Josh Gallant
Josh is the founder of Backstage SEO, an organic growth firm that helps SaaS companies capture demand. He’s a self-proclaimed spreadsheet nerd by day, volunteer soccer coach on weekends, and wannabe fantasy football expert every fall.
» More blog posts by Josh Gallant
Jacob Baadsgaard
Jacob Baadsgaard is the Founder & CEO of Disruptive Advertising, a Utah-based PPC agency that uses PPC, CRO and ROI-focused analytics to grow businesses. When Jacob’s not working, you’ll find him hanging out with his beautiful wife and three daughters or on the river fly fishing. Connect with him on Twitter or LinkedIn.
» More blog posts by Jacob Baadsgaard
What are PPC metrics?
PPC metrics are the data points you track to evaluate the performance of your ads, such as click-through rate (CTR), cost-per-click (CPC), and ad impressions. These metrics give you insights into how well your ads are resonating with your target audience and help you make data-driven decisions to optimize your campaigns.
On the other hand, PPC KPIs are the specific metrics that are most important to your business goals, such as conversion rate, cost per acquisition (CPA), and return on ad spend (ROAS). By focusing on these high-level KPIs, you can assess the financial impact of your PPC marketing and make informed decisions on where to allocate your advertising budget.
Why are PPC metrics and KPIs important?
One common quote sums it up perfectly:
“What gets measured, gets managed.”
The best way to run an ineffective, inefficient, and poor-quality campaign is to launch it with zero tracking and no plans to analyze the performance data available to you.
Metrics and measurement are essential for running winning ad campaigns. Without visibility into how everything is performing—at a deeper level than just broad impressions or click numbers—you’ll constantly be left guessing whether your efforts are working.
In this post, we break down 40 different PPC (and PPC-adjacent) metrics to help you optimize your campaigns and get the most bang for your buck. We’ve grouped the metrics into the overall buckets they fit within.
Want to skip ahead?
The world is your oyster, friend.
Primary PPC advertising metrics
These are the most common PPC metrics, which you’re likely already familiar with. We’ll define each and offer some suggestions on how to improve it.
Impressions
Impressions in PPC (pay-per-click) advertising refer to the number of times your ad is shown to potential viewers. It indicates the reach and visibility of your ad. The more impressions your ad gets, the higher the chances of capturing the attention of your target audience. Impressions are an important metric for measuring the initial exposure of your ad campaign.
How can you improve impressions?
- Increase your budget: Allocating more funds can increase the number of auctions your ads participate in.
- Expand targeting: Widen your geographical targeting and consider adjusting your target demographics.
- Add or optimize keywords: Incorporate broader or more keywords to increase the likelihood of your ads being shown.
Clicks
Clicks in PPC advertising refer to the number of times users click on your ad. It measures the level of interest and engagement generated by your campaign. The more clicks your ad receives, the more traffic you drive to your website. Clicks are a vital metric for assessing the success and effectiveness of your PPC campaigns.
How can you improve clicks?
- Optimize ad copy: Make your ad copy more enticing with strong call to actions and compelling messaging.
- Use ad extensions: Add extensions like site links, callouts, and structured snippets to enhance your ad visibility and provide more value.
- Test different ad formats: Experiment with image ads, video ads, or rich media ads to see which gets more engagement.
Conversions
Conversions in PPC advertising refer to the desired actions taken by users after clicking on your ad, such as making a purchase, filling out a form, or subscribing to a newsletter. It measures the effectiveness of your campaign in driving user engagement and achieving your specific goals. To see if your PPC efforts are working, the key metric to measure is conversions.
How can you improve conversions?
Ad efficiency metrics
These metrics measure how efficient your ad campaigns are, typically expressed as a rate or percentage (i.e., cost per X or X per click).
Cost-per-thousand (CPM)
Cost-per-thousand (CPM) is a metric that measures the cost of reaching one thousand impressions with your ad. It helps you understand how much you pay to reach a large audience. A lower CPM means you’re getting better value for your money, while a higher CPM may indicate the need for optimization or targeting improvements.
How can you improve CPM?
- Target high-value audiences: Focus on demographics or user behaviors that have a higher likelihood of engagement.
- Improve ad relevance: Enhance the alignment between your ads and the target audience to boost the likelihood of impressions.
- Optimize ad placements: Choose ad placements wisely based on historical data to get better value for your impressions.
