Ad Grants basics
The 5% click rate, in plain terms
Google asks grant accounts to keep a click-through rate of at least 5% each month. Grantkeeper follows it with you through the month, so a low number shows up while there is time to act.
Text it like this
Fictional example.
How the number is measured
Click-through rate is clicks divided by impressions, the number of times your ads were shown. Google measures it for the whole account over each calendar month. The Ad Grants policy asks for at least 5%. If the account stays below 5% for two months in a row, Google can temporarily deactivate it.
Because it is an account total, one broad keyword with thousands of views and few clicks can pull everything down, even when your other ads do well. Early in the month the number rests on a few days of data and moves a lot. Treat a low figure in the first week as an early warning, and a low figure in the last week as something to act on.
Where a low click rate comes from
A low rate often points to a mismatch between the search and the ad. A keyword may be broader than what you offer, so the ad shows for searches you don't serve. The ad may not mention the thing the keyword is about. The location setting may be wider than the area people can reach. Or the searches may be for something else entirely, such as jobs, paid services or another organization with a similar name.
Fictional example: a pantry's “volunteer opportunities” keyword shows for people looking for paid work. It gets 2,000 views and 30 clicks in a month, a 1.5% rate, and drags the account below 5% even though the pantry's donation ads sit near 9%.
How to raise it
Start with the keywords that have the most views and the fewest clicks. Pause the ones that don't describe a program, and replace them with phrases that name the program and the place. Read the search terms report and add negative keywords for searches you never want, such as “jobs” or “salary” on a volunteer campaign. Keep each ad group to one theme, so its ads can repeat the words people type. Check that the location setting matches where people can actually come.
Grantkeeper reads your keywords and search terms for the last 7 or 30 days, suggests what to pause and which negative keywords to add, and writes new ad text. It pauses items as soon as you ask and adds new keywords and ads as paused drafts. The next weekly check shows whether the rate is moving. Location changes on an existing campaign are made in Google Ads.
Aim for keywords that match what you really offer rather than pausing everything to lift the number. An account with almost no searches helps no one find your programs. See the keyword rules guide and the search terms recipe.
Sources: Google Ad Grants account management policy, Google Ad Grants policy compliance guide
Start here
What the 5% click-through rate rule measures, when a month counts, and the usual ways to raise a low rate.
- Look at the account total, not one campaign.
- Find the keywords with many views and few clicks.
- Pause, tighten or rewrite, then check again next week.