For those in marketing, advertising, or the realm of PPC, it’s safe to say that math might not be a favorite subject. It seems ironic, given the massive amount of data we handle daily. Even the most skilled data analysts can feel overwhelmed by the sheer volume of variables when they access their PPC platforms.

Thankfully, the platforms we use often do the heavy lifting by automatically calculating and presenting key metrics in our reports. Our main task is to decipher what these metrics actually signify. To help you become a PPC data expert, I’ve created this comprehensive guide to PPC metrics. Here’s what it covers:

• Straightforward explanations of 28 important PPC metrics.
• Practical strategies to enhance each metric.
• Insights to determine which metrics matter most for your specific goals. Consider this your go-to resource for mastering PPC data by gaining a thorough understanding of every essential metric.

Quick Navigation for PPC Metrics

Click to jump directly to any metric explanation in this guide.

Essential PPC Metrics for All Campaigns

Just like in any other field, PPC advertising, not all metrics are equally important. Certain metrics stand out as crucial across all campaign types. Let’s delve into these fundamental PPC metrics:

1. Impressions

Impressions are the most basic metric in PPC and serve as a great starting point. An impression is recorded each time your ad is displayed, regardless of whether a user clicks on it. If your ad appears lower on the search results page, you won’t receive an impression unless the user scrolls down far enough to see it. Impressions are typically free unless you opt for a cost-per-impression bidding model. It’s also possible to receive multiple impressions from the same individual.

What is the Significance of Impressions?

Impressions can be quite insightful in any PPC campaign. A large number of impressions coupled with a low number of clicks or conversions might indicate that users aren’t finding your ads compelling enough to click, suggesting the need for improvements in ad copy, targeting, or other elements. The key takeaway is that impressions, at the very least, indicate that people are seeing your ad and increasing brand awareness.

How to Boost Your Impressions

Here’s how to increase your ad impressions:

• Increase Your Budget: A larger budget allows for more bidding in Google Ads auctions. With a limited budget, clicks consume it quickly, hindering your ability to bid and display ads for more impressions. Increasing your budget, when feasible, enables a balanced bidding approach throughout the day, ultimately leading to a healthy impression share.
• Utilize Broad Match Keywords: For search campaigns, consider expanding your keyword match types to phrase match or even broad match to potentially reach a wider audience. Broader match types have the flexibility to match a greater variety of searches, leading to broader visibility on search results pages.
• Expand Your Targeting: This strategy applies to all campaign types. Broadening your location targeting, audience targeting, or other targeting parameters is a surefire way to increase the potential reach of your ads.

2. Click-Through Rate (CTR)

Click-through rate is the percentage of impressions that result in a click on your ad. Fortunately, the platform automatically calculates this for you. CTR reflects how effectively your ad copy resonates with your target audience. Similar to the previous example, a high impression count but a low CTR suggests that people are not taking the desired action after seeing your ad.

Why is Click-Through Rate Important?

CTR not only provides insights into the effectiveness of your ad copy and targeting but also contributes to your Quality Score, a crucial factor in Google Ads. However, CTR is sometimes misunderstood because it doesn’t always directly correlate with conversions or revenue. Consider this: a high conversion rate with a low CTR presents an opportunity to boost CTR and maximize your potential conversions.

What Constitutes a Good Click-Through Rate?

There is no one-size-fits-all answer, as CTR depends on various factors, including your industry, campaign type, and targeting. For instance, the average CTR for the hobbies and leisure industry on Google Search is 7.45%, while it’s 0.38% on Google Display and 0.92% on Facebook. These figures can vary significantly across industries. Refer to industry benchmarks to determine a good CTR for your specific situation.

How to Enhance Your Click-Through Rate

We have numerous articles on improving CTR, but here are some concise tips:

• Adjust Your Bids: If you use manual bidding, consider raising your bids to secure a higher position on the search results page, where your ads are more likely to grab attention. If you’re not on manual bidding, experiment with the ‘Maximize Clicks’ automated strategy, which aims to increase your CTR.
• Utilize Ad Scheduling: Ad scheduling helps you refine your campaign by limiting ad display to specific times of day, effectively reducing impressions. The advantage is that your ads are shown only during peak hours when they are most likely to generate clicks. Learn how to set up ad scheduling in Google Ads, Facebook Ads, and Microsoft Advertising.
• Improve Your Ad Copy: Compelling ad copy naturally leads to a higher CTR. Conduct A/B testing on your headlines, descriptions, and images (if applicable) to identify the most effective ad variations that drive the most clicks. Be aware of common ad copy mistakes to avoid.
• Implement Ad Extensions: Ad extensions provide additional elements within your ads, offering users more interactive options. These extensions, including sitelinks, call extensions, and image extensions, increase clickable areas beyond your standard ad copy, effectively boosting your CTR.

