Your First 30 Days of Google Ads: The Metrics
Let’s be honest, starting a new Google Ads campaign can feel like a load of pressure, especially when you don’t know exactly what you’re looking for regarding campaign success. You start to ask yourself questions like what numbers are the most important to look at, how will you know if it's making a measurable difference in your business, and when is it time to call it quits if it's not working.
Luckily, the path toward understanding the data you are being presented is a pretty easy one to follow once you know what to look for and how to use it! If you are in the initial stages of getting your campaign off the ground and are looking for some metrics to pay attention to, and what those numbers might mean in your campaign, then you’re in the right place.
Take Advantage Of The Ability To Grow
The first 30 days of a Google Ads campaign are influential to the primary success of your overall marketing efforts. While it is true that ongoing campaign maintenance can make key differences in your long-term campaign goals, these first 30 days are really when you are pushing yourself into a new market, trying to reach new audiences, and looking to gather some initial data on how users react to your ads.
The most important aspect of your first 30 days is the metrics and data you will receive along the way. For some people, making sure that they are getting in front of the right audiences is the primary objective of optimizing their ads. For others, being the top bidder for some specialized keywords is crucial to their brand visibility.
When thinking about your campaign, it is key to remember that every advertiser is looking for something different out of their efforts, so in the first 30 days try not to compare yourself too much to the other ads you see pop up in your market. It wouldn’t be fair to assume your campaign is automatically at fault when you are likely jumping into an advertising space where people have been running their campaigns for longer than yours, with a higher budget, or with ongoing optimization.
You’re just at the beginning of your Google Ads journey, and as much as we wish we could rush the process, the success you’re likely looking for would require patience and work.
Fundamental Campaign Metrics
Click Through Rate (CTR):
This is your clicks divided by your impressions. A good CTR indicates that your ads are appealing to users. However, it’s only an indicator of relevance, not necessarily conversion.
Quality Score:
This is made up of your expected click-through rate, your landing page experience, and ad relevance. A higher Quality Score reduces CPC and reflects that your ads and landing pages are relevant to your keywords and audience. Check out this series if you’re looking for more information about how you can improve your quality score.
Conversion Rates:
This rate is calculated by your conversions divided by the total number of campaign interactions that you received during a given period. Keeping an eye out for this metric can primarily help determine if your conversion tracking is on the right track, if your GA4 and Google Ads link is working correctly, and what early stages of the campaign might be working successfully.
Cost Per Acquisition:
This is the total amount of money spent divided by the number of conversions you received. As the campaign progresses, you’ll want to pay attention to whether this number stays stagnant, increases, or decreases as it can help you better understand how your money is being spent through the campaign, and what any possible return on investments might look like.
Search Lost Impression Shares:
The different categories of impression share loss can help paint a picture of how your campaign is behaving compared to the other advertisers in your market. These will give you insight into how often your ads are showing up at the top of the search results, whether your budget has the capacity to stay competitive, and if you are losing rank against the other ads.
Time Spent On Site:
This data is imported directly from the link between your GA4 and Google Ads account. It tells you how long people are spending on your website once they click on your ad. It is a great indicator of whether people are engaging with your content, product, or service, and can assist you in potentially understanding user behavior as they interact with your landing pages or site.
Search Term Reporting:
Sifting through the search terms your ads are showing up for may be tedious, but it is a crucial step to further optimizing your campaign. Seeing these reports will help you weed out any keywords that may bring unwanted traffic to your campaign, provide new ideas for potential keywords that haven’t been explored yet, and allow you to recognize search trends as your campaign progresses.
Why The Numbers Matter
The potential for growth seems almost limitless when you’re starting your Google Ads campaign, but with growth comes acknowledging the effort, skill, and endurance it may take to see the results you are hoping to achieve. The first 30 days are your chance to take the reins and push your campaign toward optimization so that you can set up a solid foundation as it continues to grow. By paying close attention to these key metrics and utilizing the data you receive, you will be on your way to a stable and rewarding marketing strategy in no time!
If you are on the fence about starting a new campaign, or if you already have one running and feel like it may be too much to manage on your own, feel free to reach out to RevKey to learn more about how our campaign maintenance services can help your campaign thrive!