Click-through rate (CTR)
Click-through rate (CTR) is a metric that measures the rate at which users click on your ad after seeing it. It calculates the percentage of impressions that result in a click. A higher CTR indicates that your ad is compelling and generating interest, while a lower CTR may signal the need for improvement or optimization.
How can you improve CTR?
- Refine targeting: Sharpen your targeting to reach a more relevant audience that is more likely to engage with your ads.
- A/B testing: Regularly A/B test different ad elements (like headlines and descriptions) to determine what resonates best with your audience.
- Improve ad relevance: Tailor your ad content to match the search intent more closely, increasing the likelihood of clicks.
Cost per click (CPC)
Cost per click (CPC) is a metric that tells you how much you’re paying each time a user clicks on your ad. It’s calculated by dividing the total cost of clicks by the total number of clicks. The average CPC for Google Ads in B2B is $3.33, but it can vary greatly based on factors like keyword competitiveness and ad quality.
How can you improve CPC?
- Keyword optimization: Focus on lower-cost, high-performance keywords to reduce average CPC.
- Improve Quality Score: Enhance ad relevance, landing page quality, and expected click-through rate to lower costs.
- Adjust bidding strategies: Experiment with different bidding strategies, such as Enhanced CPC or manual bidding to find the most cost-effective option.
Conversion rate (CR or CVR)
Conversion rate, abbreviated as CR or CVR, is a crucial metric in online advertising that measures the percentage of people who take a desired action, such as making a purchase or signing up for a newsletter, after clicking on an ad. It helps businesses understand the effectiveness of their advertising campaigns and the readiness of users to engage with their offerings. For a full breakdown of average conversion rates by industry to help you establish a benchmark, check out our Conversion Benchmark Report.
How can you improve your conversion rate?
Cost per acquisition (CPA)
Cost per acquisition (CPA) is a metric measuring the cost of acquiring a new customer through advertising efforts. It is calculated by dividing the total cost of advertising efforts by the number of conversions. This helps businesses track the effectiveness of their marketing campaigns and optimize their spending for better ROI.
How can you improve CPA?
- Optimize conversion paths: Streamline the process from ad click to conversion to reduce drop-offs.
- Use remarketing: Target users who have previously engaged with your site but haven’t converted with remarketing ads.
- Refine ad targeting: More precise targeting can lead to higher-quality leads that are more likely to convert, lowering your CPA.
Cost per lead (CPL) or cost per conversion
Cost per lead (CPL) is the amount you invest to capture each potential lead for your business. It shows how much you’re spending to turn website visitors into actionable leads. By measuring CPL, you can evaluate the cost-effectiveness of your ad campaigns and ensure you’re investing wisely to acquire valuable customers.
How can you improve CPL?
- Refine ad targeting: Improve targeting to reach individuals more likely to convert, reducing wastage.
- Streamline the conversion process: Remove unnecessary steps from your conversion funnel to lower drop-off rates.
- Enhance lead quality: Focus on capturing higher quality leads that are more likely to convert, which can ultimately lower your CPL.
PPC campaign management metrics
These metrics are more high-level than the other granular ad-specific KPIs. When measuring each of these metrics, you’ll likely be assessing them across campaigns rather than solely across individual ad groups.
Conversion value
Conversion value is the total monetary worth of all your conversions. It helps you understand the quality of your leads, not just the quantity. By assigning a value to each conversion action, you can see how much each conversion is worth to your business. This metric is crucial for determining the overall success of your campaigns.
How can you improve conversion value?
- Focus on high-value conversions: Prioritize and optimize for actions that offer the most value to your business.
- Upsell and cross-sell: Implement strategies to increase the value of each conversion, such as suggesting complementary products or services.
- Track and analyze: Use data tracking to better understand which aspects of your ads are driving the most valuable conversions and focus on these elements.
Ad spend (cost)
Ad spend, also referred to as total cost, is the amount of money a company invests in advertising campaigns to reach potential customers. It includes expenses on platforms like Google Ads or social media ads. Understanding ad spend helps businesses track their marketing budget and measure the effectiveness of their advertising efforts.
How can you improve ad spend?
- Budget optimization: Regularly review and adjust your ad spend based on campaign performance and ROI.
- Cost-effective ad strategies: Shift focus towards more cost-effective channels and ad formats.