3. Conversion Rate (CVR)

Conversion rate, like CTR, measures the ratio of clicks that lead to a conversion, presented as a percentage. This metric goes a step further than CTR by analyzing how effectively clicks translate into desired actions. Conversion rate often holds greater importance than CTR because it directly reflects the likelihood of a user completing a desired action after clicking on your ad.

What is the Significance of Conversion Rate?

Conversion rate is paramount for any ROI-focused advertising approach. A subpar conversion rate signifies that you’re paying for clicks that don’t yield desired results. Conversion rates provide valuable insights into the behavior of individuals who click on your ads and land on your website. A low conversion rate might prompt questions such as:

• Is my ad copy misleading or being displayed to the wrong target audience?
• Are the calls to action on my landing page clear, prominent, and easily accessible? Conversion rates help us gauge whether users clicking on our ads are genuinely interested in converting or if they face confusion or hesitation upon arriving at our website.

What is Considered a Good Conversion Rate?

A good conversion rate might be higher than you anticipate! As with many aspects of PPC, there’s no universal benchmark. Refer to up-to-date industry data to determine a suitable conversion rate for your specific sector.

How to Improve Your Conversion Rate

Here’s a concise guide to enhancing your conversion rate:

• Include CTAs in Your Ad Copy: Using clear calls to action such as “Schedule a Consultation,” “Download Our Guide,” or “Sign Up Now” in your ad copy sets clear expectations for users, ensuring that those who click are prepared to convert upon reaching your landing page.
• Enhance Your Landing Page: Encouraging users to click on your ad is just the initial step. You must present a clear and prominent call to action on your landing page to drive conversions effectively. Ensure your landing page is mobile-friendly and features succinct, persuasive copy.
• Reassess Your Bidding Strategy: Your bidding strategy can significantly impact your conversion rates. If you’re grappling with a low conversion rate, explore the ‘Maximize Conversions’ automated bid strategy, which prioritizes generating the highest possible number of conversions.
• Track a Wider Range of Conversions: One effective method for improving your conversion rate is to expand the types of actions you track as conversions. While you might primarily focus on purchases, consider other valuable interactions, such as page views, chat messages, or video plays, that contribute to the customer journey.

Find benchmark conversion rates for your industry here.

4. Cost (or Spend)

Cost, often referred to as spend, represents the total expenditure on any campaign element you’re analyzing within your account. It is calculated by summing up the cost of each click or impression (depending on your chosen bidding method) and is displayed in your account’s designated currency. Worried about wasted spend in Google Ads? Get a free assessment with our Google Ads Performance Grader.

How to Reduce Spend:

• Refine Your Targeting: By being more selective about when, where, and to whom your ads are shown, you can significantly reduce costs. Consider it a form of budget management. Identify areas where you can cut back, such as pausing ads on specific days or narrowing your location targeting.
• Leverage the Search Terms Report: Your search terms report can uncover hidden opportunities to reduce costs. It reveals the actual search queries that trigger your ads, allowing you to identify irrelevant terms and add them as negative keywords. The recently updated search terms report provides even more granular data, making it an invaluable tool for cost optimization.
• Conduct a Change History Analysis: To pinpoint and address areas of wasted spend, a thorough account audit is essential. Start by reviewing your change history report, adjusting the date range to identify when your costs began to increase. Examine any changes made around that time, as even minor adjustments to a single keyword, audience, ad group, or other campaign element can significantly impact costs.

5. Cost Per Click (CPC)

Cost per click is the amount you pay each time a user clicks on your ad. It is displayed as a monetary average across all clicks generated by a specific keyword, ad, ad group, campaign, or any other element you are analyzing.

