Amazon Click Through Rate: How Sellers can Boost CTR (2025)

Rick Wong 20 January 2025
Amazon Click Through Rate

On Amazon there are a lot of metrics you can use to track the performance your Amazon Sponsored Brand Ads. One of the most critical metrics is the Amazon click through rate (Amazon CTR). Click through rate is a good indicator of how much real traffic your ad is getting, how well your product titles are optimized and how effective your keyword targeting is. In this article we will cover the definition of click through rate, shed some light on the average click through rate on Amazon, explain what a good click through rate is (for different product niches), as well as explain which factors impact it. We will also recommend some strategies to improve your Amazon click through rate.

How to Calculate Amazon Click Through Rate (CTR)?

Click through rate is commonly abbreviated to CTR, and it is measured as a percentage. What exactly is CTR?

How to Calculate Amazon Click Through Rate

Essentially, click through rate is defined as the share of shoppers who clicked on your ad out of the total amount of impressions it received. For Amazon Sellers, since Amazon PPC is “pay-per-click” this is an important metric! Your clickthrough rate is directly proportional to your ad spending. This is why tracking CTR for your products is absolutely vital towards PPC campaign optimization.

What is the Average Click Through Rate on Amazon?

The average Amazon CTR across is about 0.4%. This is across all ad placements and ad formats. However it is important to note that CTRs can vary significantly depending on a number of factors, such as product categories / niche, ad format or ad position. Let’s break this down into more detail.

Amazon Average CTRs of Different Product Categories

Based on our extensive experience having worked with countless Amazon Sellers across different popular industries, we can say that average CTRs tend to vary quite a bit by industry / product category. The main reasons for that are:

  • Differences in price points: Conversion rates tend to be lower for higher priced items
  • Brand Salience: In some category certain household brand will attract a relatively large share of clicks
  • Complexity of the Purchase Decisions: Whereas for some products, consumer tend to make more intuitive purchase decisions (i.e. skincare or fashion), for other product categories more brand and product research is typically conducted before completing a conversion (i.e. Pet Foods)

In certain competitive niches without strong “national brands”, such as supplements and beauty products, CTRs can sometimes surpass a 1% average CTR because of intense competition and highly specific search terms. In contrast, more commoditized categories, such as office supplies, might hover closer to 0.2% or 0.3% because of broader search behavior and lower margins.The chart below shows indicative average conversion of different Amazon product categories.

Amazon Average CTR by Product Category

Average Amazon CTR by Search Rank

Another factor that directly impacts conversion rate is ad position. There is a strong positive correlation between the position in which an ad is served in search results and the number of clicks it gets.

According to statistics from Amazon, on average 35% of Amazon shoppers click on the search result and up to 64% of clicks from the Amazon search results page target the first three search results. Again, these numbers will differ slightly depending on what the exact search query was (i.e. for brand searches the CTR will be much higher than for generic search queries that do not contain any brand names).

The chart below is based on research conducted by Nielsen and shows the average CTR by Amazon search rank for selected product categories.

Amazon Average CTR by Amazon Search Rank

Average Amazon CTR by Ad Type

The last factor that impacts CTR is the ad type. On Amazon there are three ad formats: Sponsored Products, Sponsored Brand and Sponsored Display. You can learn more about these formats here: Amazon Sponsored Ads Management, Amazon Sponsored Brand Ads Management, Amazon Sponsored Display Ads Management.

Depending on which ad type you run, CTRs tend to be different. This is for two main reason:

  • Some Amazon ad formats (Sponsored Brand and Sponsored Display) serve in places other than Amazon search results. These placements tend to have a lower CTR than ads that are triggered by search queries (of shopper ready to pull the trigger).
  • In contrast to Sponsored Products Ads, Sponsored Brand and Sponsored display ads can further be set to audience targeting, as opposed to keyword targeting only. Selecting highly relevant and narrowly defined keywords however, tends to be one of the most efficient way to advertise and thus Sponsored Products ads tend to have higher average CTRs.

However, make no mistake: especially Sponsored Brands and can also perform very well in terms of CTR and ACoS. If setup well, the they can also target highly relevant keywords and they take up more space (more “real estate”) if they are served on the top of the search results page. This helps these ad formats drive results. Get in touch with us if you want to discuss the intricacies of Amazon advertising management or learn more about our Amazon Listing Optimization Services.

The chart below shows average Amazon CTRs by Ad type.

Average Amazon CTR by Ad Type

What is a Good Click Through Rate on Amazon?

Generally speaking, a CTR above this average, at 0.5% or higher is considered a good CTR. A high CTR means your product listings are getting relatively more traffic in relation to how often your ads are served as compared to most other ads. Generally speaking this indicates that your ads are relevant to your target audience and that your listing titles are well optimized and click worthy. An average CTR above 0.5% indicates that your price, value, ratings combined make an offering that is attractive enough to customers that they are clicking on it.