- Negotiate better rates with smaller ad networks: For sponsored content or private ad placements, try to negotiate better rates or placements to maximize your ad spend efficiency.
Return on ad spend (ROAS)
Return on ad spend (ROAS) is a metric that measures how much revenue a company generates from its advertising efforts compared to the total amount spent on those ads. Essentially, it tells you how effectively your ads bring in money. The higher the ROAS, the better your campaign is at driving revenue.
How can you improve ROAS?
- Optimize for high-performing keywords: Focus on keywords that generate the most revenue relative to their cost.
- Improve conversion rates: Enhance the user experience on landing pages to convert more visitors into customers.
- Monitor and adjust bids: Regularly adjust bids to ensure you are investing in ads that provide the best return.
Customer acquisition cost (CAC)
Customer acquisition cost (CAC) is the amount of money a business spends to acquire a new customer. It’s calculated by dividing the total campaign cost by the number of new customers gained. To reduce CAC, refine your target audience, improve conversion rates, and enhance ad quality. Keeping CAC low is crucial for maximizing profits.
How can you improve CAC?
- Enhance targeting efficiency: Sharpen your ad targeting to reach users more likely to convert, thus lowering your CAC.
- Streamline the conversion path: Reduce friction in the conversion process to increase the conversion rate and decrease acquisition costs.
- Leverage organic strategies: Complement paid campaigns with organic strategies like SEO to reduce reliance on paid media.
Ad quality and performance metrics
These metrics are mainly focused on the quality of individual ads or creatives within your campaigns. Improving these metrics often has a cascading effect that improves multiple other related metrics.
Frequency
Ad frequency is a measure of how often people see your ad. It’s calculated by dividing the total number of times your ad is shown by the number of unique people who see it.
How can you improve frequency?
- Cap frequency: Implement frequency capping to limit how often the same person sees your ad, preventing ad fatigue.
- Target new audiences: Expand your targeting to reach new segments, reducing the frequency of ad impressions among the same users.
- Optimize campaign duration: Adjust the length of your campaigns to avoid overexposing your ads to the same audience.
Quality score
The Quality Score in Google Ads is a rating that shows how relevant your ads are to users compared to others. It takes into account factors like past click-through rates, landing page quality, and keyword relevance. A higher Quality Score can lead to better ad positions and lower costs, making your campaigns more effective and efficient.
How can you improve quality score?
- Improve ad relevance: Ensure your ads, keywords, and landing pages are highly relevant to each other.
- Enhance click-through rate (CTR): Write compelling ad copy and use strong call to actions to improve your CTR.
- Optimize landing pages: Make sure your landing pages provide a good user experience, are relevant to your ads, and load quickly.
Engagement rate
Engagement rate is a metric that shows how actively users are interacting with your ads. It measures the percentage of users who click, like, share, or comment on your ad. A high engagement rate indicates that your ad is resonating with your audience, leading to increased brand awareness and potential conversions.
How can you improve your engagement rate?
- Create engaging content: Use high-quality visuals and compelling copy that resonates with your audience.
- Use interactive elements: Incorporate interactive ad features like carousels, polls, or quizzes to boost engagement.
- Segment your audience: Tailor your ads to specific segments of your audience to increase relevance and engagement.
Invalid clicks
Invalid clicks in Google Ads refer to clicks that Google deems as spam, fake, or from bots. These clicks are not counted towards your total clicks as they are considered questionable. Monitoring this metric can help detect click fraud or competitor targeting. Google provides a complaint form to address any inappropriate activity.
How can you improve invalid clicks?
- Use automated filters: Most ad platforms have automated systems to identify and filter out invalid clicks. Ensure these are activated.
- Monitor click patterns: Regularly review your click reports for unusual patterns that could indicate fraudulent or spam activity.
- Refine targeting: Narrow your targeting to avoid low-quality traffic sources that may result in higher invalid clicks.
Video views
Video views are the number of times your video ad has been watched by viewers. This metric shows you how many people have seen your content, giving you insights into the reach and engagement of your video campaign. It helps you understand the effectiveness of your video content in capturing the audience’s attention.
How can you improve video views?
- Optimize video content: Create compelling and relevant content that resonates with your target audience to encourage more views.
- Promote your videos: Use multiple channels to promote your video content, including social media, email newsletters, and other digital marketing platforms.
