Click-Through Rate (CTR)
The share of people who saw something — an ad, email, or search listing — and actually clicked it.
Click-through rate, or CTR, is the percentage of people who clicked out of everyone who saw the link. If 100 people see your ad and 3 click, that is a 3% CTR. It applies anywhere there is something to click: paid ads, links inside emails, and your listings in search results.
A high CTR usually means your headline, offer, or subject line is landing with the right people — the message is compelling and well matched to the audience. A low one is an early warning that something up front is not connecting, before you have spent much. Remember it measures interest, not sales, so a strong CTR still needs a landing page or offer that converts.
Why it matters
It is the earliest signal that your message is resonating — cheap to read and quick to fix — so you can sharpen the hook before pouring budget into the rest of the funnel.