In 2020 Google enjoyed a 90% global desktop search traffic, becoming the leading search engine and the best PPC advertising platform. As powerful as Google ads may be, there are tons of metrics that can confuse a marketer.
Understanding and tracking your metrics is a critical part of running a PPC campaign. If you are new to Google ads and overwhelmed by Google ad metrics for your business, this post is a good read for you.
Evaluating and monitoring google ads
As much as Google ads are an effective marketing tool, you don’t just set up ads and wait for results. You must keep track of your ad metrics to see what is working and what you need to change.
Most businesses rely on inefficient tools such as PowerPoint and Excel spreadsheets when handling their PPC reporting. While these manual options may work to some extent, they create a large room for errors, negatively affecting your campaigns.
Investing in a Google AdWords reporting tool can help you solve these problems. Besides minimizing the chances of errors, these tools can help you reduce the time spent on reporting and reduce the overall cost of doing business.
Four important Google ads metrics
1. Impression share
Impressions refer to the number of times your ad is displayed on search engine results compared to the number of times it could have been shown. If your ad isn’t getting as many impressions as it should, it’s probably due to rank or budget.
If ranking is the problem, you may want to relook at your keywords. If it’s a budget issue, you may need to dig deeper into your pockets to increase the number of times your ads will be shown.
2. Click-through rate
While having a high impression share is good, it doesn’t mean anything if no one clicks on your ads. Click-through rate refers to the number of clicks divided by the number of impressions.
A good CTR is an indicator of your ad’s relevance to your target audience. On the other hand, a low CTR indicates that your ad copy may not be as compelling and needs some work.
It is also important to note that your click-through rate affects your campaign’s spending. So, you may need to narrow down your keywords to ensure that the people that click on your ad will most likely end up buying your goods or services.
But you will also need to ensure that your CTR doesn’t get too low, affecting your quality score.
3. Cost per click
Cost per click refers to the amount of money you pay Google for every person that clicks on your ad. To calculate your average CPC, you will need to divide the cost of all cumulative clicks by the number of clicks.
Several parameters influence your ads’ CPC, including;
- Maximum bid: Maximum bid refers to a set limit of how much you are willing to pay for a click on your ad.
- Quality score: This refers to Google estimates of the quality of your ads. The quality score is influenced by landing page experience, expected CTR, and ad relevance.
- Ad rank: This refers to the value used by Google to determine how your ad ranks in the search results.
4. Return on investment (ROI)
AdWords costs money; therefore, you will want to ensure that running your ads gives you value for your money. ROI is calculated by dividing the cost of running your campaign by the amount of revenue generated from running your ads.
If you notice that your spending doesn’t translate into revenue, it may be time to make critical changes to your ads. Since ROI determines your profits, it is essential to give as much attention as possible.
