Google Ads: which metrics should I use to optimise my campaign?
Once you have created and launched your campaign, your share of the work is far from over. As the saying goes, "there's always room for improvement!" — and this is especially true when you are just starting out with Google Ads.
Your campaigns may be perfectly set up and are certainly producing good early results, but keeping an eye on them ensures you can sustain that success or react in time to avoid unnecessary expenditure.
While Google Ads already displays a few metrics by default for analysing your results, there are others that can help you dig deeper into your campaign's performance, particularly regarding the relevance of your keywords.
To make these metrics appear in your table, go to the Search Network Keywords section of your campaign, click on Columns, and use the search icon to find the following metrics and apply them:
Quality Score
This metric is most useful once you have already gathered a certain number of results and therefore accumulated a minimum of usable data. Your keyword should have recorded at least twenty to thirty clicks and/or have a total impression count of around 500 to 1,000. If this is not the case, the lack of data needed for the calculation will be indicated by a "–".
The result will be presented as a score out of 10, ranging from 1 to 10. Naturally, the closer your score is to 10, the higher the quality of your keyword. It is not always easy to achieve, so aim at least for a score above the average of 5. Scores such as 6, 7, or 8 are considered perfectly acceptable when looking at the campaign as a whole.
This diagnostic gives you an indication of the quality of your ads relative to those of other advertisers. It allows you to gauge the relevance and usefulness of your ad for users searching for the keyword in question.
To produce this data, Google Ads performs a calculated combination of CTR, the relevance of your ad, and the user experience once on your page (notably taking into account bounce rates, loading times, site usability, etc.).
Ad Relevance
Closely linked to "Quality Score", you can also use the "Ad Relevance" metric. This tells you how closely your ad aligns with the intent of the user typing your keywords. Could visitors ultimately become potential clients?
The more relevant your ad, and the closer it therefore comes to what the user is looking for, the greater your chances of acquiring them and converting them into a qualified lead.
Impression Share (Lost)
This indicator, straightforward to understand, can be extremely useful. Expressed as a percentage, the lost impression share tells you how often your ad was not displayed on search engines.
To put these results in plain terms, this figure represents the proportion of impressions you still have the potential to achieve. It is also an excellent indicator of whether your campaign is reaching saturation, and therefore becoming less effective or more costly. The closer your percentage is to zero, the less you can expect from the campaign as it stands — it has reached the limit of what it can deliver.
This loss rate is often caused by an excessively limited budget. If you are allocating small sums to your campaigns, it is quite likely that your lost impression rate will be relatively high, as your bids cannot match those of the "market" or your competitors.
Click Share
Available for Search Network and Shopping campaigns, click share is simply a ratio between the number of clicks recorded and the maximum number you could have achieved. It is worth taking into account to assess the relevance of your ad in particular.
Once again expressed as a percentage, this indicator enables you to make certain improvements (ad relevance, ad extensions…) or adjustments (budget, bids…). If your score reads 55%, you therefore have a 45% margin for improvement — meaning you could achieve up to 45% more clicks. Excellent!
Landing Page Experience
This diagnostic moves slightly away from the quality of your campaign itself, even though the results are closely linked. Indeed, the landing page experience indicator takes into consideration what happens once the user has clicked on your ad and arrived on your site.
Since Google wants to offer its users the best possible experience, it will favour the best-designed landing pages. The user must find what they are looking for there, in line with the ad they clicked on.
The indicator will present your result by specifying whether you are below average, average, or above average.
To rank among the best, take care to optimise the landing page you link to your ads. It should incorporate the keywords you have selected, meet the customer's expectations, be clear, have a reassuring and well-crafted design, load quickly, and so on. This metric ultimately depends entirely on you.
Expected CTR
Finally, having access to the expected CTR gives you an indication of the click-through rate your ad is likely to generate as it currently stands. What is the probability that someone searching for what I offer will click on my ad?
As ever, the relevance of your keywords and ads are among the determining factors.
Through these 6 points, we have given you a few sometimes overlooked pointers to help you better analyse and optimise your campaigns.
By making these metrics visible, and tracking those displayed by default, you will certainly be able to identify the elements to watch, those to modify, and — above all — determine which stage of development your campaign has reached.
Have a similar project?
Let's talk it over in 15 minutes. No sales pitch, just a technical chat.