Email Click-Through Rate (CTR) is one of the most critical metrics in email marketing. It measures the effectiveness of your email content by calculating the percentage of recipients who clicked on at least one link in your email relative to the number of emails successfully delivered.
CTR = (Total Clicks ÷ (Total Sent – Total Bounced)) × 100
Understanding the Variables
Total Emails Sent: The raw number of emails you attempted to send to your list.
Total Bounced: Emails that could not be delivered (due to invalid addresses, full inboxes, or server blocks). These are subtracted from the sent count to determine the "Delivered" count.
Total Clicks: The number of times recipients clicked links within your email.
CTR vs. CTOR: What's the difference?
This calculator provides both CTR and CTOR (Click-to-Open Rate) because they measure different things:
CTR (Click-Through Rate): Measures the success of the campaign as a whole (Subject line + Content). It answers: "Out of everyone who received this, how many clicked?"
CTOR (Click-to-Open Rate): Measures the success of the email content specifically for those who viewed it. It answers: "Out of everyone who opened the email, how many clicked?"
What is a "Good" Email CTR?
While benchmarks vary significantly by industry, a general average across all industries hovers around 2% to 5%. A high CTR indicates that your subject line was relevant enough to get an open, and your content was compelling enough to drive action.
Tips to Improve Your Email CTR
Clear Call-to-Action (CTA): Use buttons rather than text links and ensure they are visually distinct.
Mobile Optimization: Over 50% of emails are opened on mobile devices. Ensure your links are easy to tap.
Segmentation: targeted emails always perform better than "spray and pray" blasts.
A/B Testing: Test different link placements, button colors, and copy to see what resonates with your audience.
function calculateEmailMetrics() {
// 1. Get input values
var sentInput = document.getElementById('emailsSent');
var bouncedInput = document.getElementById('emailsBounced');
var opensInput = document.getElementById('emailOpens');
var clicksInput = document.getElementById('emailClicks');
var sent = parseFloat(sentInput.value);
var bounced = parseFloat(bouncedInput.value);
var opens = parseFloat(opensInput.value);
var clicks = parseFloat(clicksInput.value);
// 2. Validation & Defaulting
if (isNaN(sent) || sent sent) {
alert("Bounced emails cannot exceed Sent emails.");
return;
}
var delivered = sent – bounced;
if (opens > delivered) {
alert("Opens cannot exceed Delivered emails.");
return;
}
if (clicks > opens && opens > 0) {
// Note: Technically possible in some tracking if pixels are blocked but links tracked,
// but generally clicks 0) {
ctr = (clicks / delivered) * 100;
openRate = (opens / delivered) * 100;
deliveryRate = (delivered / sent) * 100;
}
if (opens > 0) {
ctor = (clicks / opens) * 100;
}
// 4. Update DOM
document.getElementById('ctrResult').innerHTML = ctr.toFixed(2) + '%';
document.getElementById('openRateResult').innerHTML = openRate.toFixed(2) + '%';
document.getElementById('ctorResult').innerHTML = ctor.toFixed(2) + '%';
var summary = "Sent: " + sent.toLocaleString() +
" | Delivered: " + delivered.toLocaleString() +
" (" + deliveryRate.toFixed(2) + "%)";
document.getElementById('summaryText').innerHTML = summary;
// Show results
document.getElementById('resultsSection').style.display = 'block';
}