- Optimize for search: Use relevant keywords in your video titles, descriptions, and tags to improve visibility on search platforms and within video hosting services.
Video view rate
Video view rate is the percentage of viewers who watched your video ad compared to the total number of times it was shown. This metric shows how engaging your video content is and can help you optimize your ads for better results. It’s a key indicator of how well your video resonates with your audience.
How can you improve your video view rate?
- Improve the first few seconds: Grab attention quickly within the first few seconds to keep viewers watching.
- Target accurately: Ensure your videos are shown to users who are most likely to be interested in your content.
- Test different ad placements: Some placements may perform better in terms of viewer engagement than others. Experiment to find the most effective placements for your videos.
“Video played to” or video completion percentage
The “Video played to” metric shows how much of your video ad viewers actually watched. It breaks down the percentage of viewers who watched 25%, 50%, 75%, or 100% of your video. This helps you understand how engaging your video content is and optimize it for better viewer retention.
How can you improve “video played to” percentages?
- Keep it concise: Shorter videos tend to hold attention better and are often watched to completion more frequently.
- Enhance the storyline: Develop a compelling narrative that maintains viewer interest throughout the video.
- Include a call to action: Encourage viewers to watch until the end with teasers about what’s coming up, especially if there’s a strong call to action at the end.
Competitive and relative PPC metrics
These metrics compare your campaigns either directly to competitor campaigns or to the total “size of the pie” that your ads could be winning. Some of these metrics are less in your control than the metrics above, but are still worth monitoring so you can adjust budgets or bid strategies accordingly.
Impression share
Impression share is the percentage of times your ad is shown compared to the total number of times it could be shown. It’s like a measure of how visible your ad is to potential customers. The higher the impression share, the more exposure your ad is getting. So, it’s important to track and improve it to reach more people.
How can you improve your impression share?
- Increase bids: Boosting your bid amount can help your ad compete better in auctions, potentially increasing your impression share.
- Expand your reach: Consider broadening your targeting criteria to include more locations, times, or demographics.
- Optimize ad quality: Improve the relevance and quality of your ads to score better in ad rankings, which can help increase your impression share.
Click share
Click share is the percentage of clicks your ads receive out of the estimated total number of clicks you were eligible to receive. This metric is crucial for understanding how effectively your ads engage users compared to their potential. A higher click share indicates your ads capture more of the available traffic, suggesting they are well-optimized and relevant to searchers’ needs.
How can you improve your click share?
- Enhance ad creatives: Make your ads more attractive and compelling to encourage more clicks.
- Expand your keywords: Adding more relevant keywords can help increase the potential pool of clicks your ads can receive.
- Adjust your bidding strategy: Consider using strategies like maximizing clicks to potentially increase your click share.
Search top impression rate
Top impression rate shows how often your ad appears in the top results above the organic search listings. It’s measured by dividing the number of your top impressions by the total number of impressions your ad received. This metric helps you assess the prominence of your ads on search pages, aiming to optimize for visibility where users are most likely to engage. Enhancing this can significantly increase your ad’s potential to attract clicks.
How can you improve your top impression rate?
- Increase your bids: Raising bids can help your ads appear more frequently in the top search results.
- Improve ad quality: Enhance the relevance and performance of your ads to increase their likelihood of appearing at the top of the page.
- Use ad extensions: Adding extensions can make your ads larger and more noticeable, improving their position.
Absolute top impression share
Absolute top impression percentage is the metric in Google Ads that indicates how often your ad appears in the very first ad position above all organic search results. It’s calculated by dividing the number of your “absolute top” impressions by the total number of impressions your ad received. This metric is key for understanding how often your ad is the first thing potential customers see, maximizing visibility and click opportunities at the highest spot on the page.
How can you improve your absolute top impression share?
- Optimize your bids: Bid more aggressively to compete for the absolute top position in search results.
- Enhance Quality Score: Focus on improving your ad relevance, landing page experience, and CTR to improve your Quality Score, which can influence your ad position.
- Target high-intent keywords: Focus on keywords closely related to conversions or sales, as these can often yield better positioning when competition is high.
Position above rate
Position above rate tells you how often your ad appeared above another advertiser’s ad in the paid search results. It’s calculated by dividing the number of times your ad was positioned above a competitor’s by the total number of times your ad and the competitor’s ad were shown. This metric helps you understand your ad’s competitive advantage in auction placements, guiding you to make strategic adjustments to improve your ad positioning.