How to Lower Your Cost Per Click

• Improve Your Quality Score: Google rewards advertisers with higher Quality Scores by charging them lower CPCs. This is because Google prioritizes delivering relevant results to its users and is willing to potentially earn less per click to maintain the quality of its ad network. By improving your Quality Score, you can often bid less aggressively and still achieve a favorable ad position, ultimately lowering your average CPC over time.
• Adjust Your Bidding Strategy: Your bidding strategy can significantly influence your CPC. Certain automated strategies, such as ‘Maximize Conversions,’ may bid more aggressively to achieve their objective, even if it means a higher CPC. Alternatively, you can manually lower individual bids, adjust bid caps, or modify targets for ROAS or CPA, all of which impact your bid levels and, consequently, your average CPC.
• Strategically Pause Other Campaign Elements: If you have an ad targeting a highly competitive location, audience, keyword, or other element, this competition can drive up your CPC, as you’ll need to bid higher to remain competitive. Instead of sacrificing that valuable campaign element, consider pausing other, less profitable elements in your account. Even if those paused elements don’t have exceptionally high CPCs, pausing them can free up budget and lower your overall CPC, allowing you to sustain the higher-CPC campaign that delivers the most valuable results.

Access a comprehensive Facebook Ads benchmarks report here.

7. Cost Per Acquisition (CPA)

Cost per acquisition (CPA), also known as cost per action, cost per lead, or cost per conversion, is similar to CPC but focuses on conversions. It represents the average cost incurred for each conversion generated by your campaign. The beauty of conversion-related metrics lies in their flexibility and customizability. While conversions are often associated with purchases, phone calls, or form submissions, you have the power to define and track conversions that align with your specific business objectives. For instance, you might consider tracking indirect actions like page views, chat messages, or video plays as conversions if they hold value within your customer journey. Remember that your definition of conversions will influence metrics like CPA.

What Makes Cost Per Acquisition Crucial?

CPA is often regarded as one of the most, if not the most, critical metrics in PPC, as it directly reflects the return on investment for your advertising efforts. However, for e-commerce accounts, ROAS (return on ad spend) tends to take precedence over CPA, as it focuses on revenue generation. We’ll delve into ROAS later in this guide.

Determining a Good Cost Per Acquisition

There is no straightforward answer or industry-standard benchmark for CPA, as it depends entirely on your definition of a conversion and the value it holds for your business.

Strategies to Reduce Cost Per Acquisition

• Prioritize High-CPA Areas: When addressing CPA challenges, start by taking a holistic view of your account. For search campaigns, examine keywords; for display campaigns, focus on audience and topic targeting. Often, you’ll find a single culprit driving up your CPA, such as a specific keyword. Once identified, explore ways to either lower the cost associated with that element or increase the conversions it generates.
• Consider Budget Adjustments: Reducing your budget directly translates to lower spending. Remember that CPA is influenced by two factors: costs and conversions. Increasing conversions typically requires more time and resources, while lowering your budget has an immediate impact on costs, potentially lowering your CPA in the short term.
• Set or Refine Target CPA: If CPA is a major concern, you’re likely already structuring your PPC strategy around this metric. If you’re using a target CPA (tCPA) within your bidding strategy, ensure your target is realistic and attainable. A high CPA might stem from automated bidding confusion. Insufficient data or an unrealistic target can hinder Google’s ability to optimize bids effectively for optimal CPA.

Discover benchmark data for CPA and other essential Google Ads metrics here.

Search-Specific PPC Metrics

While some metrics apply universally, others hold particular relevance for specific campaign types. Let’s begin by exploring metrics specific to search campaigns.

8. Impression Share

Impression share, along with the next two metrics, are personal favorites of mine PPC metrics. I often find that advertisers tend to fixate on concrete metrics like CPA and conversions, overlooking the valuable insights offered by impression share and impression rates. Impression share sheds light on how visible your ads are within the search engine results page (SERP) or the Google Display Network (GDN). Essentially, it answers the question, “Out of all the times your ads could have been shown, how often were they actually displayed?” Gaining visibility is the crucial first step in PPC success. Impression share, a platform-specific metric, compares your total impressions to the estimated number of eligible searches or views (on the GDN) where your ads could have appeared. It’s expressed as a percentage and might have slight variations in its name depending on the platform or campaign type.

Why is Impression Share Important?

Impression share helps you identify missed opportunities to reach potential customers. It holds even greater weight if one of your primary PPC goals is to enhance brand awareness.

