What is a Click-Through-Rate - and How Can It Help You Get MORE Clients?

In the world of digital marketing, the click-through rate?(CTR) is the percentage of consumers who view a page and click on an ad. To determine if your ad campaigns are generating traffic and progressing successfully, you can examine the click through rate. Probing data such as the click through rate can help you decide if your efforts are reaching prospective clients and whether or not you need to improve your advertising strategies.

More About Your Click-Through Rate

You can find your click through rate results in your website’s analytics reports, and the formula is simply the ratio of ad clicks to total impressions. If your ad is seen 100 times and two people click on it, then your click through rate would be 2%. The click through rate is one of many key tools used to measure marketing efforts, and you can use it to assess your social media and email marketing campaigns as well.?

Determining a Good Click-Through Rate

After you discover your click-through rate, you will immediately wonder if it measures up to your marketing goals. What constitutes a “good” click through rate? The answer differs according to the industry. A click-through rate for law firm websites will look different than click through rates for companies in other fields of business. A CTR of 2% or more is considered good, and the legal industry averages around 4.5% when using Google AdWords. Generally, a higher CTR is preferable, but higher is not always better. Some keywords can initiate many clicks, but without resulting leads or business. In these cases, more clicks equals more money wasted, since you pay for each of those clicks. The best click rate uses targeted keywords and quality ads that result in new clients.?

Click-Through Rate Matters

Your CTR is a tool that can help you understand your target audience and gain an edge past competitors in the legal field. Your click through rate matters for a variety of reasons, and when you examine your CTR, here are some ways the data can assist your marketing efforts:

Helps You Understand Your Target Audience

Earning a solid click through rate tells you that individuals within your target audience are reaching you, but a low CTR tells you that something needs to be changed. It is possible that you have the right message, but perhaps it needs to be translated into a language that your ideal audience can grab, understand and relate to. Examining your CTR can help you realize who is hearing and resonating with your message.?

Helps You Create Quality Ads

Assessing your click through rate is an ideal way to determine if your ads are working. Components such as the description, headings, statistics, key words and basic information can all factor into CTR numbers. If yours are low, your ads should be examined and improvements made.

Helps Boost Your Quality Score

Your quality score is the rating of the value and relevance of your keywords and ads. Your quality score is affected by your click through rate as well as:

• The relevance of your keywords and ad text
• The quality and relevance of your landing page
• The past performance of your Google account

A high click through rate speaks loudly to Google, and it tells the search engine that your ads are meaningful and relevant to consumers. The more relevant your ads, the higher your quality score will be. Google offers pricing discounts for creators of relevant ads that satisfy consumers, and conversely, a poor click through rate can lead to lower ad positions.?

What Click-Through Rate is NOT

The click-through rate measures the percentage of consumers who clicked the ad to arrive at the destination. The CTR does not measure the visitors who arrived at the site without clicking the ad. An individual could see an ad and visit the website later. The click through rate measures a consumer’s immediate response to an advertisement but does not measure the entire response to the ad. High click through rates might mean initial visits to a website, but they do not measure the conversion rates. Visitors who click out of curiosity and not genuine interest can drive up a click through rate, but not result in new business.?

Tips to Improve Your Law Firm’s Click Through Rate

Depending on the strategy used, CTR numbers can vary. However, it is worthwhile to examine and improve your click through rate, whether you use PPC ads, SEO, display ads, social media or email marketing. Here are a few ways to improve the CTR of your law firm in various venues..

Improve Click-Through Rate for PPC Ads

Increase your click-through rate?in ads by adding a clear call-to-action and special offers. Using Google Ad extensions and long-tail keywords can assist you in optimizing your ad effectiveness, too.

Improve Click-Through Rate for Social Media

It is essential to create social media posts that communicate a sense of urgency, and this can be accomplished through vibrant images, compelling video clips and action-based text. Avoid clickbait-type headlines and images and strive for a strong call-to-action in every post.

Improve Click-Through Rate for Email Marketing

Email requires text that is not dense or difficult to read. Use appealing visuals, quick-load text and make sure it is mobile-friendly. A call-to-action is non-negotiable in marketing emails.

Improve Click-Through Rate for YouTube

When potential viewers click on your video, they should receive what they are expecting. If your video does not meet their expectations, they will quickly go elsewhere. This results in a lower than average viewing duration, which prevents your video from being listed with the featured recommended videos. Keep your audience and potential clients happy by offering them quality videos and meaningful content. Avoid using titles and thumbnails that look like clickbait.?

Improve Organic Click-Through Rate?