This begs the question, what is a bad CTR?

A click through rate that is below 0.3% is seen as a worrying sign. If your Amazon click through rate is less than 0.3% then you need to start giving that ad campaign more attention.

However, as discussed in the previous section, what a good and what a bad CTR is, really depends on many complex and interacting factors. When comparing your own performance to benchmarks, always account for your unique situation. A specialized product may capture a smaller, highly targeted market and achieve an above-average CTR. On the other hand, broad listings with mass appeal could see lower CTR because of generic keywords and abundant competition. Continually monitoring your metrics and comparing them to both general Amazon averages and direct category peers can provide the most accurate perspective on how well your ads are performing.

Why does Click Through Rate matter for Amazon Sellers?

Yes, it’s true the higher your CTR is the better, especially one that crosses the 2-3% threshold….

Still, remember that a high CTR doesn’t mean high sales!

Even if a customer is clicking on your ad, this doesn’t automatically mean they ordered your product. If you have a high CTR but a low CVR and high ACoS, this means that something on your product listing is driving customers away. This is why CTR is so important. When CTR is analyzed in conjunction with other metrics like CVR or Amazon Advertising Cost. By applying a more holistic approach you can pinpoint where exactly issues are cropping up!

What factors impact Amazon PPC Click Through Rate?

Numerous factors influence whether shoppers click on an ad or continue scrolling. Critical factors include, ad relevancy (so how closely does your product fit a search query), the visual presentation of your Amazon listings, starting with the main image and of course your Listing Title. Products showcased in a high-quality, appealing photo tend to generate more interest than generic or blurry images. Title optimization is essential, as a listing title that clearly conveys key features and includes relevant keywords that match a shopper’s search intent often generate more. If you have a consistently low CTR then one of these factors might be the culprit! Here is a more detailed breakdown of factors that can impact CTR:

Relevancy of Ads

Relevancy is one of the top factors that influence CTR on Amazon. Ads that are highly relevant to a shopper’s search get clicked on the most, leading to a higher CTR %.

e.g. Your product is a “wallet”, you may target the keyword “purse” or “pouch” since it seems like a similar product. This is actually going to tank your CTR for your wallets, because shoppers looking for purses aren’t looking for wallets. They won’t click on a product they don’t want.

Basically, if you want a high CTR for your products then you need to make sure you’re targeting the most relevant keywords.

Amazon Product Listing Quality

Your listing is what shoppers click on. If your listing quality is poor, your CTR will be poor. The two most important parts of a listing that affect click through rate:

  • Image
  • Title

You need a main image that’s high quality, that describes and portrays your product perfectly. e.g. Out of those 3 product photos, 2 of them show how the dog harness looks, and one doesn’t.

You also need a title that perfectly summarizes the key details of your product. e.g. “Camera Mount compatible with Infant Optics DXR-8” is much better than “Camera Mount.”

Ad Type

As we have discussed previously, ad types do affect CTR, quite a lot actually. The best way to maximize your CTR is to often to run all three types of ads for your product – but for different tactical use cases. Sponsored Display ads tend to perform best when retargeting shoppers who have previously visited your listings but not yet made a purchase and Sponsored Brands ads can be a great way to target own brand keywords as they take up more space and are more visually appealing than Sponsored Products ads.

If you have a limited daily ad budget however and you want to get more bang for your buck… We suggest to focus on Sponsored Products ads for your bestsellers, so that you can get a higher CTR overall.

Ad Placement

Naturally, ad placement, much like the ad type, will also affect click through rate. A low CTR might not necessarily mean your product offering is not attractive or compelling enough. It might actually be because of your listing’s ad placement.

Top of Search always get a higher CTR than any other. Not a lot of customers scroll down past the middle of the page. So if your sponsored ad is at the bottom… tough luck.

This is why it’s so important to optimize your PPC and adjust bids higher so that you always get Top of Search.

How can you improve your Amazon PPC CTR?

Based on the factors that affect CTR, there are some obvious steps you can take to improve your CTR.

Target Relevant Keywords

The first and foremost is to use relevant keywords in your ad campaigns. Use keyword research tools to filer out the most relevant keywords. One effective way to do this is conduct an Amazon Reverse keyword search to learn which keywords are working well for your competitors.

For more inspiration read these reviews of popular Amazon SEO Tools and Amazon PPC Tools.

Add Negative Keywords to Your Amazon PPC Ads

Equally important, do make sure to always set some negative keywords. Excluding keywords from Amazon PPC ads that frequently trigger impressions without leading to clicks increases CTR. This approach refines your campaign’s focus, allowing you to appear in front of the audience most likely to click and purchase. By regularly mining your search term reports for underperforming queries, you can maintain a lean, high-efficiency keyword portfolio.

Naturally, you will also want to exclude keywords that frequently drive clicks, but no conversions. These are the keywords you absolutely don’t want your product to show up for, i.e. highly irrelevant keywords.

3 Ways to Use Negative Keywords For Amazon PPC

For example, like our previous example. If you’re selling a wallet, you can put in “purse” in your ad campaign’s negative targeting section. This will make sure you don’t lose clicks to an irrelevant keyword.

Optimize Your Amazon Product Listing

Next, optimize your product listing – photo & title. This is also a critical component of Amazon SEO Strategy. Make sure the first thing shoppers see on the search page is a high quality, perfect photo with a descriptive title.

3 Quick Hacks to Get Your Product on Amazon Best Seller List

Does your product have color variations? Show them in the main product photo like above. Is your product a certain width, length? Is it compatible with other products? Absolutely ensure these things are in the listing title!

The more information a shopper can get from your listing at first glance, the more likely they will click it when it meets their shopping criteria. If you need help with this enquire about our Amazon SEO Services.

Use Amazon Coupons & Discounts

Amazon discounts, coupons and limited time offers will boost your click through rates. Amazon is a unique marketplace – it’s always “customer first.” Amazon shoppers know this, and that’s why most use the platform to find the best possible deals.

Amazon Badges and How to Get Them

A listing with a crossed off original price with a new one that’s “50% off “, or a “deal of the day” badge or a “save $20 with this coupon” badge will immediately catch a shopper’s eye.

But one thing to bear in mind is that the CTR increase from sales promotions is temporary. Once that promotion is off, it will settle down to your regular CTR. Still, this is a good short-term strategy to boost CTR.

Increase Positive Reviews on Amazon

The more positive reviews and the higher rating your product has, the better. Shoppers ALWAYS click a 5 star rating product over a 3 star. Another thing shoppers look at is the number of reviews.

Even better, if your listing is popular enough to get Amazon’s various promotional badges, it will increase your CTR fast. The more “guarantees” you can provide your shoppers at first glance, the more clicks you get. It’s simple psychology! So make sure you’re consistently racking up good reviews.

Advanced Optimization Techniques Beyond Basic Listing Edits

Once you have optimized your listings and refined your keyword targeting, more advanced techniques can further boost CTR. Dayparting, where you adjust bids or pause campaigns during times of low traffic, can help direct your budget to periods when shoppers are most active. This strategy can increase CTR and conversion rates by ensuring your ads appear when potential customers are most likely to engage.

Bid adjustments by placement can also sharpen performance. Amazon allows you to increase bids for top-of-search placements, where users often click at higher rates. If your product tends to perform well in top-of-search positions, strategically raising bids for those spots can raise your average CTR. Conversely, if product detail page placements generate ample impressions but result in a low CTR, reallocate those funds elsewhere.

Final Thoughts on How to Optimize Amazon CTR

Amazon click through rate is a key performance metric, the more ad traffic and clicks you get, the more likely sales are. We hope this article was informative on what CTR is and what factors influence it. We hope that our recommendations let struggling Amazon Sellers give their click through rates a much needed boost.

We are SellerMetrics, our Amazon PPC Software helps Amazon sellers, brands, KDP Authors and agencies navigate Amazon Advertising PPC via bid automation, bulk manual bid changes, and analytics.

FAQ: How to Improve Average Amazon Click Through Rate

What is a “good” CTR on Amazon?

Advertisers often see CTRs anywhere between 0.3% and 1%, depending on category, competition, and ad format. Certain niches or brand-specific keywords may even exceed 2%. Each seller should compare their results to relevant benchmarks.

Why do my Sponsored Brands ads have a lower CTR than my Sponsored Products ads?

Sponsored Brands ads display differently, usually at the top of search results with a headline and multiple products. They can attract more exploratory clicks or sometimes fewer clicks if the brand is unfamiliar. Testing creatives and headlines can help raise CTR for Sponsored Brands.

Does a low CTR always mean my ad is failing?

Not necessarily. Some keywords have lower CTR but higher conversions. Evaluate both click-through rate, conversion data and review your ACoS (What is a good ACoS on Amazon?) to form a complete performance picture.

How often should I check CTR metrics?

Reviews can be daily, weekly, or biweekly depending on campaign scale. Frequent monitoring lets you spot shifts and make timely adjustments, but extremely granular changes every day can make it harder to interpret long-term trends.

Can adding negative keywords help improve my CTR?

Yes. Adding negative keywords helps exclude irrelevant searches, so your impressions come from more targeted shoppers who are more likely to click. Over time, removing wasteful traffic can boost average CTR.

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