How to Improve Your Impression Share

• Increase Your Bids: Higher bids generally result in winning more auctions and securing more opportunities for impressions. Your bids, combined with your Quality Score, determine your ad rank. A higher ad rank increases the likelihood of your ad being displayed prominently on the SERP.
• Reassess Your Keywords: When aiming to boost impression share, advertisers often focus on Quality Score, but your chosen keywords and match types play a crucial role. Restrictive match types can make it challenging to achieve a high impression share. The phrasing and intent behind your keywords also impact which searches your ads are eligible for, especially with Google’s recent updates to its matching algorithms.
• Analyze the Competition: Regularly review the Auction Insights section in Google Ads to understand your competitors. They might be outranking you with higher bids or employing more effective ad copy or targeting strategies. While Auction Insights isn’t available for Display campaigns, the same principles apply. Analyze their tactics to gain insights for improving your own impression share.

Learn effective strategies to secure your share of impressions.

9. Top and Absolute Top Impression Rate

Top impression rate and absolute top impression rate are metrics specific to search ads, both derived from your impression share and expressed as percentages. The strategies for improving these metrics align with those for impression share, but they provide even more nuanced insights into your competitive landscape.

• Top Impression Rate: This metric reveals how often your ads appear within the top section of search results when they are displayed. In other words, it indicates how often your ads are among the most prominent results.
• Absolute Top Impression Rate: This metric indicates how frequently your ads secure the coveted top position on the search results page. Achieving a high absolute top impression rate means your ad is the first thing users see, which is ideal for capturing attention. Achieving high rates for both metrics can be challenging. A reasonable goal for top impression rate is around 60-80%, while aiming for 20-30% for the absolute top impression rate is a good starting point. These figures can vary based on factors like competition.
  

10-11. Search Lost Impression Share

While impression share and impression rates highlight when your ads are displayed on the SERP, it’s equally important to understand why they might not be showing. Two primary reasons contribute to missed impressions: low ad rank (search lost impression share due to rank) or insufficient budget (search lost impression share due to budget). Addressing budget limitations is often more straightforward. You can increase your campaign budget, but if that’s not feasible, consider refining your targeting to make your budget work harder. For low ad rank, re-evaluating your bidding strategy is a good starting point. Your maximum CPC bid influences your ad’s position in auctions. For a long-term solution, identify areas within your Quality Score that require attention. This might involve optimizing your landing page experience or refreshing your ad copy.

Conversion Tracking Metrics for PPC

While conversion tracking is beneficial for all campaigns, these metrics are particularly relevant for Shopping and e-commerce campaigns.

12. Conversion Value

Conversion value represents the total monetary value generated by all your conversions. Think of it as a metric that emphasizes quality over quantity. A $1,000 lead holds significantly more value than a $5 lead. Conversion value helps you understand the overall revenue impact of your conversions. If your conversion volume is relatively low but your conversion value is high, it indicates that you’re attracting valuable customers, even if they are fewer in number. This metric is only meaningful if you assign monetary values to your conversion actions during the tracking setup process. To increase your conversion value, focus on optimizing the customer journey on your website. Analyze the paths users take and identify opportunities to guide them toward more valuable conversion actions.

13. Conversion Value/Cost

This metric calculates your return on investment by dividing your total conversion value by the total cost of all interactions. It considers all interactions within your customer’s journey to provide a comprehensive view of how effectively your ad spend translates into valuable actions. A lower conversion value/cost ratio indicates that you’re generating more revenue per dollar spent.

14. Conversion Value/Click

Conversion value/click measures the average conversion value generated per click (or interaction) on your ad. While the name mentions “click,” Google includes interactions in this calculation because users can interact with elements of your ad without navigating to your landing page. This metric is valuable for understanding user behavior and the customer journey but is less indicative of overall performance compared to metrics that focus on actual conversions.

15. Value/Conversion

Value/conversion provides a simple average of the monetary value generated per conversion. It differs from conversion value, which represents the total value of all conversions. This metric offers a quick snapshot of the average revenue contribution of each conversion.

