What you will learn
- Interpret impressions, clicks, CTR, conversions, and cost per conversion
- Use the search terms report to add keywords and negatives
- Follow a weekly routine to improve campaign performance
Read the numbers in order, from first contact to result. Impressions show how often ads appeared. Clicks and click-through rate show whether the ad was relevant and appealing. Conversions and conversion rate show whether the landing page persuaded visitors. Cost per conversion shows whether the campaign is affordable. A weak step points to where to look: low CTR suggests the ad, while a low conversion rate suggests the page.
The search terms report shows the actual searches that triggered your ads, which can differ from your keywords. Review it weekly. When a search term brings conversions, consider adding it as a keyword. When it is irrelevant, such as "car rental jobs" for a car rental company, add a negative. Also check impression share, which shows how often your ads appeared compared with how often they could have.
A simple weekly routine keeps campaigns healthy. Check spend against budget. Review search terms and add negatives. Pause keywords that have spent noticeably without converting. Compare ads and replace weak headlines. Check that conversion tracking is still recording. Give changes time to work, because judging a campaign after two days usually leads to poor decisions. Keep a change log so you know what caused any shift in results.