. This means that your ad creative matches the websites your ads are appearing on and that your audience is responding to your message. They like your ads better than your competitors.

Alternatively, you may see that your Relative CTR is 0.5x, meaning that your ads are only getting half of the average clickthrough rate. This means that your ads may not be resonating with the users you’d like to reach and that you may be able to improve performance by refining your ad creatives.

To view relative CTR within your AdWords account, go to the “Ad groups” tab, select “Customize columns” from the “Columns” drop-down menu, and select “Relative CTR.” Relative CTR will appear at the campaign or ad group level.

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About John Rampton

John Rampton is an Entrepreneur, Online Marketing Guy, Affiliate Marketing Guru, PPC Expert, Social Media Enthusiast. Follow me on Twitter @JohnRampton

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