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knowledge base/seo & search
glossary term

Impressions vs. clicks

How many times your link appeared in search versus how many times someone clicked it.

What it means

An impression counts each time your page appeared in a Google search results page, whether or not anyone scrolled to see it. A click counts only when someone actually followed the link to your site.

Why it matters

Impressions without clicks usually means you're ranking but not standing out — the title, snippet, or ranking position isn't earning the click. Clicks without impressions growth means you're winning on relevance to whoever is already searching for you.

ask datanephew

What's a good click-through rate?

It depends heavily on ranking position and what else is on the results page, so a flat benchmark isn't that useful. Ask datanephew for your click-through rate by query and position, and it'll help you spot the ones worth rewriting a title for.

Can datanephew tell me which queries get impressions but no clicks?

Yes — that's exactly the kind of comparison it's built to pull from Search Console.