Are you looking for the most important Google Adwords metrics to track for your marketing reports?
Google Adwords (now known as 'Google Ads') is one of the best ways to bring customers to your online store. When done well, the right Google Ads strategy can bring instant sales and faster growth for your business.
But, like everything in the marketing world, Google Ads leaves you with lots of data to track.
And if you want to be really successful, you'll need to learn which ones matter and, frankly, which ones don't.
To get you started, we listed 7 of the most important Google Adwords metrics that you can start tracking right now.
Let's dive into the list!
The Most Important Google Adwords Metrics to Track
1) Impressions
This is the number of times your ad has been displayed as a result of your Adwords campaign. This doesn't mean, however, that every impression will translate to a click.
So, as an advertiser, it's your job to find out where and when your customers are looking at ads and what does or doesn't motivate them to click on them.
We'll get to 'clicks' in the next metric.
2) Clicks
Clicks tell you how many times people have clicked on your ad after they've seen it. This is the best way to understand the immediate interest (or lack thereof) that customers show when they see your ad.
Clicks are how you get traffic to your website, but here's the thing: not all clicks are good for your business.
If you're paying for Google Ads, you want to make sure that every single click is a quality one. This means that it's coming from a potential customer who has some interest in your product or service and wants to learn more about it.
In many cases, this translates to a click on your ad because the customer has some interest in your product or service and wants to know more. But, it can also mean that they've clicked because of a vague headline or description.
They then reach a product that they aren't really interested in at all.
When that's the case, you might notice bounce rates spiking on your Google Adword's landing page.
And that means it's time to go back to the drawing board and write some new copy.
3) Cost-per-Click (CPC)
Cost-per-click (CPC) is how much you pay for each click on your Google Ads. This metric shows you how effective your ad is at getting people to click through to your product or offer.
This is the primary metric at play when it comes to deciding how much you can afford to spend on Google Ads. If your cost to get each click is too high, your Adwords campaigns will fall short of your goals.
That is why it's important to note that "quality over quantity" should be your motto when it comes to Google ad campaigns.
4) Cost-per-Acquisition (CPA)
And that brings us to the cost of acquisition.
Remember, Google Ads is all about getting traffic to your website or landing page via paid ads.
Once you have traffic on your site, it's up to you to convert them into leads and customers. This metric shows you how much you're spending for each click that turns into a lead for your business.
You should also know that this metric fits in best with the sales funnel model.
It's an alternative to CPC, and it shows you what percentage of clicks from Google Ads resulted in a sale or other action on your site (like a blog subscription or email sign-up).
If your goal is to drive sales, then Cost Per Acquisition should be your go-to metric.
5) Average Customer Lifetime Value (CLTV)
Your average customer lifetime value is the total amount of revenue that each customer generates for your business before they stop buying from you.
In other words, it's how much a new customer is worth to your business over the course of their relationship with you.
This metric does two things:
- It shows whether or not your advertising is profitable.
- It helps you understand how much money a customer is worth over the course of their relationship with your business.
Here's what it looks like in practice: let's say you spend $1 on Google Adwords to get a new lead for your business. This means that every lead becomes an opportunity for revenue and profit for your business.
You can use Google Analytics to see how much revenue comes from each lead.
Now, if your Google Adwords cost is $1 per acquisition and the ALCV for every customer is $50, then it's pretty clear: Google Ads is going to be profitable.
But as time goes on if you notice your cost per acquisition gets higher (but your ALCV stays the same), then a paid campaign might be out of your budget.
6) Return on Ad Spend (ROAS)
ROAS measures the revenue generated from your advertising divided by how much you spent on that advertising.
This is another great way to determine how effective your ads are.
If you notice that you're spending money on Google Ads but not generating revenue, then it's time for a change.
A low ROAS means that your campaigns aren't performing well (or you could be getting ripped off by click fraud). A negative ROAS is a sign that your campaigns are costing you more than they're bringing in.
