What should I track to see if my GAW choices are good?

[PatriciaBeth]

I was asked today what 3 Google Ad Words measurements I would track to determine of the key words and key phrases chosen for an Ad Words Campaign were working.

What would YOU measure?

Thank you!

[CleverPhD]

Number of impressions, number of clicks, cost per click, number of conversions, conversion values.

You can use to see what are your best converting keywords that make you the most money.  You may have a kw with less clicks bringing in more money than a kw with more clicks.

[SEO5Team]

Hi Patricia,

I would agree with the suggestions above. One point to note however is that the conversions should be tracked all the way to a sale not just the first point of conversion. For example, if you're dealing with a franchisor, the first conversion point can be a lead filled out via a landing page. The 2nd conversion point is that lead actually ending up buying a franchise. A lot of companies make the mistake of not tracking the 2nd conversion point and this leads to misallocation of funds. You might have a keyword generating lots of leads at a very effective CPL however not leading to real conversions (sales). On the other hand, you may have a keyword converting at a relatively expensive CPL however leads to real conversions (sales).

Cheers,

SEO5..

[BrightHealth]

Context is important to answer this fully as there are plenty of variables to change the answer, but here is what I'd say:

• Conversions — are they keywords driving conversions or simply spending money?
• Cost per Conversion — one keyword may drive a lot of conversions, but at a very high price while other keywords drive smaller volume at lower cost. Perhaps the mass of smaller, cheaper keywords are more valuable than the large volume expensive keyword. If that's the case, consider pausing the expensive one. This ties conversion rate into the mix because these lower cost keyword are going to likely have a higher conversion rate.
• CTR — Is that keyword relevant to actual search queries? If not, it's probably not doing anything for you except spending money and you should probably kill it. If the CTR is high, but you're not seeing conversions, look into GA and your landing page/s to find out why.

I don't say CPC here because that is subjective and fluid. There may keyword with incredibly high CPCs, but they are valuable in conversions. If you see return, to some extent, CPCs don't matter. If you can lower CPCs without negatively impacting conversion volume or rate, then you're good to go.

[fyic]

The three numbers would be:

1. Conversion value - whether this be the value passed from eCommerce tracking or assigned values for completed actions that have been nominated.  Without tracking a value or assigning any value it becomes difficult to effectively measure performance at a keyword level.  Every account must have measures of success.
2. Conv. value / cost - are you receiving more than what you are paying per click.  Once you assign a value for margin you should be able to adjust CPC easily based on the return you are getting back
3. CTR - what % of the market are you winning, once your keywords have passed the profitability test the main goal should be to increase CTR and subsequently improve quality score which will decrease CPC's.

Following these rules should ensure most profitable keywords are focused on to increase ROI and campaign performance.