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Google Ads Metrics: how to measure PPC performance

Google Ads is the biggest PPC marketing platform available to advertisers. It provides users with a selection of helpful metrics to measure performance and ensure we’re meeting all of our PPC goals within a realistic budget.

We understand that starting a new advertising campaign and getting your head around all of the data that comes with PPC, can be confusing at first.

We’re going to take a closer look at some of the key performance metrics that will help you keep on top of your PPC campaigns and get the most out of your Google Ads accounts.

We’re going to focus on:

  • Impressions
  • Clicks
  • Click-through rate (CTR)
  • Cost-per-click (CPC)
  • Cost-per-acquisition (CPA) 
  • Quality Score
Google Ads on phone
Google Ads

Number of Impressions

An impression happens whenever your PPC ad appears on a search result page or Google Network site. PPC impressions are based on your campaign keywords and key terms. Each time a user searches for your keyword or phrase and your site appears – that’s an impression.

You can initially use this metric to check whether your ads are appearing on SERP or not. Your ad needs to be displayed to see any kind of performance within your Google Ads account. 

If you’re not gaining impressions – then you’ll need to experiment and make some changes within your account. Consider the following points:

  • Budget control – If your budget is running out, Google will stop displaying your PPC ads. Keeping on top of budget can help to maintain impressions.
  • Bid Management –  Your bids should be competitive enough to get your ad to appear.
  • Quality Score – A higher quality score generally means a better ad rank and more impressions. Google will display the ads that are relevant and likely to provide solutions for search engine users.

If you’re gaining impressions – then you can start to focus on impressions in relation to other performance metrics.

Clicks and CTR

Click-through rate is an important metric that measures the number of clicks you receive on their ads per the number of impressions.

Once you know you’ve got a good impression share – you can look at this compared to your CTR. A high click-through rate indicates that users are interested in your ad and want to find out more on your landing page. Without any landing page traffic, you’ll find your campaign at a standstill.

A high CTR can show you whether you’re targeting the right kind of users, using relevant keywords and producing high-quality ad copy that drives results.

A low CTR is an indication that there is something wrong with how you’re targeting your audience. Usually, this is some kind of disconnect in terms of your language, tone or messaging. Remember to focus on your unique selling point in your ad copy.

CPC and CPA

Your cost-per-click or CPC is the amount you pay each time a user clicks on your ad. This is a key metric because it helps you to determine the financial gains from your PPC campaigns.

Cost per acquisition – also known as cost per action or CPA – is a metric that measures the costs of a customer taking an action that leads to a conversion.

Looking at these two metrics together can help you work out your return on investment (ROI) and whether or not you’re earning enough back in your account.

Typically, your CPA will be higher than the CPC. This is because not every user who clicks through to your ad will go on to make a purchase or complete another desired action (convert).

If you’re paying too much for each click and not seeing enough conversions – then your ROI will likely suffer. Your ROI is calculated on how much you are paying for each click, plus the kind of results those clicks are bringing your business.

Are users clicking and then heading back to search? Are they scrolling but not converting? Keeping an eye on your CPC is a way of knowing whether you’re paying too little or too much for clicks. If you answered the above questions with a ‘yes’ – then it’s probably the case that you’re paying too much or need to work on your landing page optimisation. Similarly, your CPA can determine whether your conversions are coming in at a reasonable cost.

You’ll also need to consider the competitiveness of your industry and the keywords you’re targeting. But, it’s still important to focus on those metrics you can control. 

Are you paying more for a lead than you will make in return from their custom? If so, you’re essentially paying them to be your customer (without any noticeable gain). Before lowering your CPC, you should look at how to do so without losing any value. Think about the following:

  • Expanding your keyword list
  • Add a negative keyword list to avoid irrelevant clicks
  • Work on your quality score 

Making improvements in other areas of your Google Ads campaign can bring you towards a lower CPC without losing value.

Quality Score

Google provides users with a quality score on a scale of 1-10 (10 being the highest). This is based on the quality, relevance and performance of your PPC marketing campaign. Quality score is applied to your campaigns, keywords, ad groups and PPC landing page. This metric holds importance because it indicates how well Google will rank your PPC ad and how much you’ll pay per click.

Quality Score Google
Google Quality Score Factors

When giving you a good quality score, Google recognises that your ad is highly relevant and likely to answer customer solutions. Essentially, you’ll be setting yourself up for better ad positions at lowers costs and higher click-through rates. There is some debate around the importance of quality score – but as long as you’re optimising your ad for relevancy and conversions, it’s likely your quality score will increase and so will your performance.

Focus on your business goals

The most important thing is focusing on the performance of your account based on your unique PPC objectives. Generally speaking, lowering the CPC and CPA are usually top priorities for performance marketers.

On top of this, be sure to include your unique selling point (USP) in your PPC ad copy. and have a highly relevant landing page to follow.

Experimenting and testing is key to a successful Google Ads campaign. So don’t worry if you have to spend some time figuring out what works and what doesn’t.

Feel free to contact our PPC team if you have any questions.