I get asked a version of this question all the time: "Jyll, when evaluating my ad creative, should I judge it based on Click-Through Rate (CTR) or Conversion Rate (CVR)?"
The short answer? Both. But the long answer is a lot more interesting.
I recently had a Google Ads coaching call with Peter. We were in the middle of reviewing a Search campaign that had been running for a few months, and Peter's goal was to "trim the fat." He wanted to figure out which ad creatives to keep and which to pause based on the performance data.
He pointed to an ad with a stellar click-through rate and asked, "Should I just pause everything else and put all my budget behind this one?"
It made complete sense on paper. But when we looked closer at his search terms and lead quality, we discovered that this high-CTR headline was actually bringing in a lot of unqualified junk.
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That's when I shared my golden rule with Peter that I want to share with you: Evaluate your ads using CTR plus common sense.
To illustrate what I mean, I gave Peter an example from a previous client I'd worked with in healthcare recruitment.
Imagine you're running ads to hire nurses. If you write a generic headline like "Now Hiring - Apply Today!", you'll probably get a massive click-through rate. Anyone looking for any kind of job might click on that ad!
But, if you use a specific headline like "Hiring Nurses Now", your overall click-through rate is going to be much lower. Why? Because if someone is not a nurse, they're unlikely to click it.
In this case, the ad headline with the lower CTR is actually the better ad because it's doing exactly what it's supposed to do: attracting the right audience and repelling the wrong one.
A high CTR is fantastic, but not if your ad is so broadly appealing that you're paying for clicks from people who will never convert.
Based on this, Peter realized that his highly specific, lower-CTR headlines were actually doing a better job of qualifying his traffic than his overly generic, higher-CTR headlines.
But before you go into your account and start pausing your ads, there is one more crucial thing we discussed: Data volume.
An incredibly common mistake I see folks make is killing an ad too soon because it has a "poor CTR" when, in fact... it's only had 8 clicks. Eight clicks is not nearly enough data for an ad to figure out its true CTR!
Here is my golden rule of thumb for evaluating ad assets (like a headline, description, or image):
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Do not evaluate CTR until the asset has at least 100 clicks.
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Do not evaluate CVR until the asset has at least 50 conversions.
Don't confuse signal with noise. If you don't have enough data let, leave your assets as-is until you (and Google) can properly determine what's working and what's not.
If you want to evaluate your ad creative and make sure you're getting the right kind of clicks, like Peter, you should:
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Check your data volume first: Before judging an ad or asset, make sure it has hit that threshold of 100 clicks (for CTR) or 50 conversions (for CVR). If it hasn't, leave it alone! It hasn't had a chance to prove itself yet.
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Audit your top-CTR ads: Take a close look at the ads with the highest click-through rates. Are they highly relevant to your ideal customer, or are they a little too generic?
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Qualify your audience in your copy: Don't be afraid to add specific qualifiers to your headlines, such as exactly who your service is for, your specific niche, or even your price point to repel the wrong clicks
Need a fresh set of eyes on your ads? Book a call with me and we'll work on your Google Ads together.