The point is that you'll want to watch this metric regularly. That's because your ad's success can fluctuate over time.
Some weeks, your cost-per-acquisition could average at $1. Other weeks, it might be $10. These changes will affect your ROAS.
Since this is the metric that focuses on profits (which should be at the core of your goals for paid ads), you'll want that data frequently close at hand.
7) Time to Manage Accounts (an Informal Metric)
In addition to the metrics above, I have an informal metric that I always like to consider, especially when my ads are run by another company:
How much time is needed to manage the ads and how much is that time going to cost me?
Here's what I mean:
Suppose you manage your Google Ads account by yourself. And it takes you about 5 hours per week or 20 hours per month.
When you break your salary down, you earn roughly $50/hour.
So, at the end of the month, running those ads cost more than just your budget... it also costs your time.
More specifically, these ads took up around $1,000 worth of your time (20 hours times $50/hour).
If you find that your ads are bringing in a profit of $400 per month over your ad spend budget, it still might not justify the time it's taking you to run the campaigns. Your efforts might be better spent on other more lucrative marketing strategies.
Of course, this is a very subjective metric because, in the end, it will depend on your business goals.
Plus, writing good advertisement copy is a skill you can improve on over time. That means you'd likely get better results in less time with a bit of practice.
But if you find yourself spending more time adjusting bids and managing keywords than actually seeing results from that work, then perhaps you should consider switching companies or hiring someone else to manage your ad campaigns for you.
Ok, so now we've seen 7 of the most important Google Adwords metrics.
Let's be clear though: this is not an exhaustive list.
There are so many other factors to consider like your ads' Quality Score, impressions for specific campaigns vs. individual ads, and many other KPIs your business might want to add.
However, I've done my best to share 7 of the most common Google Ads metrics.
This just leaves one last question... How do you make this data accessible in a way you'll actually use?
How to Build a Google Ads Report
In the last tip, we talked about how much time your Google Ads campaign takes to manage.
The same can be said with building marketing reports. Because, at the end of the day, you really only have 2 options for creating those reports:
- Manually
- With an automated tool
Building reports by hand leads to a few problems.
First, it's incredibly time-consuming. And as we mentioned above, time DOES equal money. If you're spending even 2 hours a week creating reports for your team or client, you're tossing money down the drain.
Not to mention adding headaches to your workweek. Which brings us to the second problem with manually building reports.
It's prone to human error.
Data entry is one of those tedious tasks that require all of your focus for large stretches of time.
And if you have someone who isn't a big fan of data entry (like every marketer ever), then you're risking having reports with inaccurate data.
This not only throws off your marketing strategy, but looks unprofessional if you're building Google Ads reports for clients.
That's why I always recommend using a tool like Metrics Watch:
Metrics Watch is one of the best report building tools on the market. It comes with a codeless drag and drop visual builder, so you don't need any technical experience to get started FAST.
Plus, you can hook up data from all of your favorite marketing channels, like:
- Google Analytics
- Google Search Console
- Google Ads
- Facebook (paid and organic)
- Instagram (paid and organic)
- LinkedIn (paid and organic)
- And more...
This lets you build personalized marketing reports depending on your recipient. So if you need to send Google Ads reports to one client and an SEO report to another client, you're all set.
But the best part is how these are shared. Once the data is automatically compiled and your report is created, they can be scheduled on a daily, weekly, or monthly basis.
And rather than emailing a PDF attachment or asking users to log into their user dashboard, you can send this information directly via email.
That means you'll get the data people need in a format they already know and love.
Ready to get started? Try out Metrics Watch 100% risk-free for a 14-day trial (no credit card required):
Build Automated Digital Marketing Reports Today!And that's all for today! These have been 7 of the most important Google Adwords metrics that you need to add to your PPC reports.
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These resources will have even more information that you can use to build better marketing reports FASTER.