How can you improve your position above rate?
- Analyze competitors: Understand your competitors’ ad strategies and adjust yours to better compete against them.
- Adjust targeting and scheduling: Optimize when and where your ads appear to outperform competitor ads more frequently.
- Refine your ad copy: Create more compelling and targeted ad copy to improve your ad’s performance and ranking.
Top-of-page rate
Top-of-page rate measures how often your ad appears at the top of the search results page, just above the organic listings. This metric is calculated by dividing the number of your top-of-page impressions by the total number of times your ad was eligible to be shown. Monitoring this rate helps you assess and optimize the effectiveness of your bids and the relevance of your ad to improve its visibility at the most impactful spots on the search results page.
How can you improve your top-of-page rate?
- Refine bids and budgets: Ensure your bids are competitive enough to win top-of-page placements without overspending.
- Improve ad relevance and Quality Score: As with many metrics, a better Quality Score can lead to better ad placements.
- Use responsive search ads: These can improve your chances of achieving top-of-page rates by automatically adjusting content to match search queries.
Overlap rate
Overlap rate is a Google Ads metric that measures how often your ad is shown at the same time as another advertiser’s ad in the same auction. It’s calculated by dividing the number of times your ad overlapped with another ad by the total number of times your ad was displayed. This metric helps you understand how frequently you are competing with other advertisers for the same audience, offering insights into the competitive landscape of your ad placements.
How can you improve your overlap rate?
- Broaden your keyword strategy: Include a wider range of keywords to reduce direct competition on highly competitive terms.
- Adjust your ad schedule: Schedule your ads for different times of the day or week when your competitors’ ads may not be as prevalent.
- Segment your audience more precisely: Narrow your target audience to reduce the overlap with competitors targeting broader audiences.
Outranking share
Outranking share indicates how often your ads rank higher in the search results, or appear when another advertiser’s ad does not. It’s calculated by dividing the number of times your ad ranked higher than a specific competitor’s ad by the total number of auctions in which both ads were eligible to appear. This metric helps you gauge your competitive position and can guide strategies to improve your ad ranking relative to your competitors.
How can you improve your outranking share?
- Implement aggressive bidding: Temporarily increase bids to outbid competitors and monitor the impact on your outranking share.
- Focus on ad quality and relevance: Improve your ads’ appeal to boost their competitiveness in auctions.
- Target different keywords: Sometimes, targeting less competitive keywords where you can dominate can be more effective than battling for highly contested terms.
Lost impression share (budget)
Lost impression share (budget) shows the percentage of times your ad didn’t appear on the search results page due to insufficient budget. This metric is calculated by dividing the number of times your ad was eligible to appear but didn’t, by the total number of times it was eligible to show. It helps you understand if increasing your budget could potentially lead to more impressions, thereby increasing opportunities for clicks and conversions.
How can you improve your lost impression share due to budget?
- Increase your budget: The obvious, of course. If feasible, increase your daily budget to reduce the chances of your ads being limited by budget constraints.
- Optimize your ad schedule: Focus your budget on peak times when potential customers are most active.
- Implement campaign budget optimization: Use tools like Google’s campaign budget optimization to automatically adjust spending for maximum impact.
Lost impression share (rank)
Lost impression share (rank) reveals the percentage of times your ad didn’t appear in search results due to poor ad rank. It is calculated by dividing the number of missed impressions due to rank by the total number of times your ad could have been shown. This metric helps you identify if improvements in bid amounts, ad quality, or keyword relevance might increase your ad’s chances of being displayed, thereby enhancing visibility and potential engagement.
How can you improve your lost impression share due to rank?
- Improve your bid strategy: Consider raising your bids or using bid adjustments to improve your ad rank.
- Enhance your Quality Score: Improve ad relevance, CTR, and landing page quality.
- Review and refine your targeting: Make sure you’re targeting the most appropriate audiences and using the most effective ad formats and content.
Landing page experience and “micro-conversion” metrics
These are your post-click metrics. Once a visitor has clicked through from your ad, optimizing these metrics will help maximize the number of high-value actions they take. A more efficient landing page means more efficient ad campaigns.
