Impressions, Clicks, and CTR: Search Console Metrics
Three basic metrics of Google Search Console. Impression — the page appeared in search results. Click — the user clicked through to the site. CTR — the share of clicks from impressions: how convincing the page looks in its position.
How they are calculated
The CTR formula is simple: clicks divided by impressions. 60 clicks on 3000 impressions equals 2%. Google counts an impression even if the user did not scroll to the page, so impressions are always much higher than clicks, and this is normal.
Another feature: sums by queries usually do not match the total for the page. Google hides rare and potentially personal queries, so some impressions do not appear in the breakdown. A discrepancy of 10–20% is not a reporting error.
CTR primarily depends on position
Click-through rate decreases non-linearly with the position in the search results. The approximate curve that PromoPilot uses to calculate the potential of pages looks like this:
| Position | Expected CTR | Clicks from 1000 impressions |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | ≈28% | ≈285 |
| 3 | ≈11% | ≈110 |
| 5 | ≈6% | ≈61 |
| 10 | ≈2.5% | ≈25 |
| 20 | ≈0.9% | ≈9 |
| 30 | ≈0.5% | ≈5 |
These are average values across the industry, not a promise. But the order of magnitude explains the main point: moving up from 10th to 5th position gives about twice as many clicks, while moving from 30th to 20th gives almost nothing.
What else affects CTR
- Title and description in the results. A clear benefit in the snippet and a title that is not cut off in the middle gather significantly more.
- Type of query. For brand queries, CTR is always higher: the person is already looking for you.
- Result blocks. Maps, images, videos, answer boxes, and ads push organic results down the screen — CTR drops at the same position.
- Intent matching. If the page does not answer what is being asked, it simply is not chosen.
Where it appears in PromoPilot
| Location | What is shown |
|---|---|
| “Pulse” link | Clicks and impressions for 28 days compared to the previous 28, graphs for each metric. |
| “Radar” | Page impressions and potential assessment: how many clicks it is missing. |
| Chrome extension | “Potential” tab: position, impressions, clicks, and CTR of the open page. |
| Launch report | “Search Result” block: impressions and clicks at launch and after 30, 60, 90 days. |
| Radar email | Newly discovered pages with impressions and potential in clicks. |
What to consider normal
Compare your CTR not with other sites, but with what is expected for your position. Significantly above normal — the page is well-designed and matches the query. Significantly below — check the snippet and how well the title matches what people are searching for. More on metrics can be found in the article about “Pulse”.
Common reading mistakes
- Rejoicing at the growth of impressions alone. Impressions often grow due to irrelevant queries and do not bring clicks.
- Calculating CTR on small numbers. With 12 impressions, any value is random.
- Expecting an immediate increase in clicks. After a cascade, impressions usually grow first, clicks follow later — see promotion report.