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Metrics type: Supporting Metrics • Category: Keyword Performance

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At a glance

Low CTR / High Impressions plots queries and pages that Google shows often but searchers rarely click, using impressions, clicks, and CTR from Search Console’s Performance report. Each point in the scatter is a missed-opportunity row: the visibility is already earned, so the fix is usually a sharper title and meta description, not a new ranking.

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What it tracks

The scatter places impressions on one axis and CTR on the other, so the high-impression, low-CTR corner is exactly where the opportunity sits. These rows already rank well enough to be seen, but the snippet is failing to win the click, often because the title does not match search intent, the meta description is missing or generic, a competitor’s rich result is more compelling, or an AI Overview is sitting above the result. This is the single highest-leverage list for SEO and content teams, because improving the snippet on an already-ranking page can lift clicks without any new content or link building. Pair it with CTR Opportunity Queries and CTR Opportunity Pages for the actionable shortlists, and with Title/Meta Optimisation Candidates for the rewrite queue. Read CTR against average position before acting. A 2% CTR at position 8 is expected; a 2% CTR at position 3 is a genuine snippet problem worth fixing first.

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Reconciling against the source

Rebuild this in Search Console, Performance, Search results by enabling the Impressions and CTR columns and sorting by impressions; the high-impression rows with weak CTR are the same points shown here. Expect the 2 to 3 day data delay, anonymised rare queries, and the 1,000-row UI cap.

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Sibling cards

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Tracked live in Vortex IQ Nerve Centre

Low CTR / High Impressions is one of hundreds of KPI pulses Vortex IQ tracks across Google Search Console and 70+ other ecommerce connectors. Nerve Centre runs the detection layer; Vortex Mind investigates the cause when something moves; Ask Viq lets you interrogate any number in plain English. Start for free or book a demo to see this metric running on your own data.