Call to action (CTA) button clicks
CTA clicks are the number of times a user clicks on a call to action button or link in an advertisement or webpage. This metric measures how effective your CTA is in prompting users to take the desired action, such as purchasing or filling out a form. It helps track engagement and conversion rates.
How can you improve CTA clicks?
- Make CTAs visible and compelling: Place your CTAs prominently on the page and use persuasive text that incites action.
- Use contrasting colors: Make your CTA buttons stand out with colors that contrast well with the rest of the page.
- A/B test different CTAs: Experiment with different phrases, sizes, and placements to see which gets more clicks.
“Add to cart” events
“Add to cart” events refer to the number of times users have added items to their online shopping cart while browsing a website. This metric is important for measuring user interest and potential conversions. The more “add to cart” events, the higher the likelihood of a successful sale.
How can you improve your “add to cart” events?
- Streamline the process: Reduce the number of clicks needed to add items to the cart.
- Highlight the button: Make the “Add to cart” button large, colorful, and easy to find.
- Offer incentives: Use promotions or limited-time offers to encourage users to add items to their carts.
“Added payment info” events
“Added payment info” events refer to the actions taken by users when they input their payment details during an online transaction. This metric helps businesses track the number of times customers provide their payment information, indicating a step closer to completing a purchase.
How can you improve your “added payment info” events?
- Simplify the payment process: Make the payment entry as simple and straightforward as possible.
- Use trust signals: Display security badges and use SSL to reassure users that their information is safe.
- Offer multiple payment options: Provide various payment methods to cater to different preferences.
Form starts
Form starts is a metric that shows how many times users have initiated filling out a lead form attached to your ad. It indicates user interest in your products or services.
How can you improve form start rate?
- Design user-friendly forms: Make forms easy to start with clear instructions and a clean layout.
- Limit the number of fields: Reduce the number of fields to the minimum necessary to decrease perceived effort.
- Engage users immediately: Place forms prominently and consider using engaging elements like sliders or interactive steps to draw attention.
Form abandonment rate
Form abandonment rate is the percentage of users who start filling out a form on your website but leave before completing it. This metric shows how many people show interest in your offering but don’t follow through.
How can you improve your form abandonment rate?
- Optimize form length: Keep forms short and straightforward; ask only for essential information.
- Provide progress indicators: Let users know how far along they are in the process and how much is left.
- Implement auto-save features: Ensure that users can pick up where they left off without losing data if they get interrupted.
Calls received
Calls received is a metric that tracks the number of phone calls your business receives from a phone number displayed on your landing page. It helps you understand how many potential customers are reaching out to you via phone. This metric is important for measuring the effectiveness of your landing page in generating leads.
How can you improve calls received from your landing pages?
- Promote your contact number: Make sure your phone number is visible and prominent on all landing pages.
- Use click-to-call buttons: On mobile versions, use click-to-call technology to simplify making a phone call.
- Offer incentives for calling: Sometimes, offering a special deal or discount for phone inquiries can increase calls.
Scroll depth
Scroll depth measures how far down a visitor scrolls on your landing page. It helps you understand whether people are engaging with your content or quickly bouncing off. This metric can give you insights into the effectiveness of your page layout and content.
How can you improve your scroll depth?
- Improve content quality: Offer valuable and engaging content that compels visitors to keep reading.
- Use visual cues: Incorporate interesting images, infographics, or videos encouraging users to scroll down.
- Optimize page layout: Arrange content so that important and engaging elements appear progressively as the user scrolls.
Bounce rate
Bounce rate is the percentage of visitors who land on your website but leave without interacting further. A high bounce rate could indicate a poor user experience or that visitors didn’t find what they were looking for.
How can you improve your bounce rate?
- Match content with expectations: Ensure that the content on your landing page closely aligns with what your ads promise.
- Improve page load speed: Optimize images and streamline code to ensure the page loads quickly.
- Test user experience: Regularly check and update the landing page design to optimize for usability and appeal. Following basic landing page best practices here can go a long way.
Average time on page
Average time on page is exactly what it sounds like—the average amount of time visitors spend on your landing page. It’s a key metric for measuring engagement and interest in your content. The longer the average time on page, the more likely visitors are to find value in what you have to offer.
How can you improve the average time on your page?
- Engage with media: Use videos, audio, or interactive content to keep visitors engaged longer.
- Improve content readability: Use short paragraphs, bullet points, and subheadings to make content easy to digest.