You can improve your organic click-through rate?even without purchasing ads. There are a variety of ways to increase your search engine rankings and draw the attention of consumers more efficiently. Consider the following tips to help you improve your organic click through rate:

• Examine and upgrade your website content
• Enhance your landing page
• Improve meta descriptions
• Use precise keywords
• Speed up your site
• Make everything mobile friendly

What Is a Good Click-Through Rate?

Average click-through rates for search ads are generally around 2%. Despite this, what determines a good click-through rate depends on the targeted industry. For lawyers, the average is around 4%, meaning a good click-through rate would be slightly higher than this at 5%-6%. According to PPC.org, a CTR of between 6%-7% is generally a good rate for all industries, although it is often better to aim for steady improvement for your CTR rather than trying to outperform such benchmarks.

How Is Click-Through Rate Calculated?

While you can determine different CTRs, depending on the medium, content, and channel, the formula remains the same. You can calculate the CTR for your content by dividing the total clicks received by the number of views (or impressions). Before completing this calculation, it is important to consider the following:

Types of Clicks

You can receive two click types, including overall and unique clicks. Overall clicks refer to the total clicks made, even if the same person clicks on a link multiple times. For instance, if an individual clicks on a link 10 times, this would equate to 10 overall clicks. Unique clicks refer to the total number of different individuals that click on a link. This means that in the above example these 10 clicks would only equate to a single unique click. Before you calculate your CTR, make sure you determine which click type you want to use. ?

Email Bounces

CTRs are particularly useful for measuring the success of email marketing campaigns. When looking at this metric for this purpose, make sure you consider any email bounces. Typically, when you send mass emails, many of these may bounce. This means they do not reach the recipient’s inbox. Due to this, aim to subtract the bounced emails from the total amount sent to ensure you gain an accurate figure for your impressions. Doing this means your CTR figure is accurate and can help you determine the effectiveness of an email marketing campaign more clearly.

CTR Calculation Tips

As you complete your click-through rate calculation, it can be useful to remember these points:

• Most CTRs are single-digit figures. While you think your CTR might be quite low after performing the calculation, the reality is it is probably a fairly average rate.
• Consider your industry. As CTR averages can vary drastically across industries, it is important to only consider the legal industry when analyzing yours. For instance, it would not be particularly helpful to make comparisons with the arts and entertainment industry, as organizations in these industries typically gain much higher CTRs than law firms.
• Apply consistency. Make sure you complete your CTR calculations the same way each time, including using the same click type for all your measurements. This ensures your CTR figures are correct and means you can confidently make changes to your marketing efforts to determine their effectiveness.

When High CTRs Can Negatively Impact Your Law Firm

If your law firm targets a keyword that is not directly relevant to the business and is unlikely to generate profits when potential clients visit your website, a high click-through rate can negatively impact your law firm. This is due to the following reasons:

• Your firm is paying for clicks on irrelevant keywords that are generating high ad costs that are not helping the business to gain additional clients.
• Your firm is paying for clicks on expensive legal keywords that are helping to bring in new business, but due to the high costs of these keywords, they are not generating a profit for your firm.

As a result, high CTRs are not always desirable. Due to this, it is beneficial for law firms to target effective keywords and then aim for high CTRs on these. Effective legal keywords to target are relevant, meaning they relate to your firm’s services, and are affordable.

How Law Quill Can Help Your Click-Through Rate

When it comes to successful digital marketing, the click-through rate?is one of the powerful metrics that matters. Analyzing your CTR can help you assess whether your ad campaigns are working effectively. Making necessary changes can assist you in gaining more quality traffic and reaching more prospective clients. Remember that click through rates differ according to industry, but if your CTR is lower than it should be, there are a variety of smart steps to take to increase your numbers.?

We are here to help and would welcome the opportunity to visit with you for free regarding your law firm website’s content, and how we can take these tasks off your plate! Schedule a free visit with us by scheduling a quick phone or zoom call at your convenience on our calendar today. You can also email us at [email protected].

Annette Choti, Esq. has over two decades of combined legal and digital marketing experience. She founded Law Quill, a full-service digital marketing agency for law firms and businesses in the United States, Canada, and Europe. Annette is a sought-after CLE and keynote speaker for Bar Associations and legal events throughout North America. She founded Click Magnet Academy, where she teaches professionals how to leverage the powerful LinkedIn platform. She creates and hosts the?Legal Marketing Lounge?podcast, and is the author of the bestselling book, Click Magnet: The Ultimate Digital Marketing Guide For Law Firms. Annette used to do theatre and professional comedy, which is not so far from the law, if we are all being honest.