What is a good CTR for Google search? Averages by position

A good CTR for Google search is one that is at or above the average for the position you rank in, because click-through rate falls sharply as you move down the page. A 4% CTR is weak at position one and excellent at position nine.

Average CTR by position in Google

Backlinko analysed about 4 million Google results using Search Console data and found a steep curve:

• Position 1 averaged a 27.6% CTR.
• The first result was 10 times more likely to be clicked than the tenth.
• Positions 8 to 10 had almost the same CTR, so moving from 10 to 8 rarely changes much.
• Only 0.63% of searchers clicked a result on page two.

Treat these as averages, not targets. CTR also depends on the query, the device, and what else is on the page.

How AI Overviews change click-through rates

Advanced Web Ranking has tracked organic CTR by position every month since 2015 and now splits results with and without AI Overviews. Its finding is consistent: when an AI Overview appears, the top organic result earns a much smaller share of clicks, the gap continues well past position three, and more searches end without any click.

If a query you rank for starts showing an AI Overview, a falling CTR may not mean your page got worse. Compare like with like before you rewrite anything.

Average CTR in Google Search Console

Search Console defines CTR as clicks divided by impressions, and average position as the average position of the topmost result from your site. The number at the top of the Performance report blends every query you appear for, which makes it a poor measure of anything.

Our own numbers show why. Over the three months to 18 October 2026, DanielLaunches had 3,565 impressions and 139 clicks, a 3.9% CTR. But that average hides very different stories:

Branded searches pull the average up, and pages that rank on page nine pull it down. Filter out your brand name and read CTR query by query.

What is a good average CTR for SEO?

You will often see a few percent quoted as a good site-wide CTR. That figure only makes sense for a site whose rankings look like the average site’s. A young site ranking mostly beyond page one will sit far lower, and that is normal.

A more useful test: for every non-branded query on page one, compare its CTR with the average for its position. A page well below the curve has a title or snippet problem. A page on page two has a ranking problem, and no title will fix that.

Why impressions grow before clicks

A new page usually starts ranking deep in the results, where it collects impressions but almost no clicks. As it climbs, clicks follow, slowly at first and then quickly once it reaches the top few positions.

That is why rising impressions with flat clicks is often good news. It means Google is testing the page for more queries. Watch average position on those queries rather than celebrating or panicking about CTR.

How to raise your CTR in Google search

1. 1Match the title to the query. Google’s title link guidance asks for descriptive, concise titles and warns against vague or overly long ones. Put the searcher’s phrase near the start.
2. 2Keep titles a sensible length. Backlinko found titles of 40 to 60 characters had a 33.3% higher CTR than those outside that range.
3. 3Write a description that answers the query. Google mostly builds snippets from page content but sometimes uses the meta description. Our guide to writing a meta description covers how.
4. 4Use a readable URL. Words that match the topic help searchers trust the result.
5. 5Earn rich results where they fit. FAQs, ratings, and dates can make a result stand out, but only when they reflect what is on the page.

Change one page at a time and compare the same queries over the following four weeks. To find which queries are worth the effort, start with how to find keywords for SEO.

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