How to choose the right PPC metrics to measure
The overarching question you’re likely asking yourself right now is this:
“Which metrics actually matter, and which can I ignore?”
Unfortunately, the true answer is this:
It will depend on where you’re running ads, how competitive your industry is, what a conversion is worth to you, and how much budget you’re working with. Fortunately, though, we can offer you a simple framework to keep top-of-mind when narrowing down the list of PPC metrics you plan to monitor closely.
Good PPC metrics are traffic-focused
Many advertisers will default to looking at the click-through rate or cost per click when determining the success of a campaign. Google Ads provides a lot of traffic-focused metrics that are incredibly useful, including underused gems like device segmentation and impression share.
And while those are definitely a good start, it’s important not to get so distracted that you lose sight of your basic business goals: generating a profit.
Far too many advertisers still don’t have conversion tracking in place.
Conversion tracking allows you to measure conversion actions like a purchase or a lead submission in your ad platform, usually by placing a code snippet on a thank you or order confirmation page.
Without that piece of code, the only metrics you can measure are related to traffic, such as search impressions, clicks and click-through rates. Let’s look at an example to see why this is problematic.
What traffic-focused metrics tell you
Imagine you’re a mortgage company and each new paying customer is worth on average $3,500 in revenue with 50% in gross margin.
If you haven’t set up conversion tracking, you’ll mostly end up looking at reports like this:
If we’re only looking at traffic-focused metrics, our top campaign seems to be Campaign 5, which has the most clicks, the best click-through rate and the lowest cost per click.
Meanwhile, Campaign 4 has expensive clicks—which looks like a red flag.
But the truth is this data alone can’t really tell us whether the campaigns are successful to a company’s bottom line. For our mortgage company, we need to know whether the clicks are actually translating into useful leads.
Better PPC metrics are conversion-focused
If you’re already using conversion tracking, pat yourself on the back: you’re better off than much of the competition.
If you’re not, then get conversion tracking set up immediately. It’s easy to set up on most platforms like Google Ads and Bing Ads (and if you’re using Unbounce you can put the tracking code right on a built-in thank you page).
Think beyond web conversions
Conversion tracking is more than just web leads and sales: among new accounts we’ve seen, approximately 75% of advertisers who take phone leads don’t track them as conversions.
For many industries, phone calls are the main source of leads, so it’s critical to include calls in your conversion tracking. Many call tracking platforms have built-in ways of setting this up.
Call leads are more valuable for some businesses than for others, so you’ll want to keep in mind that not all types of conversions are necessarily equal—but the first step is making sure everything is tracked and measured.
What conversion-focused metrics tell you
Let’s say our mortgage company joins the big leagues and sets up conversion and call tracking. Here’s how that report looks:
Now we can start identifying our top-performing campaigns using cost-per-lead data (cost per conversion in Google Ads). You’ll notice that Campaign 5 has the best cost per conversion, so it still looks like our top performer. Campaign 4 still looks like trouble.
But while conversions are great, what really matters is whether leads become paying customers.
Conversions tell us how many leads our company got, but not how many actually signed up to refinance their homes or how much revenue they brought in.
The best PPC metrics are ROI-focused
Let’s move to the golden metric for marketers who want to use the most meaningful data: actual ROI.
That means tracking leads from click to close and measuring revenue on a per-lead basis. When you understand which campaigns, ads, and keywords are actually generating revenue, you’ll be way ahead of competitors who have no idea where they’re making or losing money.
What ROI-focused metrics tell you
Let’s say our mortgage company decides to figure out exactly which leads are earning revenue. We can track specific leads in our CRM back to each campaign, set up separate phone numbers for each campaign, and record which calls led to sales.
Using our customer value numbers from above, we can calculate the following report:
Suddenly Campaign 4, which looked so bad before, is now our hero. Not only does it have the best ROI, it brings in the most revenue and the most sales — and that’s with the fewest conversions and second-fewest clicks.
Now we know something much more useful than cost per conversion — we know how valuable a conversion is. We know where to focus our marketing efforts to maximize revenue, and where we can make improvements that impact the bottom line.
We could then respond by allocating more budget to Campaigns 4 and 5.
Meanwhile, Campaign 3 gets a lot of traffic and conversions but has a poor ROI, so we can get to work at rewriting ads and landing pages to better qualify those leads.
Those are the kinds of changes that have meaningful results.
