Metrics and data have brought the marketing world to life…but what happens when your ad account gives you a case of Information Overload? Not only do you risk total distraction, but you may tune out the metrics that matter the most.
To combat the noise, MatchCraft has gathered the most crucial PPC metrics out there. When in doubt, pay attention to these metrics first to avoid analysis paralysis (and help your campaigns soar).
1. Cost Per Acquisition (CPA)
Conversions can give you an adrenaline rush—hey, the marketing, it’s working! However, if you’re not careful, they can become one giant conversion shopping spree. You know, the kind where you run up your bills?
CPA is a metric that can vary wildly. It’s good to go into it with a reasonable goal, so you can keep an eye on what conversions are really costing you—and if it even makes sense at that price.
2. Click-Through Rate (CTR)
There’s an obsession over huge traffic numbers among online marketers, but the smart ones know that traffic doesn’t mean zilch unless it performs.
CTR is one way to gauge this. If no one is clicking, take a peek at your ads with fresh eyes; something about them is not coming across the right way to your audience, and it may be time to test something new.
3. Conversion Rate
This is the ultimate tell: are your ads working or not? You can funnel all the traffic in the world and garner a ton of clicks, but at the end of the day, it’s conversions that matter the most. If they’re suffering, it’s time to optimize.
4. Total Return On Investment (ROI)
What are you getting out of your PPC campaign?
This is the single, snapshot number that you can share with clients to show that they are getting a return out of the investment they’re putting in. Total ROI accounts for everything – all costs, your management fee, etc.—and gives an at-a-glance number of what clients are getting, and the health of the overall PPC campaign.
5. Quality Score
Quality Score acts as the behind-the-scenes lever, driving the mechanics of your AdWords account. It’s the Google way of rating how relevant your keywords and PPC are.
Quality Score is important, as it’s used to determine your cost per click. It’s also used to determine your ad rank in ad auctions.
6. Budgets
Ugh, right? But pay attention to that number. This is your allotted PPC ad spend in any given day. But, beware, your budget can exceed your daily max by up to 20%!
Consider the swing this can have on a large budget. This is due to the natural ebbs and flows of your website traffic.
Read more about ad budgets and why they may exceed your daily max, here.
Now, give these metrics a quick glance.
Okay, so now you know the top metrics to watch? But what about the ones to avoid? Here are a few popular metrics many marketers kick to the virtual curb.
7. View-Through Conversions
View-Throughs capture visitors who may have seen your ad on a display network site, and then later converted on your site. But who really knows why they made that conversion?
Your guess is just that—a guess. And guesses are no good in marketing.
8. Impressions
PPC is all about direct, measurable response: tracking every click, every action.
Impressions can easily rise and fall due to random reasons like politics, the news, even a natural disaster. But if your conversion rate is holding steady, there’s probably not a huge reason to sweat.
What are your must-see metrics within Google AdWords, and why?