16. All Conversions

“All conversions” deserves mention because it’s often confused with the standard “Conversions” column. The key difference is that “All conversions” encompasses every tracked action, including those you’ve chosen to exclude from your primary conversions column. For example, you might have a two-step form on your website but only count the second step as a true conversion. In this scenario, “All conversions” would still report completions of the first form step, providing a more comprehensive view of user engagement.

Display and Video Ad Metrics

Let’s explore some metrics specific to display campaigns.

17-18. Display Lost Impression Share

Display lost impression share (rank) and Display lost impression share (budget) These metrics function similarly to their search counterparts. They highlight the percentage of missed display or video ad impressions attributed to low ad rank or budget constraints, respectively. While budget increases aren’t always feasible, display ads offer a greater variety of targeting options compared to search, providing more levers to improve your ad rank. To address lost display impression share, explore adjustments to your audience targeting or ad creative.

19. Relative CTR

Relative CTR is particularly relevant for those in highly competitive space. This metric compares your display or video ad’s click-through rate to the average CTR for your industry.

20. Viewable Impressions

Viewable impressions represent the number of times your display or video ad met the criteria for being considered “viewable,” meaning that at least 50% of the ad’s area was displayed on screen for a minimum of one second. This metric provides insights into whether your ads are actually being seen by users.

21. Video Played to: 25%, 50%, 75%, 100%

These metrics provide insights into how much of your video ads users are actually watching. Not everyone who sees your video ad will watch it to completion. These metrics track the percentage of viewers who watched specific portions of your video, allowing you to optimize your content for engagement throughout its duration. Learn effective strategies to create compelling video ads here.

22. Average CPM

Average CPM (cost per thousand impressions) is a helpful metric for high-volume video campaigns, as it breaks down your ad spend based on blocks of 1,000 impressions. While the abbreviation might seem a bit counterintuitive, it represents the average cost you incur for every 1,000 times your ad is displayed. This metric is particularly relevant when using CPM bidding models.

23. Average CPV

Average cost per view (CPV) is a straightforward yet valuable metric for understanding the cost-effectiveness of your display and video campaigns. It represents the average amount you spend for each view of your ad. Since display and video campaigns often generate a large volume of views, CPV tends to be relatively low. To further reduce your CPV, you can experiment with cost-per-view bidding or refine your targeting to ensure that your ads are shown to the most receptive audience.

24. View-Through Conversions

View-through conversions have gained significance as display and video advertising have become more prevalent. This metric addresses a common question among advertisers: “If my display campaign has a low CTR and CVR, what value does it provide?” View-through conversions track conversions that occur within a specific timeframe (typically 30 days) after a user has seen your display or video ad, even if they didn’t click on it. This metric highlights the role of display and video in building brand awareness and influencing conversions that might happen through other channels or at a later stage in the customer journey.

25. ROAS

Return on ad spend (ROAS) is a crucial metric, particularly for Shopping campaigns, but it holds relevance for other campaign types as well. Similar to conversion value, ROAS focuses on the revenue generated by your advertising efforts. It calculates the ratio of revenue generated to ad spend, typically expressed as a percentage. A healthy ROAS varies depending on factors such as your profit margins and industry benchmarks, but a common starting point for a good ROAS is around 250-350%. Optimizing ROAS can be nuanced. Setting a target ROAS within your campaign’s bid strategy is a good practice. Alternatively, consider using Smart Shopping campaigns, which leverage machine learning to automate bidding and targeting for maximum ROAS.

Other Important PPC Metrics

26. Invalid Clicks

Google actively monitors for and filters out clicks that appear to be fraudulent, spam, or generated by bots. The “Invalid Clicks” column in your Google Ads account reflects the number of clicks that Google has flagged as suspicious. This metric is helpful for identifying potential click fraud, such as attempts by competitors to deplete your budget or malicious activity. Google provides a complaint form to address such situations, allowing you to report and potentially receive credit for invalid clicks.

27. Engagements

Engagements encompass any interaction a user has with your ad. Views, clicks, and any other meaningful action taken on your ad contribute to your engagement rate. Ads with interactive elements, such as extensions, tend to have higher engagement rates.

28. Interactions

Interactions represent the primary action associated with your ad. This could be a view, a click, or any other significant action taken on the ad. This metric is more commonly used for Display, Video, and Shopping campaigns, as, for Search campaigns, interactions are essentially clicks. Have I overlooked any essential PPC metrics? Feel free to share your thoughts in the comments.