What are the most commonly overlooked SEM metrics for businesses?

Search engine marketing (SEM) is a powerful way to reach your target audience and drive traffic to your website. However, to measure the effectiveness of your SEM campaigns, you need to track the right metrics and analyze the data. Many businesses focus on the obvious metrics, such as impressions, clicks, conversions, and cost per acquisition (CPA). While these are important, they are not enough to give you a holistic picture of your SEM performance. In this article, we will discuss some of the most commonly overlooked SEM metrics for businesses and why you should pay attention to them.

1 Quality Score

Quality score is a metric that Google uses to rate the relevance and quality of your keywords, ads, and landing pages. It ranges from 1 to 10, with 10 being the best. A high quality score means that Google considers your ad to be relevant and useful for the user, and it can lower your cost per click (CPC) and improve your ad rank. A low quality score means that your ad is not matching the user's intent or expectations, and it can increase your CPC and lower your ad rank. Therefore, you should monitor your quality score regularly and optimize your keywords, ads, and landing pages to improve it.

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Mansour Mozhdehi

Marketing Management: Talent Strategy | Innovation Culture | Content Creator | Executive Advisor
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It's critical because Google uses it to measure the relevance of your keywords. The goal is to ensure that all searches are tied with relevant ads to make the entire browsing experience better. It's determined by several factors, including: CTR or the click-through rate of the keywords you use and the ads that follow How relevant the keyword and the ads are when compared to the search query The relevance of the keywords you use compared to the correlating ad group The click-through rate of the display URLs in the right ad group Your landing page quality All of these factors determine your Google Adwords quality score, as Google calculates your ad ranking and your PPC campaign price based on your results.

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2 Bounce Rate

Bounce rate is the percentage of users who leave your website after viewing only one page. It indicates how well your landing page engages and retains the visitors who click on your ads. A high bounce rate means that your landing page is not relevant, appealing, or user-friendly enough to encourage the visitors to explore more of your website or take action. A low bounce rate means that your landing page is aligned with your ad and offers a satisfying user experience. Therefore, you should track your bounce rate and test different elements of your landing page, such as the headline, copy, design, call to action, and loading speed, to reduce it.

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Mansour Mozhdehi

Marketing Management: Talent Strategy | Innovation Culture | Content Creator | Executive Advisor
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When you learn how to read all of the key SEM metrics we mentioned, you will be able to increase your website's conversion rate and get the most out of every ad campaign. You can use some other available tools to improve your marketing campaigns even further. That includes the use of Google Analytics that allows you to see details such as how long your visitors stay on your website. You can extract more information about your users and their interests, allowing you to create more effective ads.

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3 Impression Share

Impression share is the percentage of impressions that your ads receive compared to the total number of impressions that they are eligible to receive. It shows how competitive and visible your ads are in the search results. A high impression share means that your ads are reaching a large portion of your target audience and that you have a strong bid and budget strategy. A low impression share means that you are missing out on potential clicks and conversions and that you need to adjust your bid, budget, keywords, or targeting settings. Therefore, you should measure your impression share and identify the factors that limit or increase it.

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Mansour Mozhdehi

Marketing Management: Talent Strategy | Innovation Culture | Content Creator | Executive Advisor
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The Impression share of your ad is also a key part of any successful SEM campaign. Impressions occur every time someone looks at your ad. So, it's not the number of clicks your ads get; it only tells you how many times someone looked at your ad. It's important because it helps you raise awareness for your brand, and it also helps increase your brand's value. While the total number of impressions you get from a campaign doesn't tell you if the campaign is successful or not, it does give you a good idea of the effectiveness of your ad. Google ads impression share can help you understand your ad reports better because they give you a good idea of how many people saw your ad.

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4 Click-Through Rate (CTR)

Click-through rate (CTR) is the percentage of users who click on your ads after seeing them. It measures how attractive and relevant your ads are to the users. A high CTR means that your ads are capturing the user's attention and interest and that they match their search intent. A low CTR means that your ads are not appealing or persuasive enough and that they need to be improved. Therefore, you should monitor your CTR and test different variations of your ad copy, headlines, extensions, and keywords to boost it.

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Jairo Machado

PPC Specialist | Media Buyer
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To gain a holistic view of ad performance, consider the following factors: Device segmentation: CTR varies across devices. Optimize for each platform (desktop, mobile, tablet) to maximize CTR. Geolocation targeting: Analyze CTR by location to identify high-performing areas and adjust targeting. Competitive landscape: Monitor CTR over time and compare with competitors to identify areas for improvement. Ad quality: Utilize tools like Google Ads' bid simulator to optimize bids and improve CTR. Keyword analysis: Use tools like Google Ads Keyword Planner to identify relevant keywords with high search volume.

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5 Conversion Rate

Conversion rate is the percentage of users who complete a desired action on your website after clicking on your ads. It indicates how effective your landing page and website are at converting the visitors into customers or leads. A high conversion rate means that your landing page and website are delivering on the promise of your ads and that they have a clear and compelling value proposition, offer, and call to action. A low conversion rate means that your landing page and website are not convincing or satisfying enough and that they have friction or confusion points that prevent the visitors from taking action. Therefore, you should track your conversion rate and optimize your landing page and website for usability, trust, and persuasion.

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Mansour Mozhdehi

Marketing Management: Talent Strategy | Innovation Culture | Content Creator | Executive Advisor
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The conversion rate of your ad tells you how many people followed through with the action you need on your landing page. In other words, it's the total number of users that were so interested in your ad that they followed all of the steps until the end. The conversion rate is critical because it tells you if your ads are working or not. Paying a lot of money to get thousands of clicks is useless if the viewers don't complete your desired action. If your conversion rate is high, that means that the money you spend on pay per click and cost per click will come back to you as profit. Low conversion rates mean that you need to improve your ad. Now that you know how and why conversion rates are important, you also have to know how to calculate

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6 Return on Ad Spend (ROAS)

Return on ad spend (ROAS) is the ratio of revenue generated by your ads to the amount spent on your ads. It measures the profitability and efficiency of your SEM campaigns. A high ROAS means that your ads are generating more revenue than they cost and that you have a positive return on investment (ROI). A low ROAS means that your ads are not generating enough revenue to cover their cost and that you have a negative or low ROI. Therefore, you should calculate your ROAS and compare it with your goals and benchmarks to evaluate your SEM performance and identify areas for improvement.

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Jairo Machado

PPC Specialist | Media Buyer
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Determining a "good" ROAS is not a straightforward task, as it depends on various factors, including: Industry: Different industries have different average ROAS benchmarks. For example, e-commerce businesses might have a higher ROAS target than SaaS companies. Business goals: Your ROAS target should be aligned with your overall business goals. If your goal is to increase brand awareness, you might be willing to accept a lower ROAS than if your goal is to drive sales. Competitiveness: The level of competition in your industry can also impact your ROAS. If you're in a highly competitive industry, you might need to achieve a higher ROAS to stay profitable.

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7 Here’s what else to consider

This is a space to share examples, stories, or insights that don’t fit into any of the previous sections. What else would you like to add?

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Kartik Suneja

Search Engine Marketing | Performance marketing | Paid Marketing SEM/SEA
(edited)
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Click share is a metric that is often overlooked. This is key metric which helps you understand what % of clicks you are getting for the available ones. This in combination with impression share helps you understand what % of traffic you are eligible for & what amount your are actually getting. POAS: Profit after spend As a SEM marketer you need to start focussing actual profits that is being generated for the SEM efforts that you are putting in.

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What are the most commonly overlooked SEM metrics for businesses?

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

1 Quality Score

2 Bounce Rate

3 Impression Share

4 Click-Through Rate (CTR)

5 Conversion Rate

6 Return on Ad Spend (ROAS)

7 Here’s what else to consider

Search Engine Marketing (SEM)

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What are the most commonly overlooked SEM metrics for businesses?

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

1 Quality Score

2 Bounce Rate

3 Impression Share

4 Click-Through Rate (CTR)

5 Conversion Rate

6 Return on Ad Spend (ROAS)

7 Here’s what else to consider

Search Engine Marketing (SEM)

Rate this article

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