To get the best results from PPC campaigns, you need regular management and evaluation. Many people think they can launch ads and not worry about anything else. It doesn't work that simply. If you want relevant customers and higher sales, you have to look after the campaign. Here are the basic metrics worth tracking to make campaigns more effective.
Impressions
When your ad is shown to a user, it counts as an impression. Google Ads shows how many impressions your ads received, but the number of impressions alone doesn't measure a campaign's success, because it doesn't tell you how relevant those users are.
An important metric, though, is impression share. It measures the impressions your ad received compared with the impressions it could have received:
impressions received / total eligible impressions
Impression share is measured in percent and is a great way to indirectly measure a campaign's success against competitors. For example, if 100 users searched for a keyword and your ad received 30 impressions, your impression share would be 30% and the remaining 70% went to your competitors. Google Ads also shows lost impression share directly.
How to increase impression share
The two main factors that affect the number of impressions, and therefore impression share, are:
- Ad position: if your ads don't appear on the first page of results, you naturally won't get as many impressions. Many factors affect position, such as Quality Score and max. CPC. If your Quality Score is low, focus on improving the ads and check the relevance of the landing page. If you bid a low cost per click, consider whether it's worth raising.
- Budget: if a campaign is limited by budget, ads stop showing and impression share drops. In that case, consider raising the daily budget to keep up with the competition.
Top and absolute top impression share
The absolute top position means the very first result in search. All ads shown above the organic results are counted as top impressions. These ads have the best chance of a click, because users see them first.
Click-through rate (CTR)
Another key metric is the click-through rate. CTR shows how many of the people who see an ad actually click on it:
total ad clicks / total ad impressions × 100 = %
For a campaign with 100 clicks and 1,250 impressions, CTR is 8%. That is considered a good value, but CTR varies a lot by industry and campaign type. Search campaigns are expected to have a much higher CTR than display campaigns, for example.
Many companies consider a high CTR the most important thing. Far more important, though, is reaching a relevant audience with relevant, non-misleading ad messages. The key is finding a balance between cost and relevance. Always start with your goal. Do you want as many people as possible to visit your website? Focus on a high click-through rate. Do you want more visits that are likely to convert? Sacrifice a high CTR and focus your budget on those who bring a better return.
Conversions
Conversions are probably the most important thing you can track in campaigns. Clicks, impressions and average cost per click show campaign performance, but conversions show how your efforts actually affect business results. A conversion is an event or action on your website that you have chosen to track. Pick something that has value for your business and matches the campaign's goals.
Types of conversions you can track:
- a purchase on the website,
- a page view,
- a newsletter sign-up,
- phone calls,
- app installs,
- offline conversions.
Conversion rate
Once conversion tracking is set up, you can track the conversion rate. The number of conversions alone doesn't show how a campaign is doing. Two campaigns with 4 conversions may not perform equally: one might have got them from 500 clicks, the other from 20.
The conversion rate is the percentage of clicks that led to a completed goal. Tracking the conversion rate over time shows how a campaign is doing and helps you decide on changes. A drop in conversions can have other causes, such as a short campaign pause, a higher cost per click or fewer clicks.
How to improve the conversion rate
A low conversion rate can have many causes. Always test big changes, for example with A/B tests.
- Relevant ads: make sure ads describe the service on offer accurately. Fewer people will then click and leave within seconds because they didn't find what they were looking for.
- Negative keywords: review search terms regularly and exclude irrelevant ones.
- The right landing page: bring users to the specific page for what they are looking for, not to a general page or the homepage. The landing page needs a clear, visible call to action, and the path to conversion should be as simple and fast as possible.
Cost of sale (PNO)
Another useful metric is the cost of sale, known in Czech as PNO. It expresses what percentage of the revenue generated by advertising was spent on the ads:
cost / revenue × 100 (%)
In general, the lower the cost of sale, the better. It shows whether the advertising costs paid off. E-shops benefit from it most, because they can measure the monetary value of conversions.
Cost per click (CPC)
CPC is the amount you pay for an ad click and a website visit. The actual value varies by industry and competition. Track it so you don't pay too much compared with competitors. A simple route to a good return is to track which keywords cost you the most and assess whether they bring enough conversions.
Many people try to cut costs by lowering bids and limiting expensive keywords. That can damage the whole campaign. Expensive keywords tend to be the most relevant. If you remove them, you hide your ads from the people most likely to convert. A lower bid also worsens ad position. The key to CPC is balance.
Landing page performance
A landing page that grabs attention and gives users all the important information is a must. To evaluate its performance, we use Google Analytics.
Bounce rate
The percentage of visitors who closed the page without any further interaction. A high value can mean you don't provide relevant information, that you appear for irrelevant searches, or that the page doesn't load fast enough.
Session duration
The average time visitors spend on the page. A low value can mean there isn't enough information to decide, or, for example, that the page doesn't display well on mobile.
Evaluating campaigns and putting the insights to good use takes a lot of time. Get in touch for a free consultation and we'll find the ideal solution for you.
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