Glossary
What is click-through rate?
By the KeyMo team · Updated
Click-through rate (CTR) is the share of people who saw a link, ad or thumbnail and clicked it. The formula is clicks divided by impressions, written as a percentage. On YouTube it shows how often a thumbnail and title earned a view when shown, and it matters less on the Shorts feed, where viewers swipe instead of choosing.
The formula
CTR = clicks ÷ impressions × 100. If a thumbnail was shown 400 times and clicked 20 times, CTR is 5%. The same idea runs through ads, search results and email. The only thing that changes is what counts as an impression (shown, sent or delivered), so read your tool's own definition before comparing numbers.
| Impressions | Clicks | CTR |
|---|---|---|
| 400 | 20 | 5% |
| 4,000 | 160 | 4% |
| 40,000 | 1,200 | 3% |
What YouTube says about it
YouTube's help page defines impressions click-through rate as how often viewers watched a video after seeing a registered impression on YouTube. It covers only a subset of your views, because impressions on external websites and end screens are not counted. It says half of all channels and videos have an impressions CTR between 2% and 10%, and that new videos or channels, and videos with under 100 views, can see a wider range.
- A video that gets a lot of impressions, such as on the Home page, naturally has a lower CTR.
- A video whose impressions come mostly from your channel page may have a higher one.
- Compare videos over the long term and keep in mind where their traffic comes from.
CTR on long videos versus Shorts
On a long video, the thumbnail and title are the pitch, so CTR is the first number to watch. A Short plays in the Shorts feed and the viewer either stays or swipes. A Shorts thumbnail is a frame chosen from the Short, and it can only be edited in the YouTube app, not in Studio.
In May 2024 a YouTube community post introduced Shown in feed and Viewed (vs. swiped away) for Shorts. The post says thumbnail impression rate could not show whether a Short was shown in a feed, viewed or swiped away. For vertical clips, the opening seconds do the work a thumbnail does elsewhere. See viewed vs swiped away and the first 3 seconds of a Short.
What not to do with CTR
- Judge it right after upload. YouTube says to wait for a substantial number of impressions.
- Act on small swings. YouTube says small variations are common and not a reason to act on their own.
- Test several thumbnails on one video. The audiences differ, so the CTR gap may come from traffic sources, not the artwork.
- Chase it with clickbait. YouTube says clickbait videos tend to have low average view duration and are less likely to be recommended.
A decision rule
- High CTR, low average view duration, low impressions: the promise is bigger than the video. Change the thumbnail or title to match the content.
- Low CTR, high average view duration: people who click like it. Try a clearer thumbnail or title.
- Low CTR on a Home-heavy video: check the mix of traffic sources before changing anything.
Pair CTR with average view duration and audience retention. Alone it can mislead.
Where KeyMo fits
KeyMo returns vertical 9:16 clips with captions, a score out of 10 and a reason for the score. It makes no claim about raising your CTR. What it can do is hand you several candidate openings to compare. Pick the clip whose first sentence earns attention without a thumbnail.
Sources: Impressions & click-through-rate FAQs, YouTube Help (checked 11 October 2026); New YouTube Shorts metric: Viewed vs swiped away, YouTube Help community post (8 May 2024) (checked 11 October 2026); Create YouTube Shorts, YouTube Help (checked 11 October 2026).