Anyone who works in PPC knows that data is your friend, and the more time you give to understanding it, the better and more successful your campaigns will be.
Luckily, one of the key benefits of PPC campaigns is the vast amount of data they provide. You can get insight into your target audience, where, when and how they search, what works and what doesn’t, and so much more to help you continuously improve your approach.
But with so much information available, it can be difficult to know where to focus your attention. Let’s take a look at 4 of the key metrics you should focus on in 2021.
Number 1: Impression share
So, although not the be all and end all, impression share is a good indicator as to where you are at in the market. It basically tells you what percentage of searches you are capturing. For example, there were 100 searches on your keyword, and your ads were shown 45 times; you have a 45% impression share.
You can loose impression share due to either budget or rank and these metrics are available to see within the Google Ads interface. Multiple optimisations can improve impression share (depending on why you are losing it) including increasing budgets or bids or improving your quality score.
It is important to remember though that maximising impression share should be done for keywords that are performing for your business and not just a method to ego bid and dominate the space as this is a quick way to drain your budget.
Number 2: Quality Score
A metric based on numerous factors including:
- Your overall account
- Landing page quality
- Your keyword to ad to the user search relevance
- Your historical CTR
Quality score should be monitored continuously and a strategy should be in place to ensure you are improving quality. Consider things like structured ad groups, keywords in ad copy, and relevant and easy to use landing pages.
It is crucial to your accounts health and efficiency and Google takes this and the keyword’s bid amount into consideration when determining the positioning of your ad.
Higher-quality score = Better Ranking
Remember Google wants to give its users the best experience overall so just simply bidding more and more won’t guarantee you’ll appear or be in the position you desire for the auctions that are important to you and your business.
Number 3: Cost Per Click (CPC)
Your account CPC can let you know some very valuable trend information. CPCs are based on the competitiveness of your keywords, so if they start inflating, it is likely due to some increased competition in that area.
Keep a close eye on your CPCs over time to see if there has been any changes in the market or your accounts health, and think about increasing CPCs or improving your quality score on your top performing keywords to help you stay ahead of the competition.
Number 4: Conversion rate
Most businesses’ main goal is to gain more conversions and at an efficient cost-per-conversion. Changes in conversion rates can be expected due to seasonality or changes in the industry, but it can also be impacted by changes you are making to your account and website.
Continuously looking for ways to improve your interactions with your target audience can help to boost your conversion rate and improve cost efficiency.
Here are a few areas to look out for to ensure you don’t see a declining trend in your conversion rate:
- Keep your matched searches tidy and relevant with regular search query reports
- Check all tracking is up to date and working correctly
- Split test landing pages and check for any errors
- Keep ad copy up to date and in line with your website content
- Watch out for any keyword or ad disapprovals