If you are not an SEO expert, the details of the field can be intimidating. You may know your end goal — to have your business or organization rank higher on Google and to reach a wider audience of potential customers, but once you have reached out to an SEO agency, how do you know if you are on your way to accomplishing that goal? Here are just a few of the essential SEO and pay per click (PPC) advertising benchmarks that business owners in any industry should be aware of.

Average Cost Per Click

Put simply, the average cost per click (CPC) is a basic measurement of the amount of money an advertiser pays every time an end-user clicks on an ad the advertiser has put out. CPC is determined by numerous factors, including which industry you are in as well as how competitive your keywords are.

Today, CPR for search ads averages around $2 to $4. Industries that are more competitive with a lot of names being thrown in the ring will see higher CPRs, such as dentists, home improvement businesses, and attorneys. On the flip side, industries such as real estate and entertainment tend to experience lower CPRs. Speak to an agency specializing in pay per click advertising to have a better understanding of what is normal for your industry.

Bounce Rate

Bounce rate tells you whether or not your target keywords have been properly mapped to your website. This measurement indicates how many people leave your website after quickly viewing only one page, as opposed to staying on your website and looking around. If your keyword is relevant to the page it has been mapped to — the page it is bringing people to — users are more likely to stay on that page, and your website, for longer.

If your bounce rate is high, then you should either reconsider your website design as it may not be as visually appealing as it could be, or you could reconsider how well your keywords have been mapped. 52% of PPC clicks originate from mobile devices, according to Adweek, so you want to be sure that your site looks good on phones as well as on computers.

Average Click-Through Rate

The average click-through rate, or CTR, gives you insight into whether or not your ads are reaching a relevant audience. CTR tells you the radio of how many people have seen your ads versus how many people have clicked on your ads. If you have a CTR of 2%, then two people out of 100 people who saw your ad have clicked on it.

CTRs have been steadily increasing over the years, leading local SEO experts to believe that ads are becoming more appropriate for the audiences they are given to. This is applicable to all industries except for shopping, which has seen a decrease in CTR. Sports and recreation is the industry that has seen the highest jump in CTR.

To learn more about pay per click advertising benchmarks and where your website stands in comparison to the competition, reach out to the team of professionals at Fasturtle Digital.