Google Ads performance: Top metrics you need to track

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Today, Google is named the world's most dominant search engine, capturing almost 95% of mobile traffic and 80% of the search market share. Thus, it's no wonder most marketers prefer to promote their businesses and brands using Google Ads. The large traffic in Google makes it an excellent option to run paid advertisements and help companies gain both organic and paid searches.

On the downside, because most businesses worldwide are now running their own paid ads, almost everyone will compete for the same traffic. Many would spend large budgets to ensure their brands live large on all Google results pages. Data reports that Google's ad revenue increases every year and has now reached over USD$ 55 billion.

The performance of your Google ads doesn't depend on how much you've spent on the advertisements. Rather, it's how your advertising efforts hit the metrics that will indicate how well they're performing and whether you're reaching the right target audience as you expected.

But how will you know if your Google ads campaign efforts effectively generate leads and sales? You can measure that through Google ads KPIs.

The importance of analysing the Google Ads KPIs

For starters, Google ads Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) are transparent and measurable metrics that help advertisers to analyse, monitor, and optimise the effectiveness of their ad campaigns.

As a marketer, recognising these metrics is essential in measuring profitability of your strategy and analysing whether your current ad campaigns are generating sales. If any area is not working for you, you can make more informed decisions, such as cutting them off your ads campaign or allotting your advertising budget somewhere else for better results.

The top metrics to check for your Google Ads performance

Google ads have tons of metrics or KPIs that will help determine the performance of your paid ads. For inexperienced marketers and first-time advertisers, it's natural to get confused about which metrics you should be watching to assess the success of your ads campaign. There's no one-size-fits-all answer as to which specific metrics you should only check because it depends on the various factors specific to your business and industry.

This article will show you the top and most important Google ads metrics that most industries track to help you measure and analyse the effectiveness of your ad campaigns and the revenue you're getting from them.

1. Impressions

One of the most crucial metrics you must pay attention to is impressions. This metric will show how often your ad appears or is displayed on Google search results. Your ads frequently show on the search results pages so people can click on them and potentially generate leads and sales. Thus, regardless of your industry/business type or campaign goals, you must regularly check your ads' impressions.

If you see low impressions on your ads, you can't expect any click-throughs or conversions because this means no one is seeing them. To resolve this issue, you may need to readjust your budget as it controls how often your ad will be displayed. The bigger your target market is, the bigger your budget should be so your ads can cover more potential impressions.

2. Ad clicks

If your ad campaign aims to boost your website traffic, the number of ad clicks will help you determine how many clicks your ads have generated. Ad clicks measure how many people have clicked on your ads or how often the linked text or images were clicked. If your ads have low clicks, it may be because they don't attract attention to the viewers or weren't targeted to the right audience.

To resolve this, you may have to improve the design of your ad quality to make it enticing enough for people to click through. Or, if the design or display is already better, you might need to readjust your ad targeting and ensure it fits the right audience. You may also incorporate keywords relevant to the product/service you're advertising and monitor which ones yield better results.

Be wary that you shouldn't make significant decisions based on this metric alone because many clicks don't guarantee a successful or effective ad campaign. Some of these clicks might have been done unintentionally or were a mistake, which is why other metrics will be discussed below.

3. Click-through rate (CTR)

Perhaps, some of you may wonder, "Why do I need to track click-through rates (CTRs) when I'm already tracking the clicks?" This can also confuse some marketers as both click rates and click-through rates measure the same thing: the number of clicks generated per ad. But the thing is, click rates and click-through rates are two completely different metrics.

For instance, if you send an email to hundreds of recipients, the click rate represents the number of people who received and opened the email. Meanwhile, the click-through rate represents the number of people who not only opened the email but also clicked on the ad or ad link inside the email.

Click-through rate (CTR) is another type of Google ads KPI that shows the percentage of how many times the ad was clicked divided by the number of times it was displayed on the search results page.

CTR is an important metric you should consider because it can help you determine the relevance and effectiveness of your campaign. If you want to generate leads and conversions from your Google ads, people must not only click on your ads. They must also click on what is on your ad so it can lead to sales. The average click-through rate most industries set is 3.17%.

A high CTR indicates that users find your Google ads relevant and helpful. But you may have to change your ad campaign when it's lower than the average. You can write better ad copy with strong call-to-action and emotional triggers to increase your Google Ads CTR. When copywriting Google ads, emotional triggers can make your ads resonate better with the users, prompting them to click on your ad.

4. Cost

The cost metric will measure how much money you're spending on your ads and analyse whether you're wasting your budget or putting them to good use. As mentioned earlier, higher costs don't always equate to higher profits. Despite having a small budget for your Google ads, if the other metrics show promising results, your ad campaign can lead to sales.

There are two types of cost metrics in Google Ads: Cost-per-click (CPC) and Cost-per-action (CPA).

CPC is the amount you pay to Google whenever someone clicks your ad. Tracking this metric is essential as it helps determine if your advertising budget is well-spent. The amount of money or cost you pay per click will depend on several factors, such as the quality of your ad, your maximum bid, and the keywords you're bidding on.

CPA metric measures the amount of money you need to spend to convert a user or acquire new customers. This metric is crucial in determining the effectiveness of your ads and when setting budgets for future ad campaigns.

5. Quality score

The relevance of your ad to the keywords you're targeting and the landing page users will see when they click your ad are both measured by the quality score. When your Google ads have a high-quality score, your ad is more relevant to others, leading to a higher ad rank and lower cost-per-clicks.

According to Google's algorithm, some factors influencing your ads' quality score may include your landing page's quality, keyword relevance, and CTR.

6. Average position

Average position determines the position of your ad's appearance along with the other competitor ads. Tracking this metric is crucial as it can significantly impact your CTR and how much you need to pay per click (CPC). If your Google Ads have a higher average position, it means your ad is more likely to be seen by more users, leading to higher click rates, higher CTR, and lower CPC.

Meanwhile, you can expect fewer clicks if your ad has a low average position. To increase your ad's average position, you can target your ads to a more specific audience and work on improving your ad's quality score.

7. Conversion rate

Conversion rate represents the percentage of people who clicked on your ad and took the desired action you expected them to do. The action can be anything, such as making a purchase, liking/commenting on your blog post, subscribing to your website, or filling out a form. This metric is crucial in determining how effective your Google ads campaign is and how successful it was in generating leads or sales.

The average Google Ads conversion rate for all industries is 2.9% to 5%. A high conversion rate has a good chance of leading to revenue, so keep a close eye on your conversion rate to see if your Google ads marketing strategy is performing well for your business.

Key takeaway

Now you know that there are several metrics you need to track to measure the performance of your Google Ads. Your Google ads can boost brand awareness and jumpstart your SEO campaign when effective.

It can be overwhelming and daunting to try and monitor all of them, so make sure your business only chooses the important ones that align with your campaign goals. By focusing your time and budget on important and relevant metrics, you can create more effective ads and maximise their